Page 46 of A Christmas Kiss
Alex ran his fingers over the black North Face gloves and smiled when he looked up. “They’re great, thanks.” He seemed a little hesitant as he handed over Riley’s present.
It fit in the palm of Riley’s hand, and for the life of him, he couldn’t guess what it might be. Alex watched him open it, fiddling with the gloves as he sat there waiting.
Inside a layer of blue tissue paper sat a Christmas keyring—a little green tree edged in silver with a yellow star on top. Riley looked up to meet Alex’s gaze.
Alex swallowed. “I thought you could put your keys on it when we move in together.”
Riley’s smile was immediate. “You still want to?”
“Of course I do.” Alex grinned back.
“Well, that’s good, because—” He opened his top drawer and reached in under his socks to fetch out the stack of papers. “—I was going to wrap them up, but then I thought….” He offered them to Alex. “Here.”
Alex glanced at the estate agent leaflets in his hands. “When did you get these?”
“Yesterday. I was passing, and I thought I’d pop in and ask what they had.” The woman had been only too happy to help, giving him all the info she had on current flats for rent in the areas he suggested and putting him on their email list. Riley watched as Alex flipped through the pages. “I mean, I know some of them are out of our price range, but….” He trailed off as Alex looked up, eyes bright and smile wide. “What?”
Alex carefully set the papers aside and cupped Riley’s jaw. “I’m just so fucking happy that you did this. I didn’t know….” He sighed and started again. “I wasn’t sure if you still wanted to now that we’re together.”
Riley frowned. “Surely that’s even more reason to?”
“Well, it’s all still new and—”
“Alex, I know you better than I know anyone. I love you, and I want to wake up to you each morning and go to sleep with you at night.”
“Same.” Alex’s shoulders relaxed a little, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “And I love you, too.” He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Riley’s lips, then rested their foreheads together. “I wish I could remember our first kiss.” He sighed again and pulled away enough to meet Riley’s gaze. “I wish it was more than a fuzzy memory that seems closer to a dream than reality.”
Riley remembered it all too clearly, and yeah, he wished it was something they could share. “Maybe….” He put his hands over Alex’s and peeled them away to link their fingers.
“What?”
He glanced at Alex’s phone—00.01. “This will be our first Christmas kiss.” Riley leaned in close and reached up to slide a hand round the back of Alex’s neck. “You can remember this instead.”
“Yeah.” Alex smiled, squeezed Riley’s fingers, and kissed him—a slow, deep, toe-curling kiss that had Riley pushing him back down onto the bed and half lying on top of him.
“Merry Christmas,” Riley whispered.
Alex gave him that soft smile he kept just for Riley. “Merry Christmas.”
