Noah and Angel were childhood sweethearts and teenage lovers. With youth comes unrealistic ideas sometimes, and also bad choices. But just about the time they reach manhood, Noah’s demons pull them apart.<br><br>Seven years later, he gets a second chance when Angel returns to town. Hoping everything can be different, Noah sets out to remind him how wonderful their past was by secretly sending him thirteen gifts commemorating their happiest times, one on each day beginning December 11.<br><br>By Christmas Eve, Noah hasn’t heard a word back, and wonders if Angel even recognized the meaning of the offerings. When Angel does get in touch, he only remembers the bad things that drove them apart. Can Noah remind him how good they had it, too?

The Presents and the Past

“Blah.” I took off my UPS cap and scrubbed at my hair to reset my brain. “I don’t want him to see the sex cake without some acknowledgement he’s interested, right? Either way, that brings us back to Christmas Eve, which is on a Sunday.”


“We’re open all weekend,” Troy said. “Way late. A lot of people are last-minute. We can’t turn them away on Christmas Eve. The twenty-sixth, bright and early, here again. We’ll be closed for three days after New Year’s Eve, though. That’s our break time.”


“I’ll be out ‘til all hours myself on the twenty-fourth. My main supervisor started this thing where a couple of drivers work Christmas Eve, even when it’s on a weekend. Santa’s hours…off the clock.”


“And you’re one of them…you giant, hairy, blond elf.”


Chapter 27