A Guy for Christmas - K.C. Wells Page 0,24

him dead in his tracks. “I’m not going to do that,” Dean said quietly. “But I think you’d better go into my living room and sit down, and then we’ll talk.”

Robin nodded and dashed ahead of him into the living room. When Dean got there, Robin was sitting on the edge of the seat cushion, his hands clasped between his knees. Lady came over to sit at his feet, gazing at him, but he made no attempt to pet her.

Dean sat on the sofa facing him. He felt it was better to put some space between them. “Why are you telling me this?”

Dear God, Robin was shaking.

“This is the situation.” Robin swallowed hard. “I’m eighteen, I’m a virgin, and I don’t want to be one anymore.”

Dean frowned. “You say this like you expect me to do something about it.” Then it dawned on him. He leaned forward, his head in his hands. “Oh my God.” Everything his friends had said was true. I’m never gonna hear the end of this.

“Dean? Talk to me, please?”

He straightened and sat back against the cushions. “Robin… You’re cute and all, but… you are way too young for me.” Except that hadn’t stopped Dean from fantasizing about kissing him, had it? And not just kissing.

“I’m eighteen.” Robin’s eyes flashed. “I’m legal.”

“Legal is one thing, but…” Looking at Robin’s crestfallen face make his chest tighten. There had to be a way forward from this. “You’re gay.”

Robin nodded.

“Okay then. Do your parents know you’re gay?”

Another nod.

“When did they find out?”

“I told them at Thanksgiving.” Robin flashed a quick smile. “Over Thanksgiving dinner, actually.”

Dean chuckled. “Nice timing. How did they take it?”

“I didn’t actually come out with it and say ‘Hey, guess what? I’m gay.’”

“I’m intrigued.”

Robin gave him a word-for-word account of the dinner, and Dean had to admit he’d chosen a pretty unique way of doing it. He snorted when Robin related his comments to Ryan. “That sounds like your brother. So this is all new?”

“For them, it was. I’ve known for a while.” Robin’s shy smile was adorable. “You have no idea how long I waited for the perfect moment to tell them.” He cocked his head. “Your parents know about you, right?”

Dean laughed. “For a long while now.”

“How did you tell them?”

“I wasn’t as… circumspect as you. My mom caught me kissing Darryl Jacobs on the back porch. In my defense, I thought she wasn’t home. He’d come back with me after school, and we were out in the yard messing around with a ball. He looked so gorgeous in the afternoon sunlight, and I couldn’t resist stealing a kiss. It wasn’t the first time we’d kissed, you understand. But it was definitely the first time for my mom.”

“What happened?”

“Darryl said his goodbyes and scooted out of there like his ass was on fire. Mom took me in the kitchen, sat me down at the table, and asked how long it had been going on. She wasn’t angry. In fact, she was very calm. I got the idea she’d been sort of expecting it.” He grinned. “I think your parents betting on when you’d come out is hilarious.”

“I didn’t think so at the time,” Robin retorted. “And now, Mom wants to know if I’m seeing someone. They’re discussing me, if I’ve got a boyfriend I’m not telling them about.”

“So what was the plan with the ski instruction?” Except he had a sneaking suspicion he already knew.

Robin scowled. “I should never have listened to Ryan. It made me feel so awful, lying to you like that. I knew I had to be honest, which is why I came round this evening.” He shook his head. “I almost changed my mind. The thought of telling you all this terrified me.”

“I appreciate your honesty. And I am flattered. I’ve never been asked to be someone’s first before.” He locked gazes with Robin. “That is what you want, isn’t it?” If it wasn’t, Dean was going to look like a total idiot. An arrogant idiot at that.

Robin gave a slow nod, his face flushed. “Ryan made it sound like being a virgin was a bad thing.”

“He’s wrong,” Dean said decisively. “But I do know how you feel. I remember being in such a hurry to lose my virginity, I didn’t stop to think about what it meant.” He didn’t care that this was extremely personal information he was sharing. Robin needed to hear it.

“What do you mean?”

“I get the impression that nowadays for a lot of young people, sex