JASON’S PRESENT

“I told you; I don’t give a shit about Christmas.”

“I know, Gage,” Jason whispered in my ear. “But I do. It’s my favorite time of the year. I don’t think I’m asking much by wanting you to join me while I shop for a last minute gift for my sister. It’s not like I’m asking you to put on a Santa suit and do a striptease for me.”

The image made me chuckle, and I relaxed as he wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my cheek. Jason and I had been together for three years, and we still had the same discussion every year.

“I’ll be right back. I see something Kim might like.” He pecked me on the check and shuffled away.

I pushed through a family who was taking up most of the space in the aisle. Crowds were just one of the reasons I hated the holiday. Not to mention it was Christmas Eve. Christmas. Fucking. Eve. Who waits that long to buy gifts?

Jason was only doing it because his oldest sister decided at the last minute to come for Christmas. There was no way everybody else had the same excuse.

I stopped and looked at a pair of leather gloves. My pair was wearing out, and I would need a new set before too long. Riding the Harley without them was a bitch, especially in the cold. However, the hefty price tag made me set them down.

“Can I help you, sir?”

I spun around and looked into the face of a staff member. He was an older guy, probably in his fifties, with a perfectly pressed suit and glasses on the end of his nose. He checked me out from top to bottom and for a moment I wondered if I had something hanging from my nose the way he looked at me with disgust.

I covertly swiped my nose. “Nah,” I replied. “Just looking.”

“Very well. If you need anything, I’ll be right over there.” He shuffled over to a register but kept his eyes on me the entire.

Fuck it! This shit was what I hated about these expensive department stores. Because I had scruff on my face and didn’t dress to impress, they assumed I was a shoplifter. This wasn’t my world, and Christmas was not my holiday.

I left the store and sat on a bench outside. Not that the other parts of the mall were any better, but I felt less claustrophobic. A craving for a cigarette hit me hard, like a kick in the nuts, despite the fact I’d quit two years before.

Jason liked the holidays because all of his family came together—siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and whatever other relations. That was my worst nightmare. The memories of my childhood were one of the reasons I hated Christmas. Those recollections should remain buried deep. The deeper the better.

I texted Jason to let him know where I was. As I waited, I people watched, not understanding the manic behavior about finding just the perfect gift. Materialism at its worst. People treating others like crap or outright ignoring them for the rest of the year, then buying crap and pretending to give a shit.

Sitting there, I got lost in my thoughts and Jason surprised me with a kiss on the cheek some time later.

“Deep thoughts?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Hardly. Just hoping you’re done so we can get the hell out of here.”

“Gage Riordan you are such a Grinch. I wish I knew why.” He took my hand, and we walked toward the exit.

Thank God we were leaving; I wasn’t sure how much more I could handle. “Trust me, babe, you don’t want to go digging into my head too much.”

He laughed, and my mood lightened. Seeing him smile made everything worth it. I wished I could make him do it more often, though he insisted he loved me no matter what.

“You haven’t told me what you want for Christmas,” Jason said as we got to his car.

I rolled my eyes and scowled at him. “Good try.”

Jason leaned against the driver side door, and I pressed up against him, “I really want to buy you something.”

“And you know how much I don’t want any presents. I just wish I could pretend this particular holiday didn’t exist.”

“As you wish.” He sighed and gave me a sideways grin.

We’d first met a few weeks before Christmas, and he hadn’t argued when I had insisted on no gifts. After all, it was a new relationship but a year later he’d been frustrated when I still refused to exchange presents. The discussion came up every year.

“Let’s go home,” I said. “I feel like tearing off your clothes.”

He blushed slightly. “Why do you use sex to get out of an argument?”

“Are you complaining?”

“Well, no. You got me there.” He shrugged and opened the door. “Let’s go.”

*

Being with Jason was so completely different than any other guy I’d been with. He didn’t give a shit that I was a mechanic, that I had several tattoos, or that I’d served time in jail. Some guys liked me because of my ink or my bad boy past; Jason loved me for who I was. There’d been no expectations the first time we had sex. He hadn’t assumed because I had a tough exterior that I was a rough top only kind of guy.

The second we entered our apartment, he pushed me against the door and kissed me hard. So fuckin’ passionate. I loved the way he manhandled me. He knew what I liked and always seemed to be able to read my moods to know if I desired sweet and gentle or rough and intense.

“Get naked,” he growled. “I’m going to fuck the hell out of your ass.”

Yeah, he knew what I was craving. My dick strained against my tight jeans, and I couldn’t get my clothes off quick enough. He watched as I stripped, rubbing his crotch and chewing on his bottom lip.

When I was nude, I stood there, allowing the man I loved to check me out. With anybody else, I would’ve felt self-conscious but not with Jason.

“So fucking hot,” he murmured before removing his shirt.

I reached for his pants, but he smacked my hand away.

“I’m in charge now, baby.”

His demanding voice sent shivers through my spine, and I stepped back. Jason bared his cock, large and rigid and stroked it. A bead of pre-cum formed on the head, he swiped it with a finger and sucked it off.

“Mmmm,” he murmured. “Tastes good.”

I groaned. I wanted him so much. His touch, his love, was a drug to me. And when he beckoned me forward with a crook of his finger I couldn’t hold back the excitement.

“Kiss me, Gage.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I put my lips to his, and he pushed his tongue into my mouth. Fuck it was amazing. Jason wrapped his hands around both our cocks and jacked them together.

“Goddamn, you make me feel incredible.” I buried my face in his neck. “I love you, Jason.”

“And I love you, Gage.”

A moment later, I was pressed face first against the wall with my ass sticking out. Jason entered me gradually, allowing my body to accept his length. No matter how rough it got when he fucked me, he always started slow. But once he was in, all the way in, and he knew I was ready to go it was no holds barred.

Having Jason in me, being a part of me, was an exquisite sensation. We’d stopped using condoms a year into the relationship after months of negative HIV tests. The skin to skin contact was unbelievable and when he came I felt his cock pulsing against my prostate.

Afterward, we collapsed on our bed and napped for a few hours. I woke when I reached for him and found a jumble of covers where Jason should’ve been, the sheets still warm from his body. Still naked, I shuffled into the living room just as he slipped on his shoes.

“Where ya going?” I asked.

“The party at my family’s place, remember?”

How could I forget the Christmas party with his large and apparently loving clan.

“Oh, yeah.” I approached him and kissed his cheek. “Are you sure you have to go?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go with me?”

Tapping my finger on my chin, I pretended to consider the idea then said, “Nah, I’ll pass.”

He grinned. “That’s what I thought.”

Jason kissed me good-bye and stepped out the door. I missed him immediately. He was the best thing ever to happen to me. I didn’t know what I’d do without him and hoped I never had to know.

I didn’t need his presents; I just needed his…presence.

It hit me like a shit ton of bricks. Jason had been giving me everything I needed since we met—unconditional love being at the top of the list.

I had to get him something. Something that would show him exactly how much I cared for him. I knew what I wanted, but the question was, would I be able to find it on Christmas Eve? I sure as was going to try.

*

Jason didn’t return until late. Almost midnight, in fact, and that made it just about perfect.

I met him at the door. “Close your eyes.”

“What? Why?”

“Jason, please.”

He eyed me suspiciously but did as I asked. I took his elbow and led him into the living room. With butterflies in my stomach I flipped the switch. “Okay, you can look.”

Jason opened his eyes and took in what I’d created. His eyes lit up, and the reflection of the Christmas lights sparkled in his eyes.

“It’s not the prettiest tree in history…”

“It’s beautiful, Gage.”

It was a bit scraggly with a few missing branches. I’d bought a couple ornaments from the dollar store but I’d also printed a few selfies we’d taken and hung them from the branches. That was my favorite part.

I wouldn’t have called it beautiful, but considering it was the first Christmas tree I’d decorated, I thought I did pretty well.

The End