Mitch left them sitting there. Kreed tended to agree; they needed to celebrate. He rose and started heading out too. Colt and Jace were the duo, and they all had reservations for dinner. “Fix that shit, babe. You promised,” Kreed said at the door.
“It’s only because you’re so hot. You make me agree to crazy things, Sin,” Aaron said after a brief pause. Kreed didn’t move, he just stood in the doorway and smiled. He loved those words. They were still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship so little things made him all gushy on the inside. And the fact that they fucked like bunnies all the damn time had him giving in to Aaron’s whims more often than not.
“I promise. A little later, I’ll show how much I liked those words. But get out of Huckabee’s shit first. We got dinner and dancing tonight, and I don’t want to worry about men in black interrupting my grind time with you.” Kreed left the office on that note and said a small little prayer that Aaron would do as he’d asked.
“Damn it! That’s supposed to work in giving me more time. Would a lap dance sweeten the deal?” Aaron yelled and Kreed snickered. Yeah, they were settling into each other very well.
~~~
Thanksgiving
Kreed took the corner leading into the familiar San Antonio neighborhood. He’d grown up in this tight-knit community, and throughout his life he’d traveled this street more times than he could count. Yet somehow, this time everything seemed different. His entire life had changed for the better and it was all due to the amazing guy riding beside him.
“Any regrets?”
“Not a one. You?” Aaron asked from the passenger side.
Kreed never glanced over but he could feel the kid’s gaze on him.
“I don’t do regrets. I’m in. I told you that.” Kreed slowed as he turned onto the street his parents lived on. Like normal for the day, the road was packed, forcing him to slow down and navigate the drive, moving in and out of parked cars and oncoming traffic. “It was cool how you got the guy to come in and ink us today.”
“He owed me,” Aaron replied, somewhat distracted. “This neighborhood looks like one of the fake places you see on the Hallmark Channel’s Thanksgiving TV shows.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s real. I keep telling you that families really do get together on Thanksgiving and spend the day eating and making each other totally miserable in the best possible way.”
“I just think it’s cool as shit,” Aaron added. From the corner of his eye, he watched Aaron’s eyes grow wide with excitement as he stared out the front windshield of the car.
As a kid, Kreed believed these same neighbors were always intruding in his life, telling his parents all the bad shit he’d done. Over the years, he’d grown up and come to realize they were only watching out for him. Now that he was older, he was thankful they had always stayed in his business. His life might have taken a much different path had they not stuck their noses in where he’d thought they didn’t belong.
A smile broke out across his lips as he followed Aaron’s gaze, curious as to what could possibly cause that much awe to appear on his sexy guy’s face. They had spent just about every Sunday afternoon at his parents’ house since he’d moved back to the area, but today, the neighborhood bustled with families enjoying the holiday. Even with all the years away, nothing had changed. Some were playing football in the front yard, some gathered by their cars talking, others struggling with armloads of food.
“Should we have brought something? Everyone’s carrying in covered dishes.”
“Nah, we’re good. I promise.”
“Are you sure? This is so different than Thanksgiving with my family. I’m glad we came.” Aaron’s attention remained focused outside the car.
Happiness filled Kreed’s heart. He loved sharing these special moments with Aaron. His guy had been overly excited about this family gathering. This year the entire clan would be celebrating Thanksgiving dinner at his parents’ place. All his aunts, uncles, and cousins planned to come. Aaron was so into the idea of celebrating this holiday that it was all he’d been able to talk about for the last couple of days.
When Aaron had arranged for matching tattoos to be inked this morning, it had come as a surprise—a very sweet surprise. Paying extra to have the tattoo artist come to the house added an extra layer of thoughtfulness to his guy’s special gesture. Kreed hadn’t missed the significance of what these tattoos really meant to Aaron. Being totally vested in this relationship himself, he was more than happy to commit to those ideas. This day was very special to his church boy and now it was permanently illustrated on both of them.
“My aunts and mom will cook more food than we can ever eat,” Kreed said, pulling into the driveway and putting the car in park.
“I don’t know about that. You might not have noticed, but I like to eat,” Aaron teased as he got out of the truck then shut the door without waiting on a response. “We can bring something at Christmas, right?” he quickly added, looking at Kreed over the hood.
Kreed couldn’t help but smile at the eagerness in Aaron’s words and the excitement written all over his face. Kreed made his way around the front of the car, the slight chill in the November air skating across his skin as he walked. “You’re gonna see that there’s enough food in there for us to have leftovers until Christmas day.”
“I hope so. I was trying to remember something my grandmother always made us on holidays. It was like a homemade creamed corn. It was the best ever. Everyone loved that corn. She always made me extra and would hide it so I could take it home. When she passed, my mom never made it for us; she doesn’t cook. They have everything catered and it’s just not the same. I bet I could find that recipe. You’re pretty good in the kitchen. I think we could pull it off and make it for Christmas,” Aaron suggested, falling in step beside him as they headed up the walkway.