“See, that’s an artsy-fartsy reply.” Bohdan told his brother while pointing at Kert.
“Are you famous?” Danilo asked.
“Okay, okay, that’s enough.” I kneeled between the boys. “Show me your creations.”
“It’s aliiiive!! Bohdan waved a painted figurine of an elf on a string. “I made this with the air-dry clay you gave us.”
“That’s pretty good.” Kert plopped next to me and inspected the figurine in Bohdan’s hand. “You’ve had a good teacher.” He shoulder-shoved me.
“Are you boyfriends?”
“Yes,” Kert said while I said: “No,” at the same time.
Kert gave me an exasperated look so I winked at him to soften him up.
“Yes, we’re boyfriends,” I said. “But Kert is leaving after Christmas so don’t get used to him.”
“You don’t want to stay?” Danilo pulled out a paper chain from his box and shuffled closer to the tree.
“It’s complicated. My life is in Berlin. I teach at university, but I also have classes for kids like you.” He stood up. “Let me help you with that. The placement needs to be strategic. See.” He guided the boy to move the chain a tier higher and closer to the edge.
Hearing Kert mention the importance of his life away from me turned my stomach so much I had to get a drink. I cameback with a carafe of water and sat on the floor, watching them decorate.
“Where should mine go?” Bohdan jumped up.
Kert rubbed his hands. “Show me what you got. Your clay ornaments should definitely be displayed front and center.”
Once the kids’ decorations were up, I pulled out the boxes of baubles Kert and I had purchased on the Christmas market, each a hand-made treasure.
My heart warmed up seeing Kert get along with my tiny friends so well. But it also hurt when Kert mentioned his pending departure. He had a life in Germany, family, friends, and a career. Who was I to even consider asking him to stay with me? If I cared for him so much, I could go back to Berlin. Yet I didn’t want to. Leaving New York would feel like giving up, like failure.
I’d thought it would be easy to expand my friendship with Kert to include sex. But assuming I could simply switch these feelings on and off had been a mistake.
Once I’d had a taste of his skin and heard his moans as he came under me, I couldn’t imagine him disappearing from my life. Not completely, but being an ocean apart would be a nightmare. One I had to make peace with very soon.
Hours into bedazzling the apartment, we were done, tired, and hungry. Thankfully, when Lana picked up the kids, she left two large tupperware boxes filled with food in her wake.
I locked the door behind her and turned to Kert. He wasn’t in the living room. “Kert?”
“I’m putting the boxes away in the closet room.”
“Don’t go in there!” Panic filled my lungs and I dashed to the room.
It was too late.
Kert stood with a sheet in hand facing a painting he’d uncovered.
On a backdrop of a city landscape a man stood with his back to the audience. His naked, pert ass and a slim, long tail were accentuated in delicate brush strokes. His short, filed horns peeked from an unruly mop of raven-black hair.
Kert unveiled another painting with the same naked figure, this time on a sunny day at the beach.
“Marin? What are these?” Kert didn’t turn to me, but the trembling in his voice was hard not to notice.
Chapter Twelve
Marin
“Shit. You weren’t supposed to see them. I haven’t shown these to anyone.” I approached him, careful not to touch him.
