Chapter Fourteen

Will Gets Entangled In More Ways Than One

After two hours with no sleep in sight, Aiden gave up the fight and headed to the kitchen in search of a cup of hot chocolate. The light showing under Will's door gave him another idea.

Better make that two cups.

He stood in the kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil. The reason for his insomnia could have been the amount of food he'd eaten, but Aiden knew that wasn't the root cause.

His mind was full of Will.

Aiden couldn't put his finger on it, but something seemed… off during the meal. He recalled the way Will and Becca had been at the hotel, the night of the anniversary party. It had been as though they couldn't bear to be parted for more than a minute, always touching, always sneaking glances at each other. But since that night?

Something's changed.

It couldn't be anything huge—they were still engaged, for one thing—and whatever it was, Becca hadn't said a word. But her manner during the meal had been a little strained, especially noticeable with that business of her phone. And the rest of the evening she'd been quiet.

Becca? Quiet?

Aiden sensed a disturbance in the Force.

He poured hot water into the cups, stirred, and crept out of the kitchen, switching the light off with his nose. When he reached Will's door, he nudged it twice with his foot. He heard the wooden bed frame creak, and a moment later, Will stood there in his shorts, pulling a tee over his head.

Aiden held up the cups. "Thought this might help."

Will smiled. "Well, come on in, fellow insomniac." He closed the door behind Aiden, then climbed back into bed.

Aiden glanced at the book lying face down on the comforter, and chuckled. " A Brief History of Time ? Not exactly a light read."

"And not a good choice for sending me off to sleep either. It's way too interesting." Will smiled. "Where's Moby Dick when you need it?"

Aiden sat on the bed, his back resting against the high footboard. "I deliberated bringing you a turkey sandwich," he teased.

Will gave a low groan. "Don't mention food. I haven't eaten that much since…"

"Last Christmas?" Aiden suggested.

"Yeah, possibly." He wrapped his hands around the mug, inhaling the aroma. "Your parents…"

"What about them?" Aiden smiled. "You're a hit, by the way."

"Good to now." Will took a sip before continuing. "It's just… well, they're not what I expected."

Aiden arched his eyebrows. "Now you've got me curious." Whatever expectations Will had harbored could only have been fueled by Becca.

Will stared into his hot chocolate. "Becca has talked a lot about her family."

"I dread to think how she painted me."

Will bit his lip. "I think ‘nerd' pretty much nails it. But I had an idea of what your parents would be like."

"And is reality better or worse?"

Will smiled, and it reached his eyes. "Better." He took another sip.

Aiden got the sense Will didn't want to continue with the present topic. "So… where will you be spending Christmas?"

Will gazed into his cup again. "I don't know."

Aiden chuckled. "Well, surely it's one of two places, dude."

"I… I can't think that far ahead."

"I hate to break it to you, but Christmas is three days after your wedding—which is exactly four weeks from today."

"And right now I have other things to think about, okay?"

Aiden regarded him thoughtfully. "College stuff? I know you have exams coming up." But from what Becca had told him, Will would breeze through them.

Whatever was on Will's mind, it wasn't school.

Well, something sure is. And it's keeping him awake nights.

Aiden frowned. "You and Becca… everything's okay, isn't it?"

"What? Oh, sure. Everything's fine."

Aiden studied him. "Let me guess. You'd go so far as to say it's dandy. Peachy, even."

Will reached back to touch the base of his neck. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing. Just something Becca said."

Okay, something didn't add up, but maybe Aiden's math was at fault.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this.

Yeah, and maybe it was time he went back to his own bed and stopped thinking about Will.

Aiden got off the bed. "If you like, you can borrow Midnight. His purrs will soon have you falling asleep."

"Thanks for the offer, but I think your need is as great as mine." Will smiled, only this time there was none of that captivating light in his eyes. "Sleep well."

Aiden went to the door. "You too." He left the room and crept along the hallway.

Near the footboard, Midnight didn't even stir as Aiden entered.

Oh, to sleep like a cat.

He climbed back into bed and sat, finishing his hot chocolate. Then he placed the cup on the nightstand, snuggled down the bed, and pulled the comforter up over his head, creating a warm cocoon. Midnight was a warm lump near his feet.

You mess with my head, Will Bryant.

Friday, November 25

Will gazed at the string of lights coiled on the living room floor. "How many lights are there?"

"No idea. Mom says there were a hundred originally, but they'd added to them since." Aiden laughed. "She claims they make baby lights during the time they're in the attic, when no one is watching."

He grinned. "Really? That is freaking adorbs."

Aiden nodded. "She's been saying that for years, and when I was little, I believed it. Now, of course, I know the truth—smart lights wear condoms."

The more time Will spent around the Taylors, the more they enchanted him.

"And every year it's my job to test them first, to check all the bulbs are working," Aiden continued. "Then I replace any dead ones."

Will coughed. "You know, most Christmas lights these days don't have bulbs. They're usually LED lights."

"Which tells you how old these are." Aiden plugged them in. He grinned when the room was filled with cool blue and warm white lights. "Hey, whaddaya know? They all work." He snorted. "That was the easy part."

"Where's your dad?"

"In the garage with the compressor, getting all the inflatables ready."

"How many is ‘all'?" Will pictured the front of the house with its four raised flower beds retained behind low brick walls, and the expanse of lawn that reached the sidewalk. A lot of room for decorations.

He won't fill all of it—will he?

"Let me see." Aiden counted off. "There are three Santas, one Santa in his sleigh, eight reindeer, eight snowmen—"

"Eight?"

"Sure. They line the path to the front door, four on each side. Then Dad puts a wire arched tunnel over the path, and strings little white lights all over it."

It sounded magical.

At least I'll get to see it before Christmas.

Aiden picked up the end of one of the coiled cables. "Hold this, would you?"

Will grasped it. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Just stand still."

Before Will could ask what on earth Aiden was doing, Aiden began to wind the cable around his body, looping it under Will's arms.

"What—what are you doing?"

"Trust me. You'll look amazing." Aiden wound the cable around Will's neck, even going so far as to give him a coiled crown of lights.

"I am not a Christmas tree!" Will called out, doing his best not to laugh.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Perfectly sure. And watch what you're doing with that," Will said as Aiden passed the cable between his legs, up his back, and over his shoulder. "There's a word for this, you know."

Aiden grinned. "Yes, there is—Shibari. Never seen it done with lights before. Maybe I'll start a new trend."

"And maybe you can unwrap me right now ."

The door opened and Becca came into the room. She took one look at Will, burst out laughing, and a nanosecond later, her phone was out and she was taking a picture.

"Becca!" he remonstrated.

"What? You look so cool. I bet Dad would love to plop you out in the yard, next to the sleigh." She waggled her phone. "You know what? I'm gonna save this and print it. Then I'm gonna stick it on the noticeboard in the Astrophysics faculty."

"Do that and you're a dead woman," he growled.

Except it was hard to get the words out, he was laughing so much.

Becca held up her phone for him to see. "Aw, don't you look pretty?"

"You see those gold-painted pinecones in that bag by the fireplace? When I get out of this, I am going to shove them where the sun doesn't shine. And that goes for both of you."

Aiden bit his lip. "There's a word for that too." He started to untangle Will with obvious reluctance, winding the cable as he went.

At last Will was free. "Thank you." Then he darted across the room to grab the bag of pinecones, and Becca let out a shriek. She fled, leaving Aiden holding his hands up defensively.

"Now, Will… don't do anything you'll regret."

Will grinned. "I'll give you a ten second head-start. Two…four…six…eight…TEN!"

Dinner was predictably turkey-based, with nowhere near the quantity of the previous day, for which Will was grateful. It wasn't until the pumpkin pie made its appearance that the meal became a little awkward.

"You've organized your suit for the wedding, haven't you, Will?" Louise asked as she passed the plates around.

"My suit?" The words came out as a squeak, and Aiden chuckled.

Becca wasn't laughing, however. She gave Will an unwavering stare.

"Yes, your suit. And while I think on it, what do you plan on wearing, Aiden?"

Will took refuge in the momentary distraction to think fast.

I can't lie. I hate lying.

Aiden blinked, and a wave of sympathy washed over Will.

"To be totally honest, I haven't given it much thought," Aiden replied.

"Then I suggest you remedy that situation—tomorrow. I'm taking Becca to try on her dress, so you might as well come along and find yourself a suit."

Judging by Aiden's look of misery, he couldn't think of anything worse.

Will to the rescue.

"I've got a confession."

Becca stilled, her face paling a little.

"I think I know what you're going to say." Louise cocked her head to one side, and for one scary moment, Will had the feeling she saw right through him.

Becca seemed to have stopped breathing.

"You haven't organized a suit yet, have you?" Louise gazed at him with warm eyes.

"How did you know?"

She huffed. "Because I know you've been working very hard at school." Louise smiled. "Don't worry—you can join Aiden tomorrow, and we'll kill two birds with one stone." She forked off a piece of pie, and Will took the opportunity to breathe.

Becca appeared to be doing the same.

"But you have made arrangements for Will's bachelor party, haven't you, Aiden?"

It was Aiden's turn to do the old rabbit-caught-in-the-headlights routine.

"It's all in hand," Will blurted out. "Just a bit of-fine tuning left to do." He met Aiden's gaze. "Isn't that right?"

Aiden swallowed. "Yeah, that's right. We can talk about this after dinner."

"Lou, give them a break." Carl smiled. "They've worked so hard today, the last thing they need is to be grilled by you. Stop worrying. This wedding will go off without a hitch. You'll see." He resumed eating his pie.

Will could see one pretty humongous hitch heading straight for them. One thing was certain, however. He was not about to let Aiden organize a bachelor party.

As to how he was going to get around it—without letting the cat out of the bag—he had yet to work out.