Free A Summit City Christmas by Ethan Day

CHAPTER ONE
     
    Christmas Eve morning…
    “Once upon a time, in fairy land far, far away…lived a smokin’ hot boy-toy and his big, hairless Yeti.”
    I sighed, watching the steam created by my breath rising up along with that from my giant cup of freshly brewed coffee. Large fluffy white flakes slowly drifted down from the clouds above dusting everything the eye could see in a fresh layer of snow. It was early, not quite seven thirty and I was the only one awake, which was unusual. Wade would’ve typically already left for the lodge by this time.
    “I did ride him pretty hard last night, though,” I said, laughing as I surveyed the terrain wondering who the hell I was talking to. “The raccoons?”
    I took a sip, shaking off a shiver from the cold air all around me. I was tucked safely under the short eave of the house, protected from the falling snow. It had become a ritual each morning, stepping outside with my coffee – an attempt to desensitize myself to the much colder temperatures which I was unfortunately not getting used to.
    Thankfully Wade has no problem warming me back up.
    I never realized how much time I spent talking to myself until Wade pointed it out. Apparently, I was secretly in love with the sound of my own voice. It had embarrassed me at the time, which for anyone who knew me was really saying something.
    I think it’s kinda cute, Boone.
    That’s what Wade said after he’d noticed my reddening cheeks. He’d made my cheeks red often enough, but this was one of the few times it happened to the ones located above the waist.
    Personally, I think he enjoyed the fact he’d made me blush way more than my verbal rambling, but I loved him for lying in an attempt to shield my not so delicate feelings all the same. One more thing on the long list titled, Shit I never knew about my boyfriend before moving in with him . For the two of us in particular, it was a very long list. We most definitely had a cart-before-the-horse kinda relationship.
    “That’s what happens when you give the milk away for free, boys and girls.”
    I sighed, clutching my coffee-bowl with mitten clad hands. It was ridiculously quiet, standing just outside the back door on the deck. I’d never realized the world around me could actually be that silent. I’d tried telling myself that was at least part of the reason I made so much noise, but I was beginning to think it merely a convenient excuse.
    The early morning light in the eastern sky was diffused by the thick clouds which hung overhead. I turned, concentrating on my reflection in the large picture window off the dining room which looked out over the valley below at the sleepy little Victorian mountain town that was Summit City. I’d slipped on Wade’s snow boots he kept by the back door to use when he needed to bring in more fire wood. My long, thermal underwear clad legs were jutting out from underneath the huge, puffy winter coat I’d bundled myself into. Thankfully I’d grown into my long legs and arms otherwise I’d have looked like the son of Lurch.
    My lip curled into a snarl after noticing my hair in the reflection and I tried reminding myself it was temporary, that eventually it would all grow back. I simply needed to keep myself distracted for another year and I will have returned to normal. I’m not sure which would be easier, finding the patience to wait on my hair, or coming up with a year’s worth of distractions for my ADD ass.
    One thing was certain, I was nervous about the day ahead. The new and possibly combustible combination of two families, who couldn’t have been any more different, mixed together with the Christmas holiday. It might be a recipe for disaster, a catastrophe that no one on this planet could do anything to stop at this point.
    “Can you imagine dear old dad deciding to wax poetic about his experiences with a strap-on?” I asked myself.
    I took a deep breath and exhaled, following that up with another gulp of caffeinated courage.