Cody Schaefer loves the Christmas season and a benefit to working from home means that he gets to be surrounded by his decoration collections all the time. And as a bonus, he starts getting deliveries from a local café containing holiday treats flavored with gingerbread. The notes aren’t signed, but they clearly come from someone who knows him.<br><br>Out of all of Cody’s friends, Jason van Buren is the only one level-headed about the mysterious treats, and Cody begins talking to him daily. Cody enjoys their chats, and the two men grow closer. One Christmas Eve, no delivery appears. But Jason shows up on his doorstep, ready to back gingerbread cookies. It’s then Cody realizes just who is behind the deliveries. And perhaps, Cody will get Jason as his Christmas gift this year.

Gingerbread and Good Tidings

Cody: So so so good. Rich and fudgy and swirled with goodness.


A burst of adrenaline made my heart pound. He probably didn’t mean those words like I wanted, but my insides warmed at the thought of him thinking I was cute. I’d found him insanely attractive since our first meeting. He had that whole “tall, dark, and handsome” thing going on. The first time I saw him, he’d come straight from work, and he was wearing a dark suit. He’d taken off his tie, undone the top couple of buttons of his white dress shirt, and I’d practically drooled. I knew he was bi, but I hadn’t ever heard of him dating a man—he’d had one girlfriend for a short time—in all the time we’d known each other. He was probably out of my league, but he was sure nice to look at. But he never looked at me with any sort of interest, so I let that attraction simmer down to the background.


Chapter 6