Jess leaned back. “This will be a disaster.”
“This will be fun,” Darrin said, eyes gleaming like Gabe was fresh meat.
Mark’s hand settled on his knee under the table. “A set is three of the same card, number or face card, and a run is four cards in numerical order. That’s all you need to know.”
Seemed simple enough.
“The first hand is three sets, the second is two sets and a run, the third is one set and two runs, and so forth. When somebody gets that, they lay down their cards, and everyone else gets points for what’s left in their hand. After ten hands, lowest score wins.” Darrin began dealing as he spoke, and a small mountain of cards piled up in front of Gabe.
That told Gabe how to win, or more realistically how he would lose, but it didn’t actually tell him how to play.
Everyone else picked up their cards, so Gabe did too. A mess of colors and numbers and faces stared back at him. He wasn’t even sure how many cards he had. The rest of the deck got put in the middle of the table, and one card turned up beside it.
Jess took a card from the pile, placed it in her hand, and put a different card on top of the turned-up card. Didn’t seem hard.
“You can take the card on the top of the discard pile or you can pick one from the deck. Then you throw a card away,” Mark murmured against his ear. Now was not the time to get turned on by Mark’s voice, something Gabe could hardly control on the best of days. Playing a confusing card game with your boyfriend’s family the first time you met them did not make this the best of days.
He picked a card from the deck. Eight of diamonds. It took him a moment to awkwardly flip through his cards. He needed three of a kind, but he had no other eights. Seemed like an easy choice. He laid down his eight of diamonds and Mark picked it up right away. Maybe that hadn’t been the right choice. Was he supposed to stop other people from getting three of a kind? How did he even do that?
Gabe decided he probably needed an advanced strategy lesson to learn defensive maneuvers, and he definitely wasn’t ready for something so complex. He kept his eyes on his own cards as they went around the table a few more times.
He nudged Mark with his elbow. “If I have three of a kind, what do I do?”
“If you have three sets of three of a kind, you can put them all on the table. But only when you have three sets.”
“Like this,” Jess said triumphantly as she laid down three nines, three Jacks, and three twos.
Darrin groaned and laid down his cards. Jess glanced at them and laughed. There was some sort of competitive spirit between the couple Gabe would never understand.
Mark helped him total up how many points he had in his hand. Less than Darrin, but more than Mark. At least he wasn’t losing yet.
Jess started shuffling with the same quick, complicated movements Darrin had used. Gabe was definitely going to make a fool of himself when his turn to shuffle came. He hoped he didn’t spill the cards all over the table. If he did, maybe he could play it off as intentional and mix them all up in a pile instead of shuffling like an adult.
“Mark!” Candace yelled from upstairs somewhere. Gabe jumped in his seat at the sudden noise, but no one else moved. “Can you get something off a shelf for me?”
“Coming!” Mark bellowed back. Gabe had never heard him raise his voice before. Another unexpected thing that made sense in context. Gabe could almost see a gangly teenaged Mark shouting through the house and his mother and sister shouting back.
He kissed Gabe on the top of the head. “Duty calls.”
Jess dealt the cards but waited until they heard Mark climbing the stairs to start questioning Gabe.
“So, you and Mark have been together how long?” She kept her eyes on the cards as she flicked them into neat piles in front of each person.
Gabe hadn’t met Jess before. Not officially. He’d seen her, months ago, driving Mark’s car and jumped to the conclusion he was Mark’s side piece. It was embarrassing but at least Jess didn’t know.
“About six months.”
Another card landed in front of Gabe. “How did you two meet?”
Darrin snickered.
“Um…” Gabe froze. They hadn’t discussed what their cover story would be. He had no idea what to say. Jess knew they didn’t work together because she worked at the same company as Mark. The gym wasn’t a believable excuse because, well, Gabe obviously wasn’t the gym going type.
“Come on, Jess. You’re embarrassing him.”
Gabe hadn’t thought help would come from Darrin.
Jess broke into a wide grin, a dimple appearing on her cheek in the same place as Mark’s. “I’m kidding. We know you met on Cruised.”
Mark had told his sister and her husband they met on a hookup app. Did Candace know? Gabe wouldn’t be able to look that sweet little old lady in the eye if she knew what a hookup app was, let alone that he’d met her son on one.
A thump sounded from upstairs, and Gabe prayed it meant Mark was coming back soon.
“I also know you thought I was Mark’s wife.”
What hadn’t Mark told her? What happened to I value discretion?
Heat covered Gabe’s cheeks. “Yeah, that was a mistake.”
Jess’s smile softened, became fond. “Yeah, but it’s good Mark has someone who cares enough about him to be pissed about something like that.”
“Most people would be pissed if they found out their boyfriend was married.”
“He wasn’t your boyfriend yet.”
Gabe’s mouth went dry. She was right; they hadn’t been dating. Just enjoying each other’s naked company in semipublic places. If Mark had told her that, Gabe would murder him.
Suddenly, Mark appeared behind Jess, and gave a piece of her long blond hair a gentle tug. “Leave him alone.”
Nothing about it was heated or mean-spirited. Only friendly teasing. Familial teasing in a way Gabe had never experienced. Thinking about what Jess and Darrin knew was embarrassing as hell. But they were also welcoming and liked him enough to include him in familial banter and card games and the feeling of Christmas.
He wasn’t angry at Mark for being open with his family, but he could have given Gabe a heads up.
Only nine more hands to go.
DARRIN WON THE card game. Gabe had been doing okay until some complicated rule about stealing other players’ cards came into play. After that, he was toast.
“Loser gets the boys ready for bed,” Darrin announced but tempered it with a kiss to Jess’s cheek.
“It was my turn anyway,” she grumbled, rising from the table.
It had gotten late. Gabe thought his tiredness came from being sick, but it was creeping up on the time he usually turned into a pumpkin.
Darrin struggled to get an oversized rubber band around the giant deck of cards while Mark picked up their empty cups and plates covered in cookie crumbs. Gabe ducked out to the bathroom next to the kitchen.
The bathroom didn’t have a lock on the door. Great.
He’d have to pee as quickly as possible, assuming he could pee at all with an unlocked door. Who didn’t put a lock on the bathroom door?
He managed to do his business and get himself put away. Almost in the clear. Just needed to wash his hands.
The door creaked open, just a sliver. Gabe had visions of Mark’s nephews walking in and cried out in panic. “Occupied!”
There was no need to panic, he was washing his hands, but it was a knee-jerk reaction pushed by a spike of terror.
The door continued to open. Instead of a tiny face appearing at waist-height, it was Mark.
“What are you doing?” Gabe hissed.
Mark reached past him to turn off the water, abandoned after Gabe’s panic. This meant he had one arm mostly around Gabe, which he used to pull Gabe against his chest.
“I haven’t gotten you alone all day.” He brought his mouth down on Gabe’s, slow and sweet, coaxing Gabe’s lips apart with his tongue.
It took a few moments
and a hand wandering to his ass for Gabe to remember that bathrooms that didn’t lock in your boyfriend’s mother’s house were not the best place for getting hot and heavy.
He pushed against Mark’s chest and tilted his head away. “We can’t do this here.”
“I thought you liked bathrooms.” Mark nipped at Gabe’s jaw and kissed down his neck.
He wished he’d worn a button-down. It would be easier to open… No. They were not getting it on in Mark’s mom’s bathroom.
“Ha. Ha. Very funny.” Gabe looped his arms around Mark’s neck— not the best way to discourage Mark. A harder bite at the base of his throat made Gabe whine. “Mark…”
“We could go upstairs.”
Gabe’s cock twitched at that but immediately deflated. He couldn’t have sex with Mark in his childhood bedroom with his sister across the hall and his mother downstairs.
Well, the bedroom had been redone so it wasn’t really his childhood bedroom.
He imagined Jess’s knowing look on Christmas morning or, worse, her saying something about the noise.
Nope. Couldn’t do it.
Mark rolled his hips to press their groins together as he sucked on Gabe’s neck.
Maybe he could fuck Mark in his mom’s house after all.
“We’d have to be really quiet. Like, very, very quiet.”
Mark grinned and took his hand, led him out of the bathroom, and all the way through the living room. They said their goodnights to Candace, half asleep in a recliner, Jess and Darrin, who were laying out sleeping bags for the boys, and the boys themselves, who were doing nothing to help.
Gabe felt as if what they were about to do was written all over his face. Everyone had to know. It was so obvious. Could be that his blush covered up the incriminating writing. Possibly.
Mark kicked the door shut behind them, its thud making Gabe wince.
“Relax.” Mark took hold of his shoulders. “It’s fine.”
Gabe surged up, crashing into Mark’s lips. He wanted Mark, he always wanted Mark, and the best way to get over any nervousness was to jump headfirst into the deep end. He worked his hands under Mark’s sweater to run his palms across hot skin and firm muscles. He sucked on Mark’s lower lip before deepening their kiss, sliding his tongue into Mark’s mouth.
Hands squeezed his ass as Mark pulled them tightly together. Mark loved to grab his ass, and Gabe wouldn’t complain about that at all.
He worked his hands across Mark’s chest, more difficult now that Mark was crushing them together and kissing Gabe back passionately, until he reached Mark’s nipples. Already pebbled and stiff under his fingers, Mark’s nipples were incredibly sensitive. Something Gabe hadn’t had time to learn in bathroom quickies. That knowledge came later. He tweaked one until Mark gasped, breaking away from Gabe’s mouth.
“Off. Off.” Gabe pushed ineffectively at Mark’s sweater until Mark pulled it over his head on his own.
Gabe had seen Mark in suits, and naked, and in silky pajama pants. He rarely saw him in jeans. The combination of the shadow of definition on Mark’s abs and the dark denim sitting just below his navel made Gabe’s knees weak. He wouldn’t need much encouragement to kneel and lick the short line of hair above Mark’s belt buckle.
Mark wore a belt with jeans on a casual visit to his mom’s? Of course he did.
Below the belt, the outline of Mark’s cock pushed against his fly. Gabe bowed his head and swiped the flat of his tongue across Mark’s nipple. No reason he couldn’t keep teasing because Mark was already hard and ready to go. Much more fun that way.
Mark scratched his fingernails through the short hair on the back of Gabe’s head and held him close. Gabe sucked and licked and nibbled until Mark nudged Gabe toward his other nipple. Happy to oblige, Gabe repeated his work on the other side, enjoying Mark’s panting and bitten-back groans. Quick flicks of his tongue had Mark grinding against him and gripping his shoulders like he might collapse.
“Christ, Gabe.” Mark cupped the sides of his head and pulled him up for a kiss.
The stairs creaked, and Gabe jerked back.
“Shhh, it’s fine.”
Water ran in the bathroom next door.
Mark kissed him, slow and sweet.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Gabe asked.
Another peck to his lips. “You act like I didn’t spend high school sneaking boys up here.”
Gabe snorted in response.
“Only got caught once. Trust me.”
The water cut off, and the door to Jess’s room closed with a soft snick.
Gabe took a deep breath and pulled his shirt over his head. That was all the agreement Mark needed. They each went to work on getting their pants off. It was sexy to undress someone, or to be undressed, but always faster to do it yourself. Priorities.
They ended up in their boxer briefs, on top of the covers, with Mark stretched over Gabe. Mark kept their kisses deep and sensual, slow enough that Gabe wanted to speed them up, but Mark wouldn’t let him. It was exactly the distraction Gabe needed to almost forget where he was.
Mark sat up on his knees and ran his palms up Gabe’s arms. Raising them above Gabe’s head, Mark trapped Gabe’s wrists together in one broad hand with a wicked grin.
They didn’t play this game often, and most of the time, Mark ended up in this position, but Gabe was happy for the surprising switch. He stretched and wiggled to get comfortable. He might be there a while.
Mark rolled his hips to drag their clothed cocks together. Gabe bucked up as much as he could, but Mark had him pinned. He could get used to this.
The rolling continued until Mark was braced above Gabe on his free arm, grinding harder and faster against Gabe from the tops of their thighs to their waists. Sweat began to make Gabe’s skin sticky.
“Can we do this without the underwear?” Gabe pleaded.
They struggled to work their boxer briefs down without Mark letting go of Gabe’s wrists.
It would have been easier if Gabe could use his hands but, again, priorities. Mark got his underwear off entirely but stopped with Gabe’s wrapped tight a little above his knees.
The first touch of Mark’s bare cock against his own tore a groan from Gabe’s throat. Mark kissed him quickly. Gabe refused to think about the noise they were making, he would deal with any embarrassment tomorrow.
“Did you bring any lube?”
Gabe froze. “No, I didn’t pack lube to bring to your mother’s house for Christmas.”
“Hmmm, we’ll have to make do.” Mark released his wrists with a squeeze. “Leave them there.” He held his hand in front of Gabe’s face. “Lick.”
It wouldn’t do much good, but it was still hot. Gabe licked Mark’s palm, swiping his tongue back and forth. He sucked two of Mark’s fingers into his mouth and stroked them with his tongue. He kept sucking as Mark pulled them from his lips.
Mark lined himself up so he could take both of them in his fist. As he stroked, the flex of Mark’s fingers on one side of Gabe’s cock and the drag of Mark’s cock against the other sent sparks up Gabe’s spine. His hips jerked instinctively, in time with Mark’s strokes. Tension lined Mark’s face with the effort of holding himself above Gabe while jerking them both off. His eyes squeezed closed.
Gabe let him stay that way for a few moments until he felt his balls tightening. “Mark, open your eyes. Look at me.”
Sharp, clear blue eyes snapped open, full of love and affection as Gabe came in Mark’s hand and all over the underside of his cock.
“Fuck,” Mark gasped. He tore his gaze from Gabe’s to watch the final spurts of come leak from Gabe’s cock. Mark sat up quickly, balanced on his knees, and stroked himself hard and fast, poised over Gabe’s flexing stomach as Gabe struggled to catch his breath.
His hand, covered in Gabe’s come, worked himself. Gabe suddenly understood why Mark liked to watch so much.
“You gonna come on me?” Gabe whispered, the threat of being overheard sneaking back in.
&nb
sp; Mark bit his lip and groaned. “Yeah.”
Gabe finally lowered his arms. He settled a hand on Mark’s chest, dragging it across Mark’s pecs. “Come on then. Do it.” He tweaked Mark’s nipple as an exclamation point on his softly spoken command.
Come shot from Mark’s cock. The first hit Gabe on the throat, the rest mixed with what was already on his stomach. Mark collapsed on him with no mind to the mess. They would stick together if they weren’t careful.
They didn’t have a towel handy. Shit.
Gabe rubbed Mark’s back and decided to trust Mark knew what he was doing. Knew how to have clandestine sex in the house he’d grown up in.
“Did you really sneak boys up here in high school?” Gabe wouldn’t have had the courage to do that as a teen.
Mark hummed against Gabe's collar bone. “It was half the reason I played lacrosse.”
So, it was lacrosse.
He smoothed sweaty hair away from Mark’s forehead. “But you got caught.”
“Only once.” Mark pressed a chaste kiss to Gabe’s throat. “Hmm…Shane Johnson…”
“All right, that’s enough.” Gabe tugged on Mark’s ear. “Time to clean up.”
Mark shot up as if they hadn’t just had an exhausting day topped off by enthusiastic sex. And he’d done most of the work. He scooped up his discarded boxer briefs and used them to wipe his hands, his belly, his cock.
Gabe caught them easily when Mark tossed them in his direction. “This really is like high school.”
Laughing, Mark leaned over to kiss him again. “Next time, I’ll bring a towel. Used to keep them in my lacrosse bag.”
He pulled Mark into bed and prodded until he was the little spoon tucked against Mark’s shoulder. They both fell asleep without brushing their teeth. If that wasn’t love, Gabe didn’t know what was.
December 25th, Christmas Day
THE WHIRLWIND OF Christmas morning struck with the boys shrieking about gifts Santa Clause had left under the tree. Gabe had no idea how those gifts had been snuck in since the boys slept on the floor next to the tree. He wasn’t a parent, so he didn’t need to learn those secrets.
The adults exchanged a few small gifts. Jess, Darrin, and Mark had gone in together to get Candace a new smart TV, which the tallest nephew immediately said he would help set up. Soon enough, the TV spewed Christmas music at a much louder volume than Gabe would have liked.
Holiday Gridlock Page 3
