Elliot

Master Zak was late.

It was becoming a common occurrence, unfortunately, though his boyfriend of seven years always blamed work. Elliot bit his lip as he stirred the pasta on the stove, struggling to keep it from turning to mush. What would Zak’s excuse be today? Not work, at least. The dental practice was closed for Christmas—and had been all week—but it hadn’t stopped him from staying out every day.

Elliot sighed, twisting the knob on the front of the stove to turn off the heat, then carefully poured the pasta into the colander to drain. “Shoot,” he muttered as he stared at the limp noodles. He should have known Zak wouldn’t be here on time and waited to start cooking it. Then again, with his luck, his boyfriend would have been on time today and dinner wouldn’t have been ready.

There wasn’t much he could do now, since he couldn’t uncook it, so he reluctantly poured the pasta into a bowl and added the spaghetti sauce. Topping it off with a few shakes of oregano and thyme, he carried it carefully to the center of the dining room table and sat down to wait.

An hour later, he heard loud voices and a burst of laughter on the porch, then keys in the front door. He angled his head to peek through the archway into the entry hall, just in time to see Zak closing the door. He thought for a second there was a man on the porch, but he didn’t recognize him from the brief glance he got. Then Zak turned, and Elliot quickly jerked his head back so as not to get caught staring.

Zak strode into the dining room, scratching his belly under the hem of his button-down. He twisted his lips as he stared at the bowl of spaghetti sitting in the middle of the table. “Really…carbs? Shouldn’t you be watching your weight?”

“I’m sorry!” Elliot blurted, hunching his shoulders. Zak was right, he always was, but… “I thought you said you wanted me to make spaghetti tonight…”

“Hm…” Zak, frowning, stuck his finger into a clump of sauce near the edge of the bowl. “It’s cold. Throw it away. We’re going out. And go put on something…better. You look like a slob.”

Elliot swallowed, staring down at the Henley and slacks that Zak had bought for him last year. He’d thought they looked nice. He felt his cheeks heat, tears stinging his eyes. “Yes, Sir.”

“Oh, and while you’re up there, wash your damn face.”

Elliot stumbled to his feet and practically ran out of the room, embarrassment flooding his body. He felt like he could never do anything right anymore. Had he always been this stupid? He must have been. It wasn’t like ‘stupid’ was something that grew with time.

Washing his face as ordered, he took a second to stare into the mirror, making sure there was nothing else he needed to take care of as well. His face was smooth, since he’d just waxed a few days ago, and he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, so his teeth were clean.

Then, he took far too long staring at the closet, struggling to pick a new outfit. How was he supposed to know what to wear when he didn’t know where they were going?

Because Master expects you to be smart enough to figure it out, dumbass, Elliot snapped at himself.

“Jesus, what are you doing up there, skinning a cow for its hide?” Master Zak hollered up the stairs, his voice cross.

“Sorry, Master! I just… Should I wear the suit?” Elliot broke down and asked, chewing on his lip while he waited for an answer.

“The suit? Christ, you think we’re going to a funeral or what? Just put on a pair of jeans or something, but make it quick!”

So the slacks and Henley were wrong, but jeans were fine… Elliot didn’t understand. It was a good thing it wasn’t his place to. He pulled on his best pair then tugged on a plain blue T-shirt before slipping his feet into his sneakers.

Taking the stairs two at a time had him out of breath when he reached the bottom, but he didn’t want to keep Zak waiting any longer, not when he’d already screwed up so much.

Zak was glaring at his watch. He turned the expression on Elliot once he was standing in front of him, narrowing his eyes further as he took him in. Master Zak reached out his hand and pinched Elliot’s side hard enough that he flinched. “I guess there’s nothing we can do about this. Go on out to the car. I’ll meet you out there in a few minutes.”

Elliot hurried out to Zak’s flashy yellow sports car and buckled himself into the passenger seat, careful to close the door gently, even though Zak wasn’t out there to see. The last thing he needed was to have his hand slapped for slamming it.

A few minutes turned into twenty and then some, but eventually, Zak came out onto the porch and locked up the house. He stood there for several moments, talking exuberantly on his phone, before he hung up and shoved it into his pocket.

Zak climbed in the driver’s seat, his wide smile fading when he looked over at Elliot. “What are you staring at?” he barked, voice harsh.

Elliot cringed and dropped his eyes. “Nothing, Sir. You just looked happy.”

“What are you accusing me of?” Zak snapped.

“Nothing, Sir! I just meant…you were smiling and…and you haven’t been doing that as much lately? It was…nice,” Elliot stuttered, hunching his shoulders again.

Zak stayed silent for a long moment, navigating the Austin streets with heavy-handed turns of the steering wheel and a lead foot. Finally, he sighed. “I don’t mean to snap at you, Elliot. Work’s just been stressful. You know that.”

Except you haven’t been going to work, so what’s stressing you out? Elliot thought, though he felt guilty for it immediately. So what if Zak had been lying about where he was going? He worked hard, then came home and had to deal with Elliot, so he deserved a break sometimes.

Even if most of the time these days, it seemed all they did was ‘break’.

* * * *

Ede

“You’re really not coming?” Mae whined, her voice grating, even from five hundred miles away—or however far away Idaho was from Texas. It always felt like the other side of the world when he was driving out.

“You should have told me you wanted to do Christmas weeks ago. You can’t tell me the night before and expect me to make it, Sis.” Ede sighed. “I have commitments here.”

“No, you have investments—and plenty of people you pay to manage them. All I have is Mom.”

Ede laughed at the way she said it. He knew his sister loved their mother, so her insistence on saying it like she was a burden was amusing. “Oh, poor you.”

“Yes, poor me. She’s going to want me to go shopping. I hate shopping,” Mae lied.

“Since when? My sister loves shopping. Is this a cry for help? Is someone holding you hostage? Just say ‘my brother Ede is the absolute best’ and I’ll know to call the police,” Ede teased.

“Oh shut up. I don’t like shopping with Mom. She’s going to want me to go to Lover’s Lane with her again. And seriously, Ede? No one should have to help their mother pick out sex toys. It’s just…no.”

Ede could literally hear the cringe in her voice and laughed. “Tell her it’s closed for the holiday and just avoid that street like the plague.”

“Then she’ll want me to buy underwear with her at Wal-Mart, and I honestly don’t know if that’s better.” Ede couldn’t see her, but he knew she was pouting. “Come on, Ede. Come see me! It’s been like…six months!”

Ede sighed, sobering up. “Mae, you know I don’t do Christmas.”

And he hadn’t, not since his ex-boyfriend Sean had broken up with him on Christmas Eve. And of course he couldn’t have just done it like a normal person…no. He had to bring his new boyfriend home and fuck him in Ede’s bed. It had ruined the mood, as well as the spirit of the holiday.

Besides, he was a grown, adult man, and Christmas was for little kids.

“It’s been six years, Ede. You can’t still be upset—” Mae started to say.

“I can, and I am. It’s no big deal. Besides, the club is hosting a get-together tonight, and I’m already running late. You’ll have to celebrate without me.” Ede wasn’t even lying. He should have left a few minutes ago. He was supposed to help make sure everything was set up. The charity auction was one of the most popular events of the year. Even members who only showed up once or twice a year usually made it in for the auction event.

“Oh, boo. Fine, but you owe me,” Mae huffed.

“I’ll send you a box of Girl Scout cookies,” Ede promised, waiting for her to protest. He knew how she felt about the company and about their merchandise—overpriced, stale and peddled on the backs of children…or something like that.

“Bleh, no thank you. Send me a bag of Mary Janes.”

“Gasp! I’m not sending you drugs, Mae! What do you take me for!” Ede teased.

“The candy, you idiot. Jeez, if the FBI ever monitors our calls…”

“Our calls? If they are listening to anyone, it’s you, the writer of erotic murder mysteries. I’ve seen your Google history.” And it had made him ask questions about his sister and her sex life that he’d hoped never to have to think of. He hadn’t even known a human body could twist that way, and he was a kinky fucker himself.

“That’s what you get for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, Snoopy.”

“Mr. Snoopy to you.” Ede stuck his nose in the air and sniffed. “Show some respect to your elders.”

“You’re three years younger than me,” Mae protested.

“Oh yeah. I forgot you were an old lady now. Hey, don’t yell at me. You’re the one who brought it up! I was going to let you pretend to be younger. You’re the one who pointed out your age!” He laughed, yanking the phone away from his ear when she screeched painfully into it.

He brought the mouthpiece closer to his lips and hollered over her, “I really gotta go. Talk to you later, old lady!”

He hung up before she could say anything else, powering his phone down as he shoved it into his pocket. He had to admit that while the conversation with his sister had slowed him down, it had helped put him in a better mood.

And compared to flying out to see his family, going to a charity auction at the club didn’t seem all that bad anymore.

* * * *

Trying to find parking beside the Lighthouse almost an hour later, though, nearly had him changing his mind. Every year, he said he was going to remember to block off a handful of spots for event staff and him and his partners, and every year he forgot until he was circling the crowded lot.

He finally saw a parking spot near the back and grinned, driving toward it. He flipped on his blinker and was turning the wheel to pull into it when he was cut off by a bright yellow sports car. The douche in the front seat had clearly seen him since he flashed a smug smile through the lowered driver’s side window as he parked.

Not that Ede got a great look at him or his passenger, what with the speed he was going in his haste to whip into the spot first. The asshole was lucky Ede had keen eyes and good brakes or there’d have been a collision for sure.

Ede didn’t bother hitting the horn, knowing it wouldn’t do him any good. Likely wouldn’t even piss the guy off, and in that case, what was the point? The guy in the flashy car would probably bask in the knowledge that he’d put a damper on Ede’s day, and he wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

Instead, he kept driving until he found a spot on the street a block or so over.

A little walking wouldn’t hurt him.