Can’t Hide My Love (10 page)

Danny glanced to the tree and shrugged. “It’s not grades, it’s about my boyfriend’s family. We don’t know how to deal with it. I was wanting to bring Lee over and maybe you two could talk to him. He’s kind of freaking out because his parents might find out that we moved in together for the coming semester.”

Preston almost laughed but caught himself. “Um, wow, I didn’t know you were gay. I’m not laughing at you, trust me. I was going to laugh because I panicked when you saw me with Alec. I was afraid of what you’d think.”

“No one cares. We’ve known for a while that you were gay,” Danny said.

“You’ve known? Who knew?” Preston sucked in a breath, fear pinging around his head.

“Well,” Danny wiped his hand over his face. “Some of the guys thought you were. I guess no one really knew, but some of the guys said their gaydar went off. Mine didn’t.”

Preston glanced to Alec and rolled his eyes. “I guess it wasn’t that much of a secret.”

“Anyway, can we come over later?” Danny gave him his best hopeless look and Preston relented.

“Sure, we’re staying at Alec’s this Christmas. Do you need the address?”

“Yeah, I have no clue where Professor H lives.”

Preston passed Danny the information then got into the passenger seat with Alec, waiting for him to drive, but Alec didn’t start the engine.

“Are we going to go?” Preston asked.

“I have a Christmas present for you and I want to give it to you now.”

“No, we still have five days to go before the big day.”

“I know, but this can’t wait. I’m proud of you for being brave enough to come out.”

Preston smiled, happy with his life now. “It’s been tough, but losing you again wasn’t an option.”

Alec reached over and took Preston’s hand. “That’s why I want to give you this.” Alec held up a box in his other hand. It was small and rectangular and Preston had no idea what was inside.

He took the box from Alec’s hand and looked at it before glancing back at the box. “What is this?”

“Just open it. Maybe it will be self explanatory.”

Preston opened the box and smiled to himself. On a bed of white cotton sat a key that looked a lot like the key to Alec’s apartment.

“Move in with me. I don’t want to keep going back and forth between apartments. Your lease is up first, and mine ends in June. Maybe we can get a house or something together.”

Preston pulled the key from the box and dug out his key ring, sliding the key next to his own apartment key. After he finished the task he took Alec’s hand and kissed his knuckles.

“I’ll gladly move in and live with you. I want this to be the first of many Christmases with you. Alec Harper, I commit to you. Not just to live with you, but to be your partner. I want to face all of our struggles together. If people have a problem with us being together, we’ll deal with it, but I want to deal with it together.”

Alec leaned in close and brushed his lips over Preston’s. He drew back a few inches, the smile on his lips wide. “Babe, that’s more than I could ask for. You’ve made me so happy. Thank you. This is going to be the best Christmas ever. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now, let’s get home before Danny and his boyfriend come around. I want the tree up and decorated so once Danny and Lee leave I can make love to you in front of it.”

Alec nodded and started the engine. “Sounds like a plan, one that I can get into.”

All the way home Preston didn’t take his hand off Alec’s knee. He never would have come out or accepted who he was without Alec’s help. Loving Alec was easier than he thought it could have been. They had love together, and that was enough for Preston. He’d not hide the truth because hiding had almost cost him everything.

Sara York's
life is writing. The stories fight to get out, often leaving her working on four or five books at once. She can't help but write. Along with her writing addiction she has a coffee addiction. Some nights, the only reason she stops writing and goes to sleep is for the fresh brewed coffee in the morning. Sara enjoys writing twisted tales of passion, anger, and love with a good healthy dose of lust thrown in for fun.

For more information on other books by Sara, please visit her official website:
SaraYork.com

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