Chapter 8

Chapter

Eight

Victor

Jesus Christmas. Was this what happened when kissing under the mistletoe? If so, then I’d been missing out. No, this was all Adrian, the feel of his lips against mine, the tentative swipe of his tongue, and how sweetly he leaned into me. I deepened the kiss, and he sighed into my mouth.

Reaching down, I cupped his ass, only wanting to cop a feel, but he jumped up, wrapping his legs around me, and I felt how hard his cock was. Thank fucking everything good in this world. It wasn’t only me. We made out right there, with me holding him in his arms, until my lips went numb.

Adrian pulled back and immediately frowned. “Don’t you have a bedroom?”

“Uh. I didn’t want to?—”

He slammed his mouth on mine, so I took the hint and stumbled toward my room with our mouths fused together. As soon as we got in the door, he shimmied down, reaching for the bottom of his shirt the minute his feet hit the floor. “What do you think, old man? Can you keep up?”

I barked out a laugh. “I’m only thirty-five, you little pain-in-the ass.”

He wiggled his hips as he shoved his pants down his legs. “Well, I’m only twenty-four, and I need you.”

After cleaning us both up, I pulled him in close to my side. “I guess this means you like-me-like-me, too.”

He huffed, slapping me gently on the stomach. “You know I do, or I’d have never spent so much time with you.”

I squeezed him a little harder. “You finally figured that out, huh?”

“Maybe. It’s more like I talked to my best friend, and he suggested that we’d been dating, whether I knew it or not.”

He sounded like a disgruntled kitten, so I bit back my laugh. “He’s probably right.” Adrian glared up at me, and I kissed the tip of his nose. “Sorry, but I’ve been working pretty actively to woo you.”

“Good grief. I know you’re older than me, but woo me? Really?”

I snickered. “So tell me something we haven’t talked about before.”

He covered his mouth as he yawned. “Like what?”

Tangling our legs together, I said, “Since we’re dating now”—he snorted—“tell me why you didn’t spend Thanksgiving with your mother. The real reason.”

“Since Christmas is right around the corner, you’ll find out soon enough. I’m not really her priority, so she spends her holidays with whoever her newest boyfriend or husband is. My mom’s…kind of selfish, I guess.”

My heart broke for him. That explained the sadness he’d tried so hard to hide when he’d informed me so matter-of-factly that he’d be home for Thanksgiving by himself. After kissing his temple, I said, “I’m sorry about that, babe.”

He scowled. “Babe? Really?”

I barked out a laugh. “I’m glad to see that sex hasn’t changed your grumpiness.”

He shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s a self-defense mechanism I learned a long time ago.”

This poor man. What had he been through at his mother’s hands that he felt so invisible and wanted to push people away before they had a chance to let him down? It was lucky for both of us that we’d met. I was half-in-love already, and if I had my way, he’d never spend another holiday wondering whether he’d be alone or not. If anything, his future holidays would be filled with chaos and fun and a whole lot of love.

“Then I guess now’s a good time to ask you to spend Christmas Eve with me and the kids.”

Adrian shuffled around, laying his hand on my chest and resting his chin on top of it while he peered up at me. “Are you sure? Do you want to check with the kids first?”

I smiled at the picture he made. His hair stuck up all over the place from our lovemaking. This was exactly what I’d hoped for. “Jeremy insisted that you be here, and Marissa yelled at me for not asking you already. They want you to go pick out a Christmas tree with us and go shopping for gifts for their mom and each other and all the things. Scared yet?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

I acted confident, but I was terrified of his answer. Not because he was so grumpy, but because taking on a man eleven years older and his children was a lot to ask of someone. Especially a guy who was so used to his solitude.

With a shy smile, he laid his head back down, resting his cheek over my heartbeat. “Na. I think I can handle it.”

“So that’s a yes?”

Very softly, he whispered, “That’s a yes, please. It sounds perfect.”

We were halfway asleep when the bed shook with Goldie’s weight. “What are you doing, girl? You know you don’t sleep on the bed.”

She looked at me balefully, spun in a circle, and laid at Adrian’s feet. He giggled the most carefree sound I’d ever heard out of him. “Leave her alone. She just wants to be near me.”

Since I couldn’t blame her, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.