Strings Attached

My gaze automatically went to Harrison, who said, “We have dinner here every year, but George is, in fact, obsessive, and he does bring prime rib because it’s his thing. You’re welcome, of course.”

Yes.

Do you want me there?

Do I want me there?

What I said was, “I spend the holidays with Mom and Molly.”

“They’re welcome too, of course. We have the space, and God knows there’s always an obscene amount of food. I make a turkey. It might be fun for them to get out of town for a little while.”

It would be. It’d be difficult. Mom had trouble driving very far, and I worried about her car. I’d have to go pick them up, and it would probably be easier if they spent the night. The futon at Ross’s wouldn’t be good for Mom’s back, and—

“You have time to think about it. Contrary to Warren’s impromptu visit, there’s time to figure it out. George can be patient.”

“Yeah, okay.” I knew I should just say no. It would come with too many questions from Mom.

Harrison stirred the ground beef again.

“Anyway,” Warren said, “I’ll head out. It was good to talk to you, Zander.”

“You too,” I replied, though I wasn’t sure it had been. No offense to Warren, but all his visit had done was stress me the fuck out.

A look passed between Harrison and Warren that I couldn’t read, but I didn’t think it was good. As soon as Warren let himself out, I said, “I can take that. I was supposed to be cooking you dinner.”

“You were? That’s sweet.” But instead of handing the spatula over, Harrison wrapped his arms around me, nuzzled my neck, and rubbed up against me. I automatically melted into his embrace. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” I admitted, even as the words tried to stick in my throat.

“I’m sorry that my friend is a nosy asshole. He’s just…interested in you.”

“I don’t mean to keep you away from your friends. If you want to spend time with them, just tell me and I can stay home.”

“I don’t want to spend time with them—okay, that came out wrong. I love them, but…” He nuzzled my neck again. “You have a better ass. And I like the way you cuddle…and ramble…and talk in your sleep. Did you know?”

“I don’t talk in my sleep!” I pulled back.

“You do, cute little mumbles about books and characters, and I think you might have explained personification to me the other night.”

I laughed. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I. I’d totally forgotten what personification actually is.”

I didn’t let my smile show, but I felt it inside my chest. “Harrison…”

“Zander…” Then, “Shh. I know. If I wanted to spend time with someone else, I would. And Thanksgiving, I don’t want you to feel obligated, but I would love to have you and your family here. I’m sure they want to see what your life is like in Atlanta.”

Yes teased my tongue again, but I didn’t know how to say it. “Isn’t that more of a boyfriend thing?”

He shrugged. “We can make our own rules. It will be a Friendsgiving.”

I nodded, more disappointment bubbling up inside me. “Maybe…?”

“Maybe works. It’s better than no.” He kissed the tip of my nose just as there was a knock at the door. My heart leaped, and Harrison must have seen it in my eyes because he grinned. “Go pass out candy, Zander. I’ll finish this up.”

“We can cook and hand out candy together.” I turned off the stove and tugged Harrison to the door with me. A goblin, a witch, and a football player stood there. I gave them bigger handfuls than I probably should have.

I was happy and thankful to be sharing this night with Harrison.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Harrison

“We have a shipment of parts that didn’t come in, an angry customer because they weren’t approved for credit, and a truck that was bringing in cars broke down in Tennessee,” Walter, one of the managers on duty, told me. Because of course when the shit hit the fan, everything had to happen at the same time.

“What would you rather I take care of? Whatever makes things easier on you,” I told him. I’d had shitty bosses before and had promised myself that would never be me. I wouldn’t sit in my office while others worked their asses off around me. I was the owner, yes, but to me, that meant I should work more, not less.

“I can deal with the customer if you want to handle the shipment and truck issues.”

“On it. Thanks for your hard work, Walter.”

“Thanks for being so great to work for.”

It took me a couple of hours to get everything sorted out. We really needed those vehicles, and the car hauler would be days in the shop, so we had to get another truck to take the load. There hadn’t been anyone in the area, so it took some finagling, but luckily, it was taken care of.