Vic groaned. “Can’t I stay inbed?”
“Cook you breakfast,” Matt added. Playfully,he poked Vic’s belly. “Watching you eat will turn me on all overagain. We’ll be back here before you know it.”
“We better,” Vic growled, kissing Matt behindthe ear.
* * * *
When Vic left for work on Monday, he took theSanta suit with him. It was back in its plastic bag, though hehadn’t bothered to have it cleaned. It wasn’t really dirty and,besides, he didn’t think it was his responsibility to get itdry cleaned. It wasn’t like he volunteered to wear it, oranything.
It was quarter after ten in the morning whenhe pulled into a spot in the employee parking lot outside the busgarage. As soon as he turned off the engine, though, he glanced atthe car in front of his and groaned. Waving at him from behind thesteering wheel of an antique El Camino was Kyle Munley.
Vic couldn’t stand Kyle.
It was bad enough the guy was an annoyingjerk who laughed at his own jokes. To make matters worse, he’d oncedated Matt. Vic’s Matt. If Vic were being completely honest,he’d have to admit he first met his lover only because Kyleintroduced them. Matt liked to say Vic stole him away from Kyle,though that wasn’t exactly true. To hear Kyle tell it, he was theone who hooked Vic and Matt up.
Regardless of how it really happened,Vic didn’t like to think of Matty and Kyle in any relation to eachother. Matt was his, end of story. Kyle was just some idiot heworked with and tried to avoid if he could.
Unfortunately, it didn’t look like he couldget away with ignoring Kyle today.
As Vic climbed out of his car, he avoidedlooking around. Grab the Santa suit, head inside, hethought. If I don’t look at Kyle, maybe he’ll get thehint.
But really, why should he? He hadn’t yet.
“Vic!” Kyle cried, slamming his car door.“Didn’t get a chance to say hi at the dinner Saturday. You make asexy Santa.”
“So I’ve been told.” Vic locked his car andturned away from Kyle, hoping his coworker wouldn’t follow him.
No dice. Kyle fell into step beside Vic—theywere both heading for the garage, why not walk together? I’lltell you why, Vic thought, but despite his unfriendly scowl andfast step, Kyle kept pace with him easily.
“At least I got a chance to reconnect withMatt,” he said, oblivious to the effect his words had on hiscoworker. Vic’s jaw clenched, his teeth gnashed together, and hishands tightened into fists at his side. “God, he’s looking great.You really snagged a winner there. If I hadn’t set you two up—”
“Kyle,” Vic warned.
With a laugh, Kyle shrugged off the anger inVic’s voice. “No need to thank me, bud. You two are perfecttogether. Hey, Matt told me about your rings. When are you tyingthe knot?”
Vic rolled his eyes. Great. Vic had agreed toa small ceremony at some point, but now Kyle would want aninvitation. “We haven’t decided yet,” he said. So much forsomething quiet between he and Matt.
“Are you doing a full wedding?” Kyle asked.Before Vic could remind him they lived in Virginia, a state thatdidn’t yet allow gay marriage, Kyle slapped Vic’s arm as an ideagripped him. “Wait, who’s your best man? Eh? Eh?”
He held out his arms as if offering himselfup to Vic for the position. “Think about it!” Kyle said.
Oh God, no, Vic thought, pulling awayfrom Kyle as they neared the garage. If this was the wayit’d go down, Matty could have the damn ceremony without him.
It wasn’t until he passed the open door toMorrison’s office that he remembered the Santa suit, still hangingin the back of his car. Damn. If he went back for it now,he’d be late clocking in.
Fuck it. He’d return the suit afterwork or, if he forgot it then, there was always the next day. Aslong as he handed it in before he was off for the holiday, hedidn’t think Morrison would mind.
* * * *
Vic’s usual bus route took him by the mall atWillow Lawn, down Broad Street to Libbie Avenue, then back upMonument. Midway through his shift, he saw a handful of passengerswaiting at the bus stop on Broad and pulled to the curb to let themon. While he waited for the fares to settle, he noticed the white,pink, and blue sign of Baskin Robbins up the street. Despite thechilly December weather, there were quite a few cars in the parkinglot.
Someone had mentioned Baskin Robbins to himrecently. Had it been Matty? Vic couldn’t quite remember. Maybe hislover had mentioned ice cream at some point…
His thoughts turned to the dinner Saturdayevening—thank God he hadn’t seen Kyle then. The guy must’vepestered Matt at some point when Vic was busy playing Santa. WhyMatt had even mentioned the possibility of a commitmentceremony to his ex-boyfriend was beyond Vic, but knowing his lover,he probably wanted to show off his ring. Matt was always quick toremind Kyle just how good he and Vic were together.
Brucey, Vic thought suddenly. That’swho had mentioned Baskin Robbins—the little boy whose sister wasthrown off her horse. She was in a hospital nearby…Brucey said theyalways stopped for ice cream when they visited her.
Working for the city bus had itsadvantages—Vic knew the area like the back of his hand. Bon Secourshad a hospital just off Bremo Road, one traffic light down from theintersection of Libbie and Monument.
Of all the children who told him what theywanted for Christmas the other night, only Brucey had asked forsomething for someone else. “Don’t forget to take her presentsto the hospital instead of to our house.”
The words ran through his mind like a snippetof song he couldn’t shake. The more he tried to put them aside, themore they barged into his consciousness, demanding his attention.He wasn’t Santa. Brucey was only six—if he were older, he’d knowbetter than to expect Vic to visit his sister in the hospital.Besides, she was already twelve. She couldn’t possibly stillbelieve in Santa Claus, could she?
Matty did until he was sixteen, hereminded himself.
That brought a smile to
