King’s smile stole Leo’s breath away. “We did kind of unofficially get together around Christmas, didn’t we?”
“We did.” Leo would never forget that day. “You asked me to come home with you for Christmas, and then we had lots of sex. Like, so much sex.Amazingsex. In bed, against the wall….” Leo worried his bottom lip and took his shirt from King. “I’d kind of fallen in love with you by then.”
King leaned in and brushed his lips over Leo’s. “Funny, same here.”
“Really?” Leo couldn’t help his dopey grin.
“Yep. I might have been in denial, and it was Ace, of all people, who helped me see through the fog of my own doubts. He takes full credit for our getting together, by the way.” King stood and got dressed in his own pajamas.
Leo snickered. “Of course he does. And how often does he bring it up?”
“Oh, at least once a month.”
“Wait.” Leo barked out a laugh. “Oh, my god, it makes sense now!”
“What does?”
“All the times I’ve heard him say to you, ‘I did that.’ I kept wondering what that was about.”
“Yep.” King climbed into bed under the covers, and Leo did the same. “That’s him taking credit for this.” He turned and pulled Leo close, kissing him.
Leo snickered. His friend was such a dork, and Leo wouldn’t change a thing. As he snuggled close to King, loving the feel of King’s arms around him, the warmth and strength of his body, he knew more than ever that he was making the right decision.
Leopold Kingston.
He really liked the sound of that.
CHAPTERSIX
The next few days were filled with all manner of Winterhaven festivities, from a cookie decorating contest, which, of course, led to Leo attempting to eat his weight in cookies, to decorating Christmas ornaments and cards. By the time they got to the card decorating, Leo had consumed so much sugar that his Christmas card consisted of a round rainbow with a white chocolate button in the middle in place of the moon, followed by him providing a lengthy rambling dissertation of rainbows in space.
Leo disappeared several times to see “Santa,” which Bibi had thought was both adorable and hilarious when King had told her about it during their video call one night. King considered himself a patient man, but this was the first time he’d had to share Leo with a mysterious bearded man while they got up to whatever secret hijinks. Leo had never orchestrated anything so complex, especially without the input of his family. And how had his nosey family not meddled enough to find out what Leo was up to? It was frustrating. But King trusted Leo, and whatever Leo was doing, it clearly meant a lot to him. King would never do anything to ruin that, so he’d have to just suck it up and wait.
Maybe he was just feeling a little grumpy because of what he’d been forced to wear after their Secret Santa gift exchange that morning. Ace was cheating. There was no way he wasn’t. King dropped his gaze to his Christmas sweater and sighed.
“Why is he so weird?”
“Who? Nicolas Cage?” Leo asked. “I don’t know. Aren’t all actors a little weird? Though I guess you could say that about anyone, really.”
“No…I mean, yes, that’s true, but I was referring to Ace. Ace is weird.”
“Oh!” Leo laughed. “Well, that’s not news. He’s also obviously cheating somehow. I mean, it’s not impossible for him to pull your name two years in a row, but it’s statistically unlikely. Can you take this box of garland over to Lucky and Mason?”
“Sure.” King grabbed the box. At least he wasn’t the only one forced to wear his Secret Santa Christmas sweater. He headed across the large ballroom. The place was starting to really come together, and he had to admit, it looked fantastic. The ballroom itself was impressive. They were so close to being done, which meant a big party to celebrate, especially since the town actually had guests, thanks to Gio.
Ace, Gio, Cookie, and Joker walked into the room, and King chuckled when Cookie joined Chip, and the two darted off to play with Leo, who sat on the floor with his laptop. Leo was their favorite person, and King understood. Leo was his favorite person, too.
“Again, I’m going to say I didn’t agree to this,” King grumbled as he walked by. He should have known better than to say anything. Why had he opened his mouth?Are you new here? What’s wrong with you?Ace laughed and ran after him. Great.You brought this on yourself.
“Hey, King. Nice sweater.”
“Go away,” King growled.
“What’s wrong? Are you feelingCaged in?”
“If you don’t go away, I’m going to take this sweater off and strangle you with it.” King dropped the box of decor by the pillar Lucky and Mason were working on.
“But, King, the man is aNational Treasure!”
