Sleigh Ride (Minnesota Christmas Book 2) (9 page)

Ch
apter Eleven

It
was kind of cute, Arthur decided as he dressed the steaks and arranged them in the hot cast iron, the way a good orgasm knocked Gabriel on his ass.

He was adorable all around, really, and sexy as fuck with a mouth on his dick. It was all that repression and fussiness—if Arthur had known nerds let go so hard, he’d have been cruising libraries years ago. And those
legs
. Yes, Gabriel’s height made Arthur feel like a squat little gnome, but when they lay down, none of it mattered, and those goddamn legs were the sexiest things Arthur had ever seen. Tall geeks at the library. Take a fucking note.

Except deep down he knew this wasn’t a nerd thing or a tall-guy thing or a librarian thing. This was a Gabriel thing.

He had a Gabriel thing, a big one, and it scared the shit out of him.

He wasn’t going to run, though. Yeah, he was freaked out over how much he liked this guy, but after seeing Gabriel with Paul, he couldn’t let anyone else have his Gabe because he was too busy being a dumbfuck.

He wouldn’t put it past Paul to have done this on purpose.

God, he’d been an ass to Paul, and he felt lousy about it. He hadn’t connected like this to Paul because he really was only a buddy he’d fucked. Arthur still didn’t know exactly what Gabriel was to him. He simply knew he couldn’t stand to be without him.

Okay. So he knew exactly what Gabriel was to him. He had to get used to it, was all.

Making him dinner seemed like a good start. So he did his damnedest to make it the best goddamn meal he’d ever made for anyone in his life.

He’d cooked deer steak in the oven plenty of times—the secret was a hot pan and patience mixed with a significant bit of attention. Gabriel had a few vegetables he could sauté and some sad lettuce in his fridge, but Arthur wanted more, so he texted Frankie, who made a run to the grocery and muni for him. Arthur met him in the garage, Frankie appearing from the truck where Marcus waited inside with the engine running.

“Thanks.” Arthur took the bags from Frankie, trying not to feel weird, except he felt all awkward and exposed. God help him if Frankie wanted to stand there and give pointers. Except he kind of wanted him to.

Jesus, this shit was impossible.

Frankie kissed him on the cheek. “You’ll be fine. He likes you.”

Arthur wanted to argue, to say no he wouldn’t be fine, to ask how Frankie knew, to beg to be allowed to run away. He couldn’t, though—run away. He’d promised Gabriel he wouldn’t.

What in the hell was wrong with him? Why was he being such a freaking baby about making dinner?

Frankie had his
you’re so adorable
look on. “Sweetie, do you want us to come in for a minute?”

Yes.
“Better not. He doesn’t have pants on.”

Frankie’s adorable expression turned into a cheeky grin. “Good for you. Go make your man some dinner.”

With a swat on Arthur’s backside, Frankie retreated to the truck.

Gabriel was still asleep as Arthur tossed a salad and fried up some potatoes. It was good, because it gave him time to work on his freak-out, but it also gave him ample opportunity to wind himself up. Which was why when Gabriel appeared in the doorway, sleep-rumpled and wearing sweats, Arthur startled and nearly dropped the salad bowls.

“Scared the crap out of me. Sorry.” He put the bowls on the counter.

Gabriel leaned on the doorway, still looking drowsy. And lots of awkward. “You shouldn’t have let me sleep. I could have helped.”

“You seemed like you needed it. Besides, I said I’d cook, right?” He reached for the wine, then stopped. “Shit. I should have let it breathe or whatever.”

Smiling, Gabriel took it from his hands and opened a drawer. “I’m not fussy.” His smile faded, though, as he picked up a corkscrew. “You’re all nervous and awkward. Are you going to do this every time we make out?”

Arthur reached to get glasses for the wine from a cupboard, only to realize he’d already brought some down. “I…I’m not good at this stuff.”

“What, people?”

Arthur swallowed and let out an unsteady breath. “People I like.”

He’d meant it as a confession, but Gabriel’s tone was dry and unpleasant. “You expect me to believe you don’t have any friends? You’re not like this with Frankie and Marcus, or Paul. You don’t like
them
?” When Arthur didn’t reply right away, Gabriel rolled his eyes and pushed off the doorframe. “Forget it.”

Arthur caught him by the wrist before he could disappear into the living room and held on fast. “You’re pretty damn prickly yourself, you know? What I was trying to say was I like you, as in,
like you
like you, and it makes me nervous.”

“Because I’m a gangly nerd and you’re still shocked you want to tap that?”

“Because I fuck a lot of things up, and I don’t want to with you.” He backed Gabriel to the wall, liking the way Gabriel sucked in a breath and went semi-pliant. “You’re working on earning your spanking, aren’t you?”

As he’d hoped, Gabriel blushed and went even softer. “I—I’m sorry. I don’t…enjoy being rejected.”

“I ain’t ever rejected you, Gabe.”

Gabriel bristled. “You did. The other night, in the parking lot.”

“No. That wasn’t me rejecting you. That was me being very nervous.”

Gabriel looked only moderately mollified. “I didn’t like it.”

“Yeah, well.” Arthur traced the line of Gabriel’s lip. “I got freaked out that you might not like
me
.”

Behind his glasses, Gabriel’s eyes grew soft-focused, half-closing. Then they opened a little wider, and he nipped at Arthur’s thumb. “I won’t like you at all if you burn my deer steak.”

A laugh burst out of Arthur. After bussing a kiss on Gabriel’s lips, he crossed to the oven, where he donned potholders and opened the door. “Come on over here and tell me if you approve.”

Gabriel crouched beside him, his face melting in ecstasy as he inhaled. “Oh my God. I could kiss you. So hard.”

Arthur’s heart turned over like a puppy. “Let me put down this hot pan, and you can be my guest.”

The peck Gabriel planted on Arthur’s forehead once the pan rested on the burners made Arthur blush to the tips of his beard as he arranged their plates, carrying them to the table. He relaxed as Gabriel set down their wineglasses, freshly poured, and dove into his own plate, making more noises of pleasure over the venison than he had the blow job on the couch.

“
Arthur.
It’s been
forever
. This is
so
…oh my God.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin, gulped some wine, then dove in. “I can’t tell if it’s that good or it’s just been too long. But this is
seriously amazing
. What did you put on it?”

“Just a few spices. Mostly you have to cook it right.” Warmth spread through Arthur as he watched Gabriel eat, skipping everything else to focus on the venison. When he demolished the meat within minutes, Arthur slipped half of his portion over. “Here. Have some more.”

“But that’s yours.” Gabriel stared longingly at the section Arthur had given him. “I can’t eat your dinner.”

“Sure you can. I’ll eat more salad and potatoes. I’ve got pounds to spare. You could use some fattening up.”

Gabriel took another heady drink of wine. “I should insist you eat it.” He spoke with absolutely no conviction.

Arthur laughed and nudged the plate closer to Gabriel. “Go on. I’ll enjoy watching you finish it more than if I did myself.”

There was something intense and visceral about feeding Gabriel, about having his man so appreciative. Suddenly he understood why his mother loved to bake his father pie.

Arthur settled in his chair, cradling his wine, wishing it were beer. “I’ll go hunting first chance I get. Get you fresh meat and cook it on my grill, and we’ll eat it by the fireplace.”

Gabriel looked eager and guilty at the same time. “I’m so awful. I can’t stand to see the carcass. I hate the idea of them being killed. I would be a vegetarian, I really would, except I love meat too much.”

That bleeding heart broke Arthur’s. “You don’t need to feel bad. Look—we don’t keep a heavy enough wolf population to thin them down. We don’t hunt them into a reasonable population? They starve to death.”

“I know. My dad always told me that. Lectured me about how animals live in a kill-or-be-killed world. I needed to learn to be the same way or I’d be killed.”

Arthur rubbed at his beard, self-conscious. “Okay. Your dad is right about the world they live in. But we don’t live there. Yeah, their way is simpler, but it’s brutal. Why should we have to be brutal too?”

“If I don’t want to hunt or kill, I should be vegetarian. Or vegan.”

“Well, I don’t agree.” He laid a palm on the table. “I’m not great at a lot of things. But I can kill you a deer. Fell timber for your dining room set and walls of your house. Fix your leaky washer.”

“I
wish
you’d fix my washer, because it’s a joke.” Gabriel’s expression grew sad. “Those are useful things. But…what do I do? Look pretty?”

“You give little kids in the North Woods things to dream about. You don’t think it’s important, being the person who takes people out of the dark? You’re a wizard to everybody at story time. I saw you. You’re amazing.”

Gabriel waved this away with a hand. “The one you saw? That was me phoning it in. I can do better.”

“Exactly my point. If
that
was you sleepwalking, you must light things on fire when you’re on your game. You mean a lot to this town. The parents and the kids alike. If you want to be squeamish about killing things, I’m okay with picking up your slack.”

Gabriel stared at Arthur, then leaned across the table to kiss him softly on the mouth. When he pulled away, he had the melted-butter look again. “You don’t ever need to be nervous around me. Ever.”

“Yeah, I do. You’re way too smart for me, and any second you’ll remember, and I’m sunk. I ain’t improving with age.”

“That’s nonsense.”

“Gabe, I don’t read a lick. I can’t even stand a newspaper. My mom tried to put me on Facebook, and
that
was too much reading for me.”

Gabriel shuddered. “Facebook isn’t reading.” He sucked on his bottom lip before pushing to his feet. “Here. Come with me.”

Arthur rose too, following, though with no small amount of apprehension. “Where are we going?”

“To my bedroom.” Gabriel took Arthur’s hand. “I have something to show you.”

Arthur wanted to make a wiseass comment about how he’d be interested in anything in Gabriel’s bedroom, but he was nervous, pretty sure this wouldn’t be X-rated. When Gabriel led him to a tall black bookshelf stuffed full, his heart sank.

Gabriel, smiling at the books, didn’t notice. “I have a lot of books in the house, but the ones in here are my favorites. My volume of Shakespeare from college. My Discworld series. My original edition
Lord of the Rings
set. My autographed copy of
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
. And then there are the rest of the shelves.” He pulled out a large black-and-yellow volume and passed it over. “This is
The Watchmen
by Alan Moore. It depends on the day if this is my favorite or
Sandman
by Neil Gaiman is. I like all Moore’s work—
Swamp Thing
is genius.” He pulled out another, darker volume and put it on top of the first book he’d given Arthur. “Not everyone enjoys
Hellboy
, but I do. I love the mythology. And, surprisingly enough, the first movie.”

Arthur stared down at the books in his hands, feeling as if he were on a diving board. “I don’t understand.”

Now it was Gabriel who looked slightly nervous. “Well…Marcus told me you liked comics.”

“I—well, yeah. I did. When I was a kid.”

Gabriel blushed. “Ah. Well, I still do.”

Arthur stared at Gabriel. He felt dizzy and…strange. When Gabriel tried to take the books back, he wouldn’t let them go. “These are all comics?”

“Yes—but it’s okay. Forget it.”

Arthur stepped out of his reach. Sitting on the bed, he flipped open
Hellboy
. Then sucked in a breath. “
Whoa.
Holy…” he turned a page, and his gut clenched, “
…shit.
”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Gabriel sat beside him, perching tentatively. “What…what did you read? When you were a kid?”

“Charlie Brown. And there was a Garfield book until it got stolen.”

Gabriel’s whole face went red. “Oh my God.
Comics.
But he said…superhero—oh shit,
movies
. I’m so sorry.” He reached for the books.

Once again Arthur tugged them away, this time with force. “Stop taking the damn book, I’m reading it.”

“I’m sorry.” Gabriel was entirely flustered. “I misunderstood. I thought you meant you were into DC and Marvel or something.”

“Superman and all that? Yeah, I would have been. I’ve seen all the movies but haven’t read any of the comics. I kept asking Marcus’s mom to order me some when we were kids, but she wouldn’t. They had one issue, once, at the dime store back when we had one, but my mom wouldn’t let me buy it. I read the whole thing while she shopped. I saved my allowance and went to get it, but it was gone and the owner said they weren’t carrying them anymore.”

Gabriel looked horrified. “That’s terrible.”

“It wasn’t great, no.” Arthur set
Hellboy
aside and opened
Sandman
. He sucked in his breath. “
Holyfuckingshit.
”

Gabriel touched the page reverently. “This is the omnibus edition. I love the coloring, the way it leaps out at you, even when it’s shades of gray and black and green and nothing more. I can lose myself for hours in a panel.”

Arthur could understand that. “This is amazing.
Incredible.
” He couldn’t stop touching the pages, feeling as if they were going to come alive at any second. He glanced up at the towering shelf. “So you’re saying
all those
books you have here are the same as these?”

“Well—I pulled out my favorites, which are the best in my opinion. There are some stinkers in there too. But other than the top shelf, yes, everything here is all graphic novels or comics.” He looked thoughtfully at a volume. “I think you might enjoy
Bone
. It’s a bridge between comic strips/funny pages and graphic novels.”