"Want you inside me."
He prepared me carefully, his fingers working me open while his mouth stayed busy. By the time he pressed three fingers inside me, I was shaking.
"Ready?" he asked, rolling on a condom.
"So ready."
He pushed in slowly, watching my face. He paused when he was fully seated.
"Okay?" he asked, trembling.
"More than okay. Move."
He did, pulling almost all the way out before pushing back in. Slow and deep at first, his eyes never leaving mine.
"Love you," he breathed.
"Love you too."
He shifted his angle and hit that spot inside me that made stars burst behind my eyelids.
"There—yes—"
He gripped my hips and thrust harder, faster, one hand wrapped around me, stroking in time.
"Close," I warned. "I'm so close—"
"Me too."
I came with his name on my lips, pleasure rolling through me. He thrust deep one more time and came with a broken sound, shuddering.
We collapsed together, both wrecked. He pulled out carefully and we cleaned up, stumbling to the bathroom on shaky legs.
Back in bed, I held up the key, watching it catch the light.
"Thank you," I whispered. "For this. For everything."
"Thank you for saying yes to all of it." He pulled me close. "Merry Christmas, Jason."
"Merry Christmas, Brent. Best one I've ever had."
***
Brent picked me up on Christmas Eve.
"Ready for pizza and poker?" I asked, climbing into his car.
"Ready to lose all my money to Finn? Absolutely." He grinned. "This is tradition, right?"
"Our tradition. You're part of it now."
Finn's house was warm and loud when we arrived. Garrett was already there, along with Micah and Cooper. Pizza boxes covered the coffee table, cards were being shuffled, and Christmas music played softly in the background.
"Jason! Brent!" Garrett waved us in. "You're just in time. Finn's about to deal."
We settled in and I watched Brent relax into the chaos. He held his own at poker, made Garrett laugh with a story about publishing disasters, and even got Finn to crack a smile when he admitted he'd never played poker before the retreat.
"You're doing that thing where you count cards, aren't you?" Micah asked, watching Brent study his hand.
