Placing my hands on his broad shoulders, I pushed him out of the room. “Okay, you really need to leave. I have to get dressed.”
He snickered. “I’ll go finish the real tree trimming.”
As he was leaving, I called out, “Damien?”
He turned around. “Yeah?”
“Thank you.” I smiled.
He blew me a kiss and ventured back out into the living room. Not even a full minute passed before I heard him swearing.
“Fuck!”
I ran to the living room, still buttoning my shirt. “What happened?”
“The dogs apparently took it upon themselves to pee in the bushes like they normally do, but in this case, said bushes would be our fucking Christmas tree. There’s a massive puddle, and I just stepped in it!”
“Shit.”
Dudley and Drewfus were now hiding in the corner of the room.
His anger turned to laughter. “I can’t even get mad at them because I think they were confused. We’ve been so busy, we forgot to take them out. They thought we were bringing the bushes to them.”
“Well, they were spreading the holiday cheer.”
“At least it wasn’t Christmas logs of shit.”
I cracked up. “True.”
“Well, I guess I don’t have to take them for a walk anymore.”
“Have they ever done that before?”
“I’ve never had a Christmas tree with them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Jenna is Jewish and to be honest, I probably wouldn’t even be celebrating Christmas if it weren’t for you.”
“Why not?”
“I never really got into it. After Dad died, Mom didn’t celebrate it anymore. The holidays always sucked. This will be the best Christmas I’ve had since childhood.” He walked toward me and fixed one of my buttons that I’d apparently put into the wrong loop, then said, “Christmas is about happiness and love. When you’re lacking those things, it can be one of the most painful times of the year. But when you suddenly realize that you’re happier than you’ve ever been, Christmas comes alive again. So, fuck the spilled wine and the dog piss. It’s all good, because this is the best Christmas ever.”
As if on cue, one of the dogs barked. “Woof!”
He chuckled. “They agree.”
“I’m lucky to have found you guys. Last Christmas was the worst of my life. What a difference a year makes.”
“Anything can happen in a year, sometimes horrible stuff, sometimes amazing things. I’m glad this year was the latter for me.”
“This year was life-changing.”
Returning to the kitchen counter to finish arranging the appetizers, I admired Damien’s body as he decorated the top of the tree. His fitted red shirt rode up every time he reached his arm out to position an ornament.
Mixing some onion soup mix into sour cream, I said, “It’s not every day I get to watch a hot man in a Santa hat decorate my tree.”
Damien turned toward me and raised his forehead. “Stop looking at me like that, Jameson, or the only thing wrapped under the tree will be your legs around my back.”
I’d better change the subject.
“So, who’s coming tonight for sure from your end?”
“Tyler is picking up my mother and bringing her here along with his new girlfriend.”
“What’s her name again?”
“Nicole.”
“Hmm. Okay. I’ll try to remember that. Who else?”
“I invited Murray and his wife. That’s it. You know me. I don’t need a big crowd.”
“My parents are coming a little late. They have another party to stop at first. I also invited my friends Laura and Courtney from the youth center. We’re only talking ten or eleven people max.”
“It’ll be nice to see people, but personally, I’m looking forward to our Christmas morning alone more than anything,” he said.
“Me, too.”
We planned to spend tomorrow morning together, exchanging our own presents before heading to my parents’ in Sausalito later in the day for dinner with Claire and Micah. So, my Christmas morning would surely consist of an awesome homemade breakfast and lots of sex.
Damien had finished the tree just in the nick of time. While he was out buying the few items I’d forgotten earlier, the doorbell rang.
The first to arrive were Tyler and Nicole.
Tyler looked really handsome in a fitted black collared shirt and dark jeans. Nicole was cute. She was petite like me, except she had long brown hair and big brown eyes. She was beautiful, everything I would expect from someone Tyler would bring home, although she seemed even sweeter than I might have imagined. I didn’t know why, but I kind of pictured him with someone a little bit more stuck-up.