Christmas Tales - Brandon Witt Page 0,33
I could speak. “And the only astigmatism you have is in your brain, so calm down.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
She pointed to the board. “And neither does your playing. It’s your turn. And build another goddamned city already.”
* * *
Another hour and a half, and it was over. I was glad, which was unusual. And one more bit of proof why Christmas sucked. Whether Lori thought Jerry was pathetic or not, I agreed with him. Two game nights a week at The Wizard’s Chest was my only real social life. Who was I kidding? It was my only social life, real or otherwise. And until Christmas was over, I left these nights feeling lonelier than ever.
It was nearly nine before we cleared out. Typically Lori and I hung around for a few moments after the games were over, but she claimed she had something else to get to. I think she was just annoyed with me, both for my poor playing and my lack of Christmas joy.
The store had finally emptied of kids, and while some customers still milled about, the place was at least more peaceful. I didn’t like Christmas or children all that much, but I did love toys. And the Wizard’s Chest had the toys I’d dreamed about as a kid. Knights on horseback. Dragons. Wizards. Mermaids. Fairies. Vampires.
I didn’t have the extra money to spend, but maybe a new vampire to add to the collection would make me feel better. And it had been a while since I’d refreshed the figures I used for my YouTube videos.
The debate raging in my mind over going with the more traditional vampire with a cape or the one who resembled a druid demon was blocking out all other thoughts, and I jumped when a voice rumbled beside me.
“Well, Brian Jeffrey McKay. Twice in one week. Must be my Christmas luck.”
I looked up into the gorgeous face and forgot about vampires, YouTube videos, and how to speak. “Uhhh….”
James grinned down at me and pointed to the vampires in each of my hands. “Doing some Christmas shopping?”
What? I followed his gaze. Oh, right. Toys. Grown men didn’t buy toys for themselves. “Yes. I am.” The lie caught in my throat, making me feel dirty in a similar way that Philip’s comments always brought on. A flash of anger shot through me. I like toys, damn it. “No, actually. Just trying to figure out which vampire I want to add to my collection.”
James’s eyes widened. “You collect vampires?”
“Uhm, yeah, kinda.” Dear Lord, why hadn’t I just lied? What would the harm have been? At least I wouldn’t have looked like a jackass in front of the hottest bear of the century. “And you? You’re doing some shopping?”
He nodded and held out a box set of Breyer horses. “My granddaughter is obsessed with these.” He then gestured to a wooden princess doll. “And my grandson is obsessed with princesses. I’ve never been here before. It’s a pretty great place. A lot better than the toy store at the mall I normally go to. They have some real unusual stuff here.”
He might as well have been speaking a different language. Princess for his grandson? And a granddaughter? As in he had grandchildren? As in the crazy hot man who was the center of an orgy a few days before was a… grandfather? Grandfather?
I forced myself to speak. “Uhm, that’s cool that you’ll get princesses for your grandson. My dad wouldn’t ever get me the toys I asked for. It always had to be Hot Wheels or baseball bats or something. He’d never let me get the fantasy toys or the dolls I asked for. He always said—” I realized I was rambling and shut my mouth. But it popped open again, unfortunately. “You’re a grandfather?”
He laughed. A warm, unselfconscious sound. “Yes. I am. My daughter has two beautiful kids.”
What the…? “And you have a kid too?”
He cocked his head at me. “Yeah. That’s typically how a guy gets to be a grandfather. They have to have a kid first.”
“Right. Of course.” I ran out of words.
The silence went on long enough for it to be noticeable when James motioned toward the toys in my hands again. “So you just get a hankering for vampire figures this time of night?”
I glanced down at the forgotten toys again. “Oh. No. I come here a couple of times a week to do role-playing games and stuff. It’s a lot of fun.” God, this just kept getting worse.