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“Yay!” Jessie shouted when they both slid to a stop in front of the porch at the same time.

“Tie,” Braden said.

“Yeah, but you started before me,” Wes argued, watching the white plumps of heat in the air when he spoke.

“Oh, God. Don’t tell me you’re as competitive as he is.” The woman took a step toward them.

“Who are you?” Jessie asked.

“Jess, don’t—” Wes began, but Braden’s mom cut him off. “It’s okay.”

She kneeled down, reminding him of Braden. “I’m Emmy, Braden’s mom. Let me guess...you’re Jessie? Braden said you were only four, but you’re such a big girl. Are you sure you aren’t six?”

“Hi,” Jess whispered, and then wrapped her arms around Wes’s leg and buried her face into it.

“You don’t need to be shy with my mom, Squirt. She’s pretty much just a big kid herself,” Braden laughed.

“Like you?” both Emmy and Wes said at the same time.

“Oh, I like you.” Emmy pushed to her feet. “And you must be Wes. Braden talks about you all the time.” She winked at Wes. Oh yeah. He and his mom were a lot alike.

“Don’t tell him shit like that, Ma. He has a big head. We don’t want to make it bigger.”

“You said a bad word!” Jessie told him, and Braden grabbed her.

“None of that.” He swooped her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Wes couldn’t stop himself from watching him. Watching Jessie and Braden laugh. And damn, if he didn’t like what he saw. When he felt a soft hand on his arm, he turned to look at Emmy, who watched them, too. “It’s good to meet you, Wes,” she said, still watching Braden. “We’re happy to have you here.”

He nodded. “I’m happy to be here, too.”

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W
es was feeling overwhelmed. It only took one look for Braden to realize that. Not that he could blame him. He knew his family could be a lot. There were not only a lot of them, but they were also all just like him. It was enough to stress anyone out, but that’s the last thing he wanted from Wes out of this trip. For once, he wanted him to just be able to let go. To relax and enjoy himself completely.

Braden watched as he sat on the couch with his dad and sister Yvonne, who were both obviously on different sides of whatever issue they were talking about, leaving Wes in the middle. His sister’s hands were flying because she couldn’t talk without using them, and his dad was shaking his head, giving that Roth-you-don’t-know-what-the-hell-you’re-talking-about look. Wes’s eyes kept darting back and forth between the two of them.

Each time Wes opened his mouth to speak, either Braden’s dad or sister would start yapping again and cut him off.

“Go save that boy, Braden.” His mom sat on the arm of his chair.

“It’s cute to watch, though. He’s totally out of his element here, but I think he’s having a good time, too.”

“His family isn’t close?” she asked.

“No.” He shook his head. “They are, but there’s never been a lot of them. His dad left when he was young, and then he lost his mom a few years later. His sister raised them, and now she’s gone, too.” The words hollowed him out a little. Yes, he’d always known they were true, but his gut ached for Wes. He wanted him to have everything.

“That’s sad. He looks like he’s going to run at any second, though. Go save him before he never wants to come back. You know how your dad and sister can get.”

Braden looked into the family room to see Jessie playing a video game with one of his nephews. “You’ll watch Jess?”

The corners of his mom’s eyes wrinkled like she was looking at him for the first time. Braden was about to ask her why when she said, “That’s a dumb question. Of course I will.”

Braden stood and kissed her on the forehead. “Thanks, Ma.” He walked over to where Wes sat. The second Wes saw him, his features relaxed. “I need to show you something real quick.”

Wes pushed to his feet. Yvonne and his dad said bye and then got right back into their argument. Wes followed Braden to the front door and stopped when Braden said, “Go outside with me, Wesley.”

“What about Jessie?”

“She’s having fun. She probably won’t even notice we’re gone. And if she does, Mom will watch her. She’ll call me if Jessie needs us—you. If she needs you.” He wanted that, he realized. Wanted them to officially be an
us.
Wanted to be there for Jessie, too. He wasn’t sure to what extent, but he knew it was there.

Braden grabbed Wes’s jacket from the closet and tossed it to him. Wes caught it and Braden grabbed his own. Once they each were clothed in coats, beanies, and gloves, he opened the door for Wes, who stepped out.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“Not far. You looked like you were ready to bolt on my sister and dad, so I figured you needed a break. Plus, I really want to show you something.”

They were silent as they walked through the dark, around the backside of the house, and up the small hill. The air around them was cold as hell, but he ignored it. A few minutes later, they made it to the top of the hill and Wes froze in his tracks. Braden couldn’t help but smile. He wrapped his arms around Wes’s waist from behind as they looked down at the lights of the city below. At the oversized Christmas tree in the center of it, lit up with different colors, and the snow on top of businesses.

“Jesus, man. It looks like a postcard or something,” Wes whispered.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I used to sneak out here at night sometimes when I was younger. I’d spend half the night looking at it...well, I don’t really know why. But yeah, I always liked it.” Leaning forward, Braden rested his chin on Wes’s shoulder. “Wanted you to see it.”

He felt Wes stiffen a little, but then his body relaxed. He laid his arms over Braden’s, which were still around him. “Aww, are you a closet romantic, Braden?” he teased.

“Do you want me to be?” Braden countered.

It took Wes a minute to reply. “I don’t like the fact that I’m pretty sure I’d like you no matter how you were.”

His body suddenly wasn’t cold anymore. In this moment, he felt like nothing could harm him. “You say shit like that to me, Wesley, and you’re going to make me want to claim you.”

“I’m sure you tell all the guys...and girls that.” There was a forced playfulness to his voice that Braden knew he tried to put there.

“Whatever you have to tell yourself.” He kissed Wes’s neck. The man turned around immediately, his mouth coming down on Braden’s this time. His gloved hands held the sides of Braden’s face as Braden’s arms wrapped around his waist again. It was a slow, sensual assault, a slow dance of tongues, probing then pulling back for the other to lead. He tasted mint, and wondered if Wes had chewed gum or brushed his teeth after dinner. He felt the warmth of man, making the cold evaporate.

Braden sucked Wes’s lip into his mouth then gently bit it. When he tried to pull back, Wes nipped at him. “Come back here,” he whispered, and then they were kissing again. He let his hand slide down to cup Wes’s ass, swallowed the moan that pulled from Wes’s throat.

He reveled at the feel of Wes’s facial hair against his own. His cock got hard even though he knew he wouldn’t get to use it tonight. Wes would be in Braden’s old room with Jessie, and Braden was sleeping on the futon in the office. He wouldn’t get to use it on this trip at all unless he was alone. But this right here? For the first time in his life, this was enough.

***

T
he house was even more hectic the next morning than it had been the night before. Emmy was in the kitchen making a huge breakfast. There was a table full of kids drinking hot chocolate and pretty much yelling over each other so they could all speak at the same time—Jessie right in the middle of them. She fell right in with Braden’s family, like she’d always belonged. That had a lot to do with the Roth clan. He was pretty sure they were some of the most incredible people out there and that they’d make anyone feel at home—like they belonged.

The way Braden does with me...?
Wes pushed those thoughts aside.

It was noon before everyone was dressed, fed and ready to leave. Apparently it was a Roth family tradition to go into the woods and cut down their own tree on Christmas eve.

“Why do you do it so late?” Wes asked as they drove.

“My parents have always done it that way. They say the tree should be special, and it should be about Christmas. If it’s up for weeks ahead of time, then it doesn’t feel new, like something special for that specific day.” He chuckled. “I don’t know. It’s something Mom came up with when we were kids, and Dad always says a happy wife makes a happy life.”

Those words soured Wes’s stomach, though he wasn’t sure why until Braden said, “Though, I like ‘A happy spouse makes a happy house’ better.”

The fact that his words helped made Wes feel like an idiot. “You’re cheesy.”

“You like me that way.”

He did.

A little while later, the vehicles were parked and the army that was Braden’s family stomped through the trees, looking for the perfect one. It wasn’t a short walk, and no one could seem to agree on which one they wanted.

“I’m tired, Uncle Wes.” Jessie tugged on his arm. He picked her up and swung her onto his back.

“I got you, kiddo.” He paused when Braden stepped up to them and ran a hand down Jessie’s back. When he did, she relaxed against Wes, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Ma, Dad. If we don’t pick one soon, we have to go. Jess is getting tired,” Braden called to his family.

Damned if what Braden said didn’t hit him in the chest. “Thanks. We’re good, though. I don’t want to ruin the day for everyone.”

“They can stay if they haven’t decided. If we need to go back, we need to go back. She’s more important that picking the perfect tree.”

Who the fuck was this guy? How many times had Braden said the wrong thing, but, when it counted, always said the right thing? He didn’t know if he realized that. Didn’t know if he realized that the more Wes was around him, the more he feared he wouldn’t ever want to be without him. That he made Wes think and feel shit he never thought he would again.

No, things he hadn’t felt before.

“Hey.” Wes grabbed Braden’s arm when he tried to walk away. “Thanks.”

Braden just winked at him. “I’ll put it on your ‘I owe you’ list.”

Again, it was the perfect thing to say. The asshole.

––––––––

T
hey’d picked an eight-foot tree. Braden and his brother Evan put it in the stand and watered it while their mom and sisters made dinner. They were going easy tonight because they were all pretty exhausted after a long day.

They sat around the living room, the kids on the floor around the coffee table, eating grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

“’Member when Braden made us grilled cheese?” Jessie asked Wes. Braden wasn’t sure if she was too tired to remember the “R” in Remember, or if she always said it that way.

“I do,” Wes told her.

“Braden’s were better,” she replied.

“Jessie!” Wes’s eyes darted around the room, obviously embarrassed.

“Hey. Can’t blame her for speaking the truth.” Braden smiled, and everyone else laughed, including Emmy and Lizzy.

“That’s okay, because I taught him how to cook.” Emmy gave Jessie a thumbs-up. He couldn’t love his mom more. Any of his family, really. They took Jessie and Wes in without question, though he knew they all wondered what was going on between them. Braden wondered, too. And regardless of the fact that none of them ever really understood his attraction to both men and women, they never gave him a hard time about it, either.

“Can we decorate the tree now?” Billy asked. His sister had named the little boy after their father.

“We sure as hell can!” Braden and his dad both shot to their feet.

“As soon as everyone puts their dishes away,” his mom added. So they did. The kids raced to the kitchen, cleaning up without whining probably for the first time in their lives. They’d already pulled the boxes out, and his dad had added the lights, so once the dishes were gone, kids ripped into containers and started hanging decorations on the bottom half of the tree.

Jessie jumped right in as Braden knew she would, but Wes stood back a little, the way Braden knew he would do as well.

“Get your ass up here and help,” Braden told him. Jessie was too busy decorating to call him on his language. “If we don’t help we’re going to have a seriously lopsided tree. Most of the decorators are shrimps, if you didn’t notice.”

Wes shook his head with a smile on his face. It was that smile he gave when he wasn’t sure what to do with Braden, but that he enjoyed him, too. It was Braden’s favorite of his grins.

Wes beside him, they all decorated the tree. They turned out the living room lights and watched all the reds, greens, blues and whites glow. As they talked, Braden kept his eyes on Wes, who sat on the floor with Jessie’s head in his lap. Wes stroked her curls, which just popped back up as soon as his hand left them. Her little eyes kept drooping closed, but each time they did, she jerked them open again.

She was such a cool little kid. He’d never given much thought of having kids of his own. His family had enough of them if he never did, but looking at her...he couldn’t imagine his life without her. His eyes met Wes’s, who Braden hadn’t realized had been watching him.

Braden opened his mouth to say something—what, he didn’t know—when Wes said, “I’m going to put her to bed.”

“No. I don’t wanna go to bed.” Jessie started crying.

“You’re sleepy, kiddo, and it’s getting late. We need to go to bed so Santa can come.” Wes stood her up, pushed to his feet and then picked her up.

Braden was surprised when Jessie started crying louder. He stood, too, not really sure why. She was Wes’s niece. He had this under control. He didn’t need Braden. “I’ll take care of the stuff.”

Wes nodded, and Braden knew he got that he’d put Jessie’s Santa gifts out.

“Night, everyone.” Wes’s voice was hardly heard over Jessie’s crying. Wes looked a little freaked out, too, his eyes wide and his body stiff, as though he wasn’t sure what was going on with her, either.