EDDIE
“Go on!” Tyler stood beside my round stainless-steel table, apron slung over his shoulder, while an anxious furrow dug into his brow. Red had her hips cocked to the side and her arms crossed. Her typical black clothes had been traded out for a green sweater dress dotted with candy canes. Her hair was up in a braided bun and a sprig of holly was stuffed artfully in the side. The coffee line was to the door, but there were three employees behind the counter darting around making drinks and taking orders with the frenetic energy of elves on crack.
“What is this?” I asked, wrapping my hands around the large red mug. The heat felt amazing against my palms. I couldn’t help but smile as I inhaled the warm scent of holiday spices. Whipped cream was piled on top and red and green sugar made the peaks shiny.
“It’s a gingerbread latte with a kick—” A smile took over Red’s face as the point of her high-heeled black boot met the air. “—of rum.”
Tyler nudged the mug toward me and bit his lower lip in the most adorable way possible.
Grinning, I inhaled as I lifted the mug, then took a sip and moaned at the pure flavor parade in my mouth. It was just the right amount of sweet.
Tyler covered his eyes, acting silly in a way that had only recently come out of hiding.
“It’s good, baby. The best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
He flashed a relieved smile at Red, who slapped his shoulder.
“Told you, kid. You’ve got it down pat. You’ll be running this joint in no time.”
“I should know what I’m doing after all the drinks I made this morning. But Eddie has bad luck sometimes, and it could’ve rubbed off on me.”
I snorted. “I have something else I’d like to rub off on you.”
Red pointed her finger at me but didn’t go so far as to tell me to behave. She chuckled and clapped her hands. “Come on in the back, Tyler. I have a Christmas Eve present for you, but you earned it.”
My heart swelled at the kiss he pressed to my temple before he rushed after her.
“Is this the best drink I’ve ever had? It is.” Shifting around happily in my seat as the upbeat piano music fromA Charlie Brown Christmascame over the sound system, I took another sip, and this time the pleasant hint of rum socked my taste buds. My eyes closed so I could focus on how good my life was.
I had Tyler.
I had the best drink ever.
I was going to take Tyler home and curl up in front of the tree. Life didn’t get much better than this. Despite Tyler’s joke, I was the luckiest man alive. Things were going to turn out all right. Excitement twirled through me and I felt light. Were Tyler and I going to have a good life together? Yes, we were.
Guaranteed.
Unfortunately, when I opened my eyes, I met Dad’s horrible scowl. He was a couple of spots from the back of the line, waiting to order.
I coughed, sloshing some of my drink on the table, and Dad took that as his cue to stomp over to me.No, no, no.
“What was that shit with Tyler? Are you really together?” he asked, slapping my back. To an outsider, it probably looked like he was helping, but as he did it again, he almost knocked my face against the table. The third time had my face pressing the wood. He didn’t let go until I slapped at him, and then all I got was a mean laugh.
Nausea swamped me, and I froze as a hundred different terrifying moments from my childhood swamped me. Dad telling me off before a school play, then me fucking up my lines. Dad shouting at me when I fell off my bike, as if I’d wanted to scrape my elbows. Dad shoving Mom down the basement stairs because she hadn’t moved fast enough to get his work clothes out of the dryer.
Fuck, where did that one come from? I blinked. I hadn’t thought about that in years, hadn’t even remembered he’d done shit like that when I’d had a therapist, but it was all coming back, a sick sludge that had been buried at the bottom of my brain.
Guilt swelled up in my throat, choking me. I couldn’t believe I’d abandoned Tyler with this monster.
Dad dragged out the chair across from me and sat down.
“He’s my boyfriend. I told you that.”
Dad stared at me and his upper lip curled as a stony silence built between us that ruined the holiday music. He looked respectable, a deep red shirt under his blue leather NGPD coat, like perhaps he was getting ready to go to a Christmas party. Was he taking that new girl with him? For her sake, I hoped not.
“I love Tyler.”
At that, he shook his head slowly and leaned forward. “Son, the gay thing doesn’t bug me, but you can do better.”
