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Christmas For Gary
by Vic Winter
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Erotica/Romance
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Torquere Press
www.torquerepress.com
Copyright ©200y by Vic Winter
First published in torquerepress.com, 2007
NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.
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Gary hadn't been particularly looking forward to spending his break with his gran, but he had to admit, the old girl and her friends knew how to have fun. They did a lot more than he would have expected and they didn't do any of it by halves. And they dragged him along full bore, whether he liked it or not.
Today it was Adventures in Thai Cuisine. Aside from himself, the only other person in the kitchen under forty was a young woman there with her mother, but he was having the best time. Gran and her cronies flirted shamelessly with the chef and his assistant. Somewhat horrified and definitely embarrassed at first, Gary was eventually made to see the light.
“Don't be such a fuddy-duddy,” Martha scolded. “We're just having some fun before we kick off."
“Martha!” He was shocked at her words, though by this time he really ought not have been. His Gran's best friend, Martha dyed her white hair a bright pink and wore far too much make-up, but she was feisty as hell.
“What? We're old, but we're not dead, and that means we know the value of living. You should live a little yourself. Just because you're young doesn't mean you aren't going to kick off, too, sooner or later."
The others cheered her on.
“Here, here, Martha! How does that song go? Live like you were dying."
“Oh, that's Tim McGraw; he's a hot one. I'd like live like I was dying with him."
“Gran!” Gary knew he was as red as a beet, maybe even redder. It was bad enough that the others said stuff like that, but it was somehow worse when it was his dear old gran.
She just squeezed his cheeks and gave him a kiss. “Go on and flirt with Yan, dear. What could it hurt?"
And so Gary did, and he'd be damned if it didn't feel good. Yan, the chef, flirted good-naturedly back at him, just as the man had done with Gran and her friends, and the world didn't end and he didn't die of embarrassment.
In fact the cooking lessons were suddenly more fun, and he found himself laughing more; he was definitely enjoying himself way more.
They were only moderately successful at their attempts to reproduce the Pad Thai, but Debby waved it off when Gary began to lament the fact that they hadn't had more success. “Honey, I didn't come here to make the perfect Pad Thai. I came to have fun, and I certainly call it a success on that front."
“Come on, girls.” Gran was the one who kept them all moving. In face she was usually the one who found all this stuff for them to do as well. She was a real live-wire.
Gary was pretty sure he'd been conned by his family.
"Oh, Gary, it would mean so much to me if you went to see what you could do for her."
"Gary, is it really too much to ask for a couple of weeks of your time to help her out? I'm so worried about her all by herself. She'll need help going shopping for gifts and stuff..."
“How can your mother and I enjoy our cruise if we're worried about her all by herself—she's not as young as she once was, you know."
Gran certainly didn't need any help from him or anyone else.
“We should stop at the Dairy Queen for banana splits and sundaes and Peanut Buster Parfaits. Then we can go straight to the mall. You all brought your gift lists, right? And don't forget we're doing the Santa game the morning of the 24th, so we'll need gifts and lots of paper for that."
“And the charity gifts,” Martha reminded them.
“You ladies are making me tired.” It wasn't the first time he'd said it—they were just so busy and they dragged him along with them willy nilly.
They laughed and Gran patted his knee. “Definitely DQ first. Gary needs a sugar boost."
Several hours later Gary thought he needed a lot more sugar than one Peanut Buster Parfait provided in order to keep up. Granted, he was doing most of the carrying, but just a few hours of shopping and playing packhorse let him know that he was ruefully out of shape.
“How about a coffee break?” he suggested as they passed by the food court. He was relieved when the suggestion was positively received.
They found a place that sold coffee and sweets, Gary indulging in a huge millefeuille and a large coffee with lots of cream and sugar in it. He dug into his pastry, the plastic fork soon proving itself to being far from up to the task of cutting through the layers of pastry. He gave up and attacked it with his fingers, which were soon sticky and covered in both custard and cream.
Once his plate was clean, he happily set about licking his fingers clean as he people-watched. He stopped suddenly, mid-suck, eyes riveted to a tall, gorgeous man. The guy was the color of Gary's coffee and had short buzzed dark hair, loads of muscles and beautiful hands that he used as he talked.
“Oh, he's a cute one, isn't he?” Martha elbowed him in the ribs, speaking loudly.
Gary blushed hard, but nodded. He had, after all, been caught staring, if only by Martha.
“Why don't you go say hi?” she asked.
“He's with people.” Of course even as he said it, the gorgeous hunk waved his friends off.
Martha cackled. “Not anymore, he isn't."
“I can't just go up to him!"
“Why not?"
“I can't.” He'd never been any good at that kind of thing. Especially when it came to the really good-looking guys. It made him all tongue-twisted and he wound up coming off like a dweeb.
“You flirted with Yan."
“That was different."
“Bullshit."
“Martha!” It didn't matter how much time he spent with the ladies, it still shocked him when they swore. “And it isn't the same. Yan was older and he wasn't a gorgeous stud, and I'm pretty sure he was straight."
“And you weren't attracted to him,” she suggested. At his nod, she said, “Ah...” and, thank God, let the subject drop.
Gary went back to cleaning his fingers, and then started on his plate, getting the last bits of sticky sweet off it with his fingers. He watched Tall, Dark and Handsome as he did so. The stud finished his salad and threw away his dishes, stowed his tray and came toward them, obviously headed back toward where he worked, as he didn't have a coat with him.
“Excuse me, young man.” Martha stopped him as he drew level with their table. Gran, Amy, and Debby stopped their chattering and Gary felt himself start to blush, two fingers still in his mouth.
“Yes, ma'am?” Oh, his voice was deep with just a hint of gravel to it. Nice.
“My friend here thinks you're hot."
Swallowing his groan, Gary yanked his fingers out of his mouth and wiped them nervously on his pants leg, wishing he were anywhere else.
The guy looked over at him and gave him a once over before turning back to Martha. “You'll have to tell him he's not so bad himself."
Gary felt his jaw drop. Him? Gorgeous and Studly thought he wasn't bad? Maybe the guy needed glasses.
Martha laughed and nodded. “He is cute, but it doesn't mean nearly as much coming from a bunch of old ladies as it does from a young stud like yourself."
“Well thank you, ma'am.” The guy smiled and Gary felt his prick give a little jerk. Mr. Gorgeous became even more so when he smiled. “Do you think it would be okay if I said hi to him?"
Gary stood before Martha could answer and held out his hand. “Hi, I'm Gary."
“Nice to meet you, Gary. I'm Troy.” One big, beautiful hand swallowed his up, Troy's skin warm and callused.
Gary smiled and tried not to be too disappointed when their hands parted—it wasn't like they could spend the whole day standing in the food court of the mall, holding hands. “So ... um ... you headed back to work?” Oh great, make the guy think you can't wait to get rid of him.
Troy nodded, though. “Yeah. I work at the Golden Gym. You should come by sometime, let me show you the equipment. I'm a personal trainer with the gym and I could show you around, set you up with a good routine."
It was tempting, but a little voice in the back of Gary's head said that he was going to be so out of place there. “I don't know ... I'm helping my Gran out by playing chauffeur and pack mule and stuff for her and her friends."
Troy didn't even hesitate. “Bring them with you."
“You mean to the gym?"
“I sure do."
“Oh. I.” He floundered, unsure of what to say.
“We'd love to go to the gym.” Gran beamed up at Troy. “Will we get some personal training time, too?"
Gary's eyes widened. His Gran was flirting with his guy. Or at least a guy who might be his guy.
Troy just laughed, though. “I will indeed. Why don't you all come by tomorrow morning? I'll set aside some time for all of you.” The last was spoken directly to him, Troy's eyes a warm, dark brown.
“We'd love to,” answered his Gran. “We can be at the gym tomorrow at ten. That'll give us enough time to go home and get changed before we're due at the Home for caroling."
“Ten tomorrow would work well for us,” murmured Gary. “How does it work for you?"
“It works. If I'm not free I'll find someone to cover me.” Troy grabbed his hand again and gave it a squeeze. Then he waved at the ladies as he went, jogging off toward the Golden Gym at the far end of the mall.
Gary sat slowly, a little stunned by what had just happened.
Martha cackled merrily and patted his knee. “You'd best be taking us all home now so you can start your primping."
“I do not primp!"
“Honey, for that man you should take it up!"
* * * *
Gary didn't primp, but he did excuse himself from the ladies so he could go to Athletes’ World and pick up some new work-out clothes. He avoided the tight shorts and sleeveless t-shirts like what Troy had been wearing. He knew he'd suffer by comparison. Instead, he got a flowery pair of blue surfing shorts and a plain blue t-shirt that didn't hug his body. It wasn't like he was fat or anything, but being a teacher was a fairly sedentary job and he had a bit of a belly and definite love handles. He also picked up a new pair of trainers which matched the rest of the new outfit.
As he stood in front of the mirror moussing and playing with his light brown hair until it had the perfect just out of bed look to it, and checked himself out in his new duds, he had to admit that maybe he was primping just a little.
“Gary! Come on, honey, we need to get a move on or we'll be late."
“Coming, Gran!"
He didn't look too bad, if he did say so himself. He slipped on his glasses and shook his head as he was instantly once again the professor. He couldn't really see properly without them, though, and he was too chicken to get Lasik surgery done, so he was stuck wearing them.
He and Gran met up with Martha, Amy, Debby and Mabel in the lobby of the Golden Gym. The old girls looked great in their workout clothes and not one of them looked the least bit self-conscious about being there with all the young, fit bodies around.
Gary had just decided to take a leaf out of their book when Troy met them in the lobby and suddenly he was self-conscious and shy again. The man was just such a stud, top to bottom.
Troy wore a tight grey t-shirt today, with black shorts, and Gary knew he wasn't the only one checking the man out. He ignored the fact that his Gran and the others were looking as much as anyone. It just meant that he had good taste, right? Or that the old gals were shameless. Probably a good dose of both.
Troy welcomed them all, stopping in front of Gary, a pleased grin on his face. “Hey. Glad you could make it, Gary."
Gary nodded like one of those silly bobble head dolls. “Yeah, me, too.” He rolled his eyes at himself. So suave.
“Okay, if everyone can follow me, I'll get you all started. If you like the place, we've got a great senior discount.” Troy looked the ladies over. “Though I'm not sure everyone here would qualify for that as you do need to be over sixty."
The ladies all giggled and Troy shot him a wink. Gary grinned at the man. A stud, and sweet as hell to humor his Gran and her cronies like that. Troy just kept getting better and better.
Forty-five minutes later Gary was singing a different tune. He'd hardly seen much of Troy at all. Every ten minutes or so, Troy would show up and move Gary to a new machine, tell him to do reps and then take off to help one, or all, of the ladies.
Gary couldn't help thinking, that maybe after seeing him again, Troy'd decided he was a dud and this was the man's way of letting him down easy.
Gary did one last set of shoulder curls, noticing, now that the adrenaline of seeing Troy again was most assuredly gone, that he was beginning to ache: his shoulders, his arms, even his legs were protesting a little—enough to tell him he'd pushed himself a little too hard. He'd been trying to show off for Troy, which would have worked better if Troy had actually been around.
“Okay,” Troy's voice caught his attention and he wandered over toward where the ladies were gathering around his stud. “You've all done really well today and I think it would be fantastic if you joined the gym. We've got a pool here as well and we offer aqua cardio as well as the more general aqua-fitness. Staying fit is really important.” Turning to him, Troy addressed the next bit straight at him. “Do you think you could stay a bit longer? I could give you a lift home if the one of the ladies was your ride."
“Well, Gran and I came together..."
“Oh, Martha will drive me home—as long as my car's safe in the lot until Gary comes home."
“It'll be perfectly safe, I promise.” Troy aimed that amazing smile at her and Gary felt his previous ire melt a little in the man's presence.
The ladies finally headed for the change rooms, so at last it was just him and Troy. Well, him and Troy and a bunch of strangers working on the machines.
“What great old birds."
“Yeah, they are.” He wasn't here to talk about them, though.
“You want to come to the office? I can write you up a routine, stuff you can do at home as well—to supplement your weight training and aerobic workouts here."
“Uh. Okay, sure.” Gary followed Troy through the gym, admiring the man's tight buttocks as they went. Man, you could bounce a quarter off them. Though why you'd want to do that when there were so many other possibilities...
Gary sure hoped that Troy meant “work out routine” like other men meant “etchings".
Much to his disappointment, the office meant an office, shared by several other people, and work out routine meant exactly that.
“This seems rather ambitious,” he pointed out as Troy started ticking off most of the boxes in a pre-set list.
“Look at it as something to work toward."
Gary looked dubiously at the paper Troy handed over. Damn, there were a lot of exercises ticked off on the list.
“If you don't want to..."
Gary looked at Troy and nodded. Honestly was the best policy, right? “To be truthful, I came today because you invited me and the old ladies were right—I do think you're hot."
“So you'
re not interested in working out at all?"
“Oh, I know I could stand to lose a few pounds, especially through the middle, but I'm not obsessive about it or anything like that. Not that you are,” he added hurriedly. “Although you look like you are. I mean that body...” He snapped his mouth closed and offered a weak smile.
Troy's lips twitched and then the man was laughing at him, teeth bright white against the milk chocolate skin. Gary figured he probably should be upset about being laughed at, but God, just looking at Troy, at that amazing smile made it hard for him to be anything but smitten.
“It is important to me. I think being in shape should be important to everyone, but I know that not everyone's ready for a protracted daily routine.” Troy grabbed another exercise sheet list and ticked off a half dozen items that were listed under the “no equipment needed” column, and then he took yet another one and checked another ten items or so. “Try doing this at home two or three days a week, and this one here is for when you come into the gym. I think you'll find it gets to be addictive. Working out releases all kinds of endorphins and it feels awesome, whether you work out for an hour or just twenty minutes."
“Do you have short term gym memberships? I don't really want to dish out for a year if I'm not going to use it. Plus I'm only nearby while I'm staying with my Gran. I'll be back on the other side of the city once school starts again.” There, that was nice and professional and honest and he'd managed to get it all out without stammering or saying anything stupid. Go him.
“I can do you one better.” Troy handed him a month's free pass. “You can always join a Golden Gym closer to home after Christmas."
“Okay, cool. Thanks."
“Out of excuses?” Troy's dark brown eyes twinkled at him.
Gary couldn't help laughing. “Yeah, I guess I am. I'm never going to look like you, though. Even if I did become obsessive about it."
“Good. I'm not the least bit my type."
“Oh.” He met Troy's eyes and stared into them. He wasn't the type who dated a lot or picked guys up, but even he could see the interest there. “I am,” he said softly, Troy's look making him bold.
Christmas For Gary Page 1
