13. Gray

CHAPTER 13

Gray

“ I n what universe is four o'clock in the morning ever a reasonable time to get up?” Sunny grumbled, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

It had taken a few days, but I’d put together some Christmas traditions that I thought he would enjoy—and that might also torture him a little bit.

“I promise, the second that fresh croissant hits your lips, it'll be worth it.”

“I'm not so sure about that.”

His pout was adorable.

I grinned as he dug through his suitcase, sliding out of his sleep boxers and into briefs, then his jeans. There was something so intimate about the fact that he didn’t even think twice about undressing and redressing in front of me. It felt comfortable and sensual.

I didn’t think I’d ever experienced that combination before.

We stopped by Baz’s room on the way out, and he cursed at us before pulling the pillow over his head. I guessed his desire to join us was eclipsed by his desire for sleep.

“He is the opposite of me in the morning,” Sunny said, yawning as he grabbed one of my travel mugs and doctored his coffee.

“It’s fun to see something he’s bad at. I bet that doesn't happen often.”

“Yeah, the Day brothers don’t like letting people see what we’re bad at.” He stepped up to me, holding his travel mug against his chest. “Until I met you, Baz was the only one who got to see my less-than-sunny side. And even he didn’t get all of it.”

“I want all of it. All of your sunny, all of your dark.”

That was probably too intense, but either he was too tired or didn’t mind.

Before I could overthink it, he leaned in and kissed me, the taste of his toothpaste and coffee mingling on his tongue. He smelled like sleep, warmth, and safety.

I hoped I could make him feel just as safe.

“Come on, let’s make you fall in love with Christmas again.”

We held hands as we walked out to the truck, parting only briefly to get into our respective seats before clasping hands again.

I didn’t often drive around at this time of night—early morning, really—but a fresh overnight snow blanketed everything, making the world seem frozen in time, like a snow globe.

We didn’t have to be at the bakery for a while, but there were a few places I wanted to stop first. He pulled a face when I hit the main road and went in the opposite direction from downtown.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

A few minutes later, we turned onto the iconic drive that surrounded Christmas Falls. The city council had taken notes from the much grander Niagara Falls and set out lights to highlight the water and mist.

“I know it’s not much to look at. We don’t have high mountain rivers, but?—”

Sunny cut me off. “This is beautiful, Gray. It doesn’t have to be the biggest or best. It just has to be appreciated.”

I found a good place to park, and we walked to the overlook. I stepped behind Sunny to give him the view, wrapping my arms around his chest.

“Look at how pretty the stars are,” he said, glancing up at the moonless sky.

“It’s just rural enough out here that the lights don’t block them out.”

“You never get a sky like this in Chicago.”

“Exactly. Chicago is bullshit. I don’t know why anyone would live there,” I said, kissing the back of his ear.

Sunny looked back at me with a pout on his pretty lips. “ Hey . No Chicago slander. It has the best hot dogs, the most beautiful downtown, and the best baseball team ever.”

I clenched my jaw. “I didn’t think it would come to this so early in our relationship, but everything hinges on your choice of best baseball team. Tell me quick, and please don’t break my heart.”

He snorted. “Honestly, if you don’t agree with me that the Cubs are the best team, I’ll leave right now. I’ll take my hobbled plane, and I will leave right now.”

“No need to flee on a plane with a broken leg,” I said with an exaggerated sigh. “Phew, that could’ve been tragic.”

“Go, Cubs, go,” Sunny chanted softly, turning back to the beautiful scene in front of us.

His hands came up to my arms, holding on as we watched the water pour over the falls.

The fact of the matter was, he could’ve said that the Cardinals— herk —were the best team, and it wouldn’t have mattered. I was falling for him—falling so fast and hard that when I landed, I'd leave a crater in the earth’s crust.

After a while I turned Sunny to face me, adjusting my scarf around his neck before pulling him in for a kiss.

“I don’t know what else you have planned for me today, but even though you dragged me out of bed at an ungodly hour, I love it out here. This morning is going down as one of my very favorite memories ever.”

“Mine too.”

Over the last several days, he and I had exchanged these world-stopping glances. Locked into each other, it almost felt like drowning—except it was the only time I could truly breathe.

I just wanted to fall to one knee and beg him to be mine for the rest of our lives.

Ridiculous? No doubt.

Way too soon? Of course.

But I didn’t give a shit. This man was it for me. He would always be it for me.

I could’ve stayed at the falls, looking into his eyes for the rest of the day, but we had things to do.

“Let’s go bake Christmas cookies for the town,” I whispered.

“Okay,” he said, then followed it up with a kiss.

We made our way into the bakery a little before 5 a.m., and Joel was waiting for us.

“Gentlemen! It’s a busy day, and I appreciate the extra hands.”

He held out a croissant in each hand, steam still rising from them.

“Yes!” Sunny hissed, snatching his from Joel.

He took a massive bite out of the flaky pastry, then let out a pornographic moan with a dreamy look on his face. “This is the best croissant I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

I carefully plucked the fresh croissant from Joel’s hands. “Thank you,” I said with a modicum of dignity.

Then I took a bite, and . . . Good God almighty. I thought I knew what Joel’s croissants tasted like—hell, I’d been eating them for years. They were buttery, tasty perfection every time.

But fresh out of the oven, they had the most delicate crisp on them, almost indescribable. It was my turn to sound like a third-rate OnlyFans account.

“Sorry, Sunny, but I’m gonna have to marry this croissant.”

It suddenly got quiet, and I looked up to see surprise on Joel’s face. I chanced a glance at Sunny, and, as his name suggested, he was beaming.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind a little polyamory with pastry,” he said, kissing me right there in front of Joel.

Joel shook his head as Hayden, his fella, walked in from outside. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Take a picture, it'll last longer,” I said, cupping Sunny’s jaw.

“Oh my God, get a room,” Joel joked.

Hayden, wearing athletic wear and checking his pulse from his early morning run, shook his head. “What do you mean, 'get a room?' You’re still all over me, and you don’t seem to be complaining about that.”

Joel turned a few shades of red before answering, “True.”

We spent far too many seconds looking into our loved ones' eyes before finally snapping to attention. Still a little flushed, Joel gave us hairnets, dragged us to the handwashing station, then gave us gloves.

Joel had already prepared the sugar cookie mix we were to be working with, and he started feeding it through the gauging rolls to flatten the dough to an even thickness. Our job was to then take the punched-out cookie designs, paint the tops with dyed butter-sugar, and dust them with sugar glitter.

Sunny and I formed a line. I took the tray of punched-out cookies and painted the tops, then slid them over to him, and he sprinkled complementary glitter before sliding them down to be put into the oven.

Before today I had never thought about how many sugar cookies our town went through during the Christmas season.

It was a lot, apparently.

By the time the store opened, Sunny and I were covered in sugar and glitter, and our shoulders ached from the work. It was, however, very satisfying to watch people step up to the counter and choose our cookies.

Joel had fancier cookies, of course, ones that he’d designed by hand, but I was proud of the work we had done.

Before we left, Joel stopped us and gifted us a dozen cookies. “Thanks so much for the help, guys, it actually made a difference. There might be something to this early morning volunteer work.”

We agreed, and I bet it’s something he’ll bring up at the next city council meeting.

I turned to Sunny. “We’re done with Christmas for the day, and if I don’t take a shower right now, I feel like I’m going to turn into a sugar cookie.”

“I was thinking the same thing. Who knew that process was so messy?”

“I think we can all agree that some are a bit messier than others,” Joel said, gesturing to his black chef’s coat, the front of which was now nearly white.

We waved goodbye and headed out to the truck.

Sunny turned to me and gave me a huge kiss. “I really, really enjoyed this morning.”

“So did I.”