“Yeah,” Marek said as he came out of the kitchen, munching on a piece. “I know. You should grab some before Wade inhales it all.”
Patrick pinned Wade with a look, making the teenager freeze halfway to his feet. “He won’t.”
“Butbacon,” Wade said.
“It’s for everyone. You’ll have to share.”
Wade pouted, but the lure of his presents overcame his desire to steal food. Jono headed into the kitchen to finish making everyone’s drinks and pull the cinnamon rolls out of the oven a couple of minutes later. The platter of bagels, cream cheese, and lox was already on the coffee table in the living room.
Lunch was a mishmash, because the real meal would happen in a few hours. Jono would put the goose in before they opened up the presents, and Sage had promised to help with the side dishes. Patrick was still terrible at cooking and was excused so none of them ended up poisoned and in the emergency room.
Someone turned on the television, switching it to the channel broadcasting the Macy’s Christmas Day Parade. It was almost noon, so the parade was nearing the end. Considering the amount of snow New York had seen this month, Jono figured it had probably taken a fleet of snow plows to clear the parade route.
“Pat, can you come grab a tray?” Jono called out.
“Sure. Be right there,” Patrick replied.
A few seconds later, Patrick came into the kitchen. Instead of grabbing a tray of drinks, Patrick wrapped his arms around Jono’s waist and rose up onto his tiptoes to steal a kiss. Jono smiled against his lips, enjoying the easy looseness that had settled in Patrick since last night. When Jono tried to pull away, Patrick chased after his mouth, and they ended up spending nearly a minute kissing each other, the drinks forgotten.
But not for long.
“Stop making out in the kitchen! I have presents that need to be opened!” Wade yelled, sounding as if the world were ending.
Sage and Marek’s laughter echoed loudly in the flat. Patrick broke the kiss with a snort, one hand still groping at Jono’s arse. “He might kill us in our sleep if we wait any longer.”
“I’ve money on before supper,” Jono replied.
It took two trips to bring the drinks and food out to the living room where Jono had already set plates and napkins on the coffee table. Marek had already made himself half a bagel piled high with schmear, lox, and capers. Sage took it upon herself to pass out the hot toddies and the giant mug topped with a mountain of whipped cream and drizzled chocolate that was Wade’s, who made grabby hands at it.
“Don’t spill it,” Patrick warned.
“You know cleaning charms,” Wade replied, already taking a sip of the overly sweet drink. He got a dollop of whipped cream on his nose, which he wiped off with a finger that he then licked clean.
“Teenagers,” Marek said with a laugh. “You guys know you’re starting a little backward, right?”
Patrick threw a wadded-up napkin at his head. It bounced off Marek’s curls and fell to the sofa. “Shut up.”
“Nowcan we open the presents?” Wade asked.
Jono’s mobile going off had Wade groaning loudly, a mournful look settling on his face. Jono dug his mobile out of his pocket and checked the number flashing across the screen. He frowned at it.
“Who is it?” Patrick asked, eyes narrowing a little.
“The callbox downstairs,” Jono said.
“We got all our packages yesterday. No one delivers on Christmas.”
Jono answered anyway. “Hello?”
He could hear a multitude of heartbeats through the staticky connection before someone cleared their throat. “Jono?”
It took him a moment to place the voice. He hadn’t seen or spoken to Letitia since she had come to their home at the beginning of the month asking for territory advice with Marco’s rival pack.
“Letitia? It’s Christmas. Why aren’t you with your pack?”
“Some of them came with me.”
“Us too,” Marco added, making Jono blink in surprise.
