I reached out to crank the blower higher because our combined body heat was already fogging up the windows. Outside, the last tinges of dusk turned the snowbanks lining the road a glowing pink as my tires crunched down the road to town, and Billie Holiday’s voice on the radio sang “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.”
“My, my, how you’ve changed,” Adrian joked. “Aren’t you the same man who insisted he wasn’t interested in anything I had to offer?”
I sucked in a breath before letting it out slowly. “I may have been… reluctant to admit that I was into you at first.”
His bark of laughter made me jump. “Hoo boy. You are a riot, Sullivan. Reluctant to admit you were into me? You don’t say.”
“Alright, alright. Keep your pants on,” I grumbled around a smile. “I told you I had reasons.”
“Mmhm.”
I turned to look at him and saw him smiling out the passenger window. After reaching across the console for his hand, I said, “I don’t actually want you to keep your pants on.”
Adrian let out another laugh through his nose before turning to catch my eye. “Duly noted.”
I brushed my thumb across his knuckles. “Iaminto you, you know.”
“Yeah?” His grin was big and easy. The man was so damned comfortable to be around, it was like being with myself, only better. “What made you change your mind about admitting it?”
My eyes returned to the road ahead. “I decided to give myself a Christmas present.” I shrugged. “Even though you’re only here forthis project, I thought I might allow myself to enjoy my time with you while it lasts. Stop worrying so much about the future.”
“Even though the town’s still planning our wedding?” Adrian joked. “Because I’ve got to tell you, your sister’s probably already booked the venue.”
I winced. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. The town is invested in seeing me happy, after everything with my folks. And Maya… I think she feels guilty leaving me alone next year. Maybe she thinks if I’m with someone, it’ll be easier. I’m sorry she’s dragging you into it.”
Adrian’s fingers moved into the back of my hair, causing my skin to prickle. “Maddox, I’ve known all along what I was getting into with the Legacy matchmakers. You laid it out for me on day one, remember? Right before you gave me all your rules.” He grinned and added softly, “And I knew what I was getting into withyou, too. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been into you since the day we met. You’re the one who was so dead set against giving things a chance.”
Thankfully, we’d pulled into my spot behind the hardware store, so I quickly threw the truck into Park and turned to take his face in my hands so I could give him another kiss.
“You sure you don’t want to run upstairs for a few minutes before we head to Timber?”
Adrian’s mouth tasted like toothpaste. I wanted to kiss him until there was no trace of it left and all that remained was the flavor of me.
He pushed me away with a laugh and a hand to the chest. “Some of us have toworkfor a living, Sullivan. You wouldn’t know a thing about that, would you?”
Considering he’d borne the brunt of most of my hectic schedule this past week with holiday portrait sessions and long hours at the store, I knew he was only teasing.
“Right, because standing around looking pretty while other people take your picture is so much harder than actual manual labor. Tell me, Hayes, do you get hazard pay for the risk of breaking a nail?”
We exchanged barbs the entire walk down Founder’s Row to Timber. Despite the teasing, I held Adrian’s hand in mine and kept him as close as I could without tripping him.
Because I was incredibly aware that after tonight, there was only one official date remaining until Adrian Hayes was gone for good.
#BoyfriendShirt #StopTheClock #MoreThanSnowIsFalling
21
#ELEGANTLYHAMMERED
ADRIAN
Timber lookedlike a holiday fever dream designed by someone with impeccable taste and a secret obsession with rainbow Christmas lights.
Traditional evergreen garlands wound around the bar’s rustic beams, but interspersed with them were strands of subtle rainbow bulbs that cast everything in a warm, welcoming glow. The effect was both festive and unmistakably queer-friendly—a perfect representation of Legacy’s unexpectedly progressive heart.
“This place looks incredible,” I murmured to Maddox as we shed our coats. The bar was about half-full, couples and small groups scattered around intimate tables, everyone speaking animatedly, as if energized by the season.
Although, to be fair, they could have been energized by the drink specials, too.
