Chapter 2
They ate in silence and as soon as Victor had swallowed the last spoonful, Jian stood. “Come on.”
“What the hell is going on, Jian?”
Jian put their bowls in the sink. “You’ll see. Put on warm clothes.”
For fuck’s sake!
Victor put on warm clothes, and he sulked for a good ten minutes while Jian drove them out of Northfield. When he adjusted his seat and fiddled with the fan, Victor spotted the almost invisible smile on his lips.
“You find this amusing?”
“A little.”
Victor refused to smile, despite not remembering when last Jian had looked this relaxed.
They drove for another five minutes on the snowy road before Jian signaled a turn and steered onto a tiny forest road. There were tracks in the snow, so someone had driven there before them.
“Did you bring an ax?”
“What?” Victor stared at him. “Are you insane? Have you ever seen me holding an ax?” Victor made some swishy motions.
“Good thing you have me.” Jian nodded as if they’d agreed on something. Victor snorted.
When Jian stopped the truck a few minutes later, Victor looked around. The forest was lit up by portable fire pits. “What’s this?” It was beautiful—flames lighting up the night sky, the white snow on the ground.
“It’s a date.”
“A date?” Victor gave him a wide-eyed look. “This is your idea of a date?”
Jian nodded and opened the door. Victor followed, shivering as he left the warmth of the pickup.
“Jian!” A tall, broad-shouldered man with a bushy beard came toward them, and Victor was surprised to see several others walking around, looking the trees up and down.
“Dave.” Jian grinned and hugged the man—Dave. Victor tried to ignore the sting of jealousy.
“And this must be Victor.” Dave grinned at him and offered his hand. Victor nodded and shook it.
“I’ve heard so much about you.” Dave winked.
“You have?” Who was this person?
Dave nodded. “Do you like working at the school?”
Oh, he must have heard at least something about Victor if he knew where he worked. “I do.”
“Great.” Dave grinned. “My wife, Sara Nelson, is a teacher there. It’s a nice little school.”
Wife?Victor liked him more with each passing second. “I know Sara. She’s great.”
Dave nodded. “I’m one lucky guy. So, the trees here were all planted the same year, but if you want something bigger, you can follow the trail—” He pointed at a trail leading into the woods lined with tiki torches. “—and you’ll find some that are a little bigger.”
Jian nodded. “I think these will be great. Our living room isn’t big.”
Dave waved and went off to talk to another couple.
“What’s going on?” Victor stared at Jian who shrugged.
“Christmas tree.”
Christmas tree?Victor shook his head, but there was no denying the warmth filling his chest. “Your idea of a date is trudging around the forest and chopping down a tree?”
Jian bumped his shoulder and held up an ax. “Yes.”
Victor shook his head but laughed. 2
December 2nd
Victor hurried through Northfield on his way home from work. He should have stopped to buy some groceries, but he didn’t have the energy. They’d walked around the forest for a long time before deciding on the perfect tree, or Victor deemed it perfect. Jian claimed it was way too big
It had taken him half an hour to convince Jian it was the tree they were meant to have, so he’d gone to bed later than normal.
As he neared their house, his heart jumped to his throat. The tree was gone! He jogged down the sidewalk, noting Jian’s truck as he sprinted up the stairs. Instead of searching for his key, he tried the door handle. When it opened, he ran into the hallway. “Jian!”
“In here!”
“The tree! It’s gone. Oh…” Victor stared into the living room where Jian was wrestling the tree.
“It’s too fucking big.” His growl made Victor grin.
“It’s not.” It better not be or Jian would have been right. He shrugged off his jacket, kicked off his snowy shoes, and went to help Jian. “Why didn’t you wait until I got home? It’s a lot easier to get a tree up with help.”
“I was preparing it for our date.”
“The tree? Are we having another date?”
Jian stared at him. “Obviously.”
“Obviously?”
Jian gestured at the living room table. There was a white cloth on the table, and it was set with candles, fancy wine glasses, and a flower arrangement in a wicker basket with white roses, spruce, and some other plants he couldn’t name.
Victor looked from the table to Jian. “You’ve cooked again?”
He shook his head. “If I had, it would have been a repeat of yesterday, wouldn’t it?”
Victor stared. A chuckle bubbled up inside of him. “Cooking two nights in a row would be a repeat?”
Jian nodded at the same time as there was a knock at the door.