Page 39 of His Christmas Love Song

Ryan looks slightly stunned. “You did all of that while I was asleep?”

“What, you didn’t think I was going to spend the whole time creepily staring at you, did you?”

Ryan cracks a smile. “Guess not. Well, is there anything left for me to do?”

“Yeah, one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Kiss me.”

Ryan’s smile softens. He reaches up with his left hand and cups Jesse’s chin, drawing him in for a long, slow, only slightly sleep-sour kiss. Jesse sighs and can’t believe he’s known Ryan for six years and he’s only had one day’s worth of kissing him. His heart hurts wishing he’d let himself see this as a possibility sooner. How sad would his life have been if he hadn’t figured this out?

“Hey, you okay?” Ryan asks, pulling back.

“Yeah. I’m just so fucking glad you gave me a chance to get here,” Jesse says.

“Me too.” Ryan's eyes look glassy for a second before he blinks the sheen away. “I’m not going to lie and say the last few months haven’t been hard. But I really don’t want to think about the past anymore. We have so many things to look forward to. So many firsts.”

“And second firsts?”

“Yeah.” Ryan kisses him again. “If I take a bath, will you join me?”

Jesse’s groin tightens at the idea of getting naked with Ryan, even if it’s just to take a bath in the huge soaking tub. But he’s determined not to mess things up by moving too fast. He pats Ryan’s shoulder and eases himself off the bed. “Someone’s gotta answer the door when the food comes. But I’ll get the bath started for you.”

He turns on the taps above the enormous tub in the bathroom adjoining his bedroom. He hopes the grocery order he made gets here before Ryan gets out. He’d ordered Epsom salts, which he wants to add to the water to help with Ryan’s stiff muscles. He makes sure there’s a washcloth, body wash, and a towel nearby, so Ryan won’t have to strain himself to reach anything. He dims the lights over the vanity, turns around to call Ryan in, but the words die in his throat.

Ryan must have performed some truly acrobatic maneuvers to get his clothes off one-handed, but somehow he did it because he’s standing in the doorway completely naked. He’s even got the sling off, though he’s holding his injured elbow carefully against his side. The lamp in the bedroom backlights him, accentuating his lightly muscled shoulders, the trim lines of his waist and hips, leading to strong thighs and calves. Even his feet are sexy.

Jesse’s mouth is so dry seeing Ryan entirely nude for the first time that he has to try a couple of times to speak. “Uh. Ready for the bath?” He’d tried to avoid looking at Ryan’s crotch, but now his gaze falls helplessly on his dick, thick and growing thicker under Jesse’s gaze. Of course Ryan’s cock would be as pretty as the rest of him, along with his neatly trimmed thatch of dark brown pubic hair, balanced by the tantalizing weight of his balls.

Ryan walks in and stops by the tub. “You sure you don’t want to join me?” His voice is deep and the suggestion in it goes straight to Jesse’s own dick, which is extremely interested in what Ryan’s offering. He takes a slight step back, as if that’ll help him avoid temptation.

“I can’t,” Jesse says, his voice embarrassingly breathy.

“You don’t want to?” Ryan’s brow wrinkles in a way that Jesse interprets as slightly hurt. That won’t do.

“Ryan, there’s literally nothing in the world I want more than to get in that bath with you, but we have to be careful.”

“Huh?” Now Ryan just looks confused.

“You know, your arm, and uh, moving too fast, and the delivery people and all that…” Jesse trails off as Ryan steps slowly over the rim of the tub using the grab bar in the wall for leverage. It causes his ass to flex and bunch appealingly before he slides into the water.

“You would never hurt me,” Ryan says conversationally. “And there is such a thing as a robe if the delivery comes while we’re in here. But if you really don’t want to do this now, we can wait.”

Jesse’s unbuttoning his shirt before Ryan stops talking. He thinks he sees a satisfied look cross Ryan’s face before he gets his over shirt off and whips his tee over his head. Socks, belt, jeans follow quickly. His boxer briefs are the only item left, and his thumbs hover over the waistband. It’s not that he doesn’t want to do this. He so, so does. But Ryan’s so…perfect. Ryan’s the one whose angel face and unforgettable voice sold his first record. Jesse’s just a poser who does a lot of pull-ups.

“What’s wrong? The water feels amazing,” Ryan says. “And there’s plenty of room.”

Jesse’s saved from answering by a knock on the cabin’s door. He flashes Ryan an apologetic smile, grabs the lodge-provided robe from the wall hook, and escapes.

Columbia apparently only has one delivery person, because the man on the doorstep has two bags of groceries and Jesse’s order from the Asian fusion place. Jesse tipped on the app, but he hands over a large denomination bill for good measure, and the delivery guy’s face creases with a smile.

“Have a good night,” the guy says, and Jesse quietly closes the door. He puts the takeout on the counter in the kitchenette, the perishables in the fridge. He sorts a few of the items into one of the paper bags, and when he’s put it off long enough, he takes the bag to the bathroom.

Ryan’s washing his hair as best he can with one hand, and Jesse curses himself. He sets the bag down, drops to his knees on the thick bath mat next to the tub.

“Let me help,” he says, nudging Ryan’s hand away. Ryan relaxes into Jesse’s touch as he massages the soap more evenly over Ryan’s head, his light brown hair turned darker by the water. He focuses on his task, using his hands to ladle water over Ryan’s head to rinse away the suds. When he’s done and Ryan’s hair is clean, he grabs the washcloth and wipes away some stray bubbles from Ryan’s forehead. “All set.”