What Happens at Christmas by Jay Northcote Read Free Book Online Page B

Sean’s bare arse stuck on replay in his head.
    It made a nice change from having sad wanks over the memory of Andy.
     
     
    “Are we getting the Tube?” Sean asked.
    They were almost ready. Justin was putting the finishing touches to his hair. The butterflies in his stomach were back in force now, his post-orgasm high all too quickly blitzed away by nervous tension.
    “No. I booked us a taxi.” Justin picked up his phone and checked the time. “Fuck! It’ll be here in five.” He finger-combed his fine blond hair into place. Long on top, but short at the back and sides, the fringe swept sideways across his brow. His narrow face looked back at him from the mirror, tight with tension.
    Sean stepped up behind him and put his hands on Justin’s shoulders. A steady weight, grounding him. “You look great.” His voice was calm and reassuring, with no trace of teasing. “Honestly, Justin. You look gorgeous.”
    “Yeah?” Justin caught Sean’s gaze in the mirror and gave him a small smile.
    “Yeah. Andy will wonder why the hell he was stupid enough to let you go.”
    Justin’s smile widened. “You think?”
    “I know.”
    “You look good too.” Justin mentally congratulated himself again on the outfit choice. Those trousers showed off Sean’s long legs and slim hips beautifully, and the red shirt was a great colour on him. Justin had carefully coordinated his own outfit so they looked good together, his trousers in a slightly paler shade of grey and a purple shirt that blended with Sean’s deep red one. Neither of them was wearing a tie, to fit the smart-casual dress code, and Justin had instructed Sean to roll up his sleeves once he’d ditched his jacket. Sean had lovely forearms; it made sense to show them off. “I think we’ll turn a few heads when you walk in on my arm.” A car horn sounded on the street outside. “That’ll probably be the taxi.”
    “Let’s go then, boyfriend. Show Andy what he’s missing out on.” Sean took Justin’s hand, and Justin’s heart surged at the contact.
    It’s only pretend , he reminded himself. But his body hadn’t got the memo. The fluttering in his stomach was now for a totally different reason.
    As the taxi drove through the busy London streets, away from the residential area where Justin lived and towards the centre, the streets got wider and brighter. Justin’s stomach lurched with nerves again.
    “Is this a really stupid idea?” he asked. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want. We can tell people you’re a mate, or we could just duck out of the party altogether and go to the pub, or out for dinner or something.”
    “Don’t be daft.” Sean squeezed Justin’s hand, which he’d kept hold of throughout the ten-minute cab drive. “We’re nearly there now, let’s run with it. What could possibly go wrong?”
    Justin could think of a few things. Mostly involving dancing, and embarrassing boners, and accidentally rubbing them up against the guy he’d been best friends with since he was seven years old.
    He kept his worries to himself. Instead he said, “Maybe we should have discussed limits.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Like… how far we’re prepared to go. I don’t want things to be weird.” Although Justin had a sneaking suspicion that they were already in weird territory. Sean was still holding his hand and stroking small, distracting circles on the palm with his thumb. It was robbing Justin of the ability to think straight.
    “I’m pretending to be your boyfriend in a public place,” Sean said. “Unless it’s a very different party to the kind of thing I’m imagining, I think we’ll be okay. A bit of handholding, casual touches, maybe a kiss on the cheek? I think we can handle that.”
    Justin’s brain got stuck on the word “kiss.” On the cheek…. He could do that, but even thinking about it made him imagine more. He’d spent most of his teenage years longing to kiss Sean. Wondering how it would feel, how he’d