it?” Alejandro asks, then he stops and clears his throat. “Surely you’re going to see your parents again this year?”
“Chanukah starts tomorrow night,” Avery says, trying not to temper his tone so it sounds like he’s talking to a small child, “but I’m not going anywhere for it.”
Alejandro breathes out through his nose, the air a little cooler as it puffs along the side of Avery’s shoulder. “Doesn’t your family want you to visit?”
“I’m sure they do, but I,” he stops suddenly because he realizes how pathetic he’s about to sound. How does he make, I was planning to wait around just like last year to see if you needed me sound like he’s a grown ass adult in charge of his own life? Especially well—since he isn’t. Alejandro doesn’t really own him, but he is at his beck and call. And frankly, the smallest piece of him was kind of hoping he would want him to stick around. “What are you doing for the holidays?”
Alejandro makes a noise that doesn’t sound happy. “I’m usually at home with my parents, but I cut my trip short this year.” The way he says it tells Avery not to ask, though he wasn’t going to anyway. “Why aren’t you going to see your parents, Avery? I know term is over, and you’ve sat your exams. There’s no reason for you to be here.”
And hell, he didn’t realize how badly hearing it from Alejandro’s lips like that was going to hurt, even if he knew it was the truth. Rolling his eyes, he shifts away and lies on his back, his face turned toward the older man. The room is dimly lit, but he can still see him, and the light coming from behind the curtains makes the silver at his temples look like his black hair has been flicked with holiday tinsel.
“I wasn’t sure if last year was a fluke,” he finally says.
Alejandro props up on his elbow and frowns at him. “Last year?”
“Uh, yeah.” Avery shifts so he’s sitting up, and he presses his back to the headboard, which is oddly soft for being made of wood. He drags one leg up toward his chest, and he’s aware that his limp cock is all on display and still kind of sticky with dried come. He sees Alejandro look down then drag his gaze away like it pained him to do it. “That was your rule, right?”
Alejandro blinks at him. “I don’t…”
“Come when I call,” Avery quotes. “You’ll give me adequate time to cancel my plans, but I can’t just hope on a plane and fly back if you need me for some holiday event at your work.”
Alejandro stares a long moment, and though it’s dark, Avery can see color rising in his cheeks. “You know that’s not what I meant. It wasn’t about the holidays.”
Avery can’t help his scoff. “What was I supposed to think? You don’t talk to me. And I get it,” he says when Alejandro’s mouth falls open to argue. “It’s not my job to ask questions or make demands or,” he flutters his hand in a wavy gesture, “whatever. It’s my job to come when you call and then do what you ask. And I’m happy to, but sometimes I have to guess, and I wasn’t sure if you had plans you’d need me for.”
“Wait, just…” Alejandro says, and his voice sounds strangled. He sits up on his elbow a little higher, and he looks almost angry, which actually scares Avery a little because it’s more emotion that he’s ever shown. “You’re saying you spent the sodding holidays on your own last year? Alone?”
Avery blinks. “Well, yeah, but it’s not a big deal. I went to see my parents for Rosh Hashanah this year and that was good enough. We don’t…” He wants to say they don’t make a big deal out of the minor holidays but sometimes they do. His mom is always a little bitter about it because she hates that it’s conforming to mainstream culture, but she was also always terrified that Avery would feel left out among his peers because he didn’t have a lot of Jewish friends growing up.
She never went as far as a Chanukah bush, but he got gifts, and she made him feel special—like that knowing the truth about Santa was a secret for kids who were smarter than everyone else. It made him a little bit of a dickhead every November and December when he was bombarded with