Your Christmas by S.J. Coles
Book 1 in the Once Upon a Holiday series
General Release Date: 29th November 2022
Word Count: 11,664
Book Length: SHORT STORY
Pages: 59
Genres:
CELEBRITIES,CHRISTMAS,CONTEMPORARY,EROTIC ROMANCE,FRIENDS TO LOVERS,GAY,GLBTQI,HOLIDAYS,SECOND CHANCE
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Book Description
It’s your Christmas, Nick. Make it what you want it to be.
Nick only agreed to return to Littleton for Christmas because Charlie, his movie-star ex, is throwing a Christmas Eve party. Charlie was the one who got away, and, regardless of what his old friend Seph says, Nick thinks he still has a shot.
But things don’t go according to plan. Maybe it’s being back in his hometown, maybe it’s the time of year, but Nick is looking at Seph in a whole different way.
Nick has to decide what he really wants for Christmas before he blows yet another chance at happiness.
After some debate, Nick decided to get the train to Littleton. He knew using public transport the day before Christmas Eve was probably asking for trouble, and there was no First Class on the branch line. But the thought of taking his Jag down the winding, country roads filled with slush and muck made him opt for the cleaner—if less comfortable—option.
By the time he stepped onto the platform at Littleton Station, he was tired, frustrated and aching from the hard seats, and the evening was drawing in. Flakes of snow drifted in the frigid air. It was a small station with no taxi rank, and he stood contemplating the uphill road to the town center with a scowl.
Then he thought of Charlie.
Nick always pictured him as he’d looked on their first night together, all burning blue eyes and tousled curls. Nick smiled, shouldered his bag and left the station.
He bent against the icy wind and didn’t look up until he had to sidestep a pair of chattering children carrying a Christmas wreath. Their mother gave her apologies and herded her children on, the wreath shedding needles and the smell of evergreen. Nick finally looked around.
The market square was ablaze. Ropes of blinking icicles were strung between the buildings. The large tree in the center flashed alternate red, green, blue and yellow, the same lights as the winter he’d left over a decade ago. The windows of the bakery, butcher and The White Hart pub were sprayed with fake snow. People stood smoking and chatting outside the pub with laughter and Christmas music spilling through the open door behind them. Couples and families huddled together in padded waterproofs watching a brass band playing carols, the adults clutching paper cups of steaming mulled wine from a cart on the corner.
The cart was familiar. The vendor was a friend of his mother’s. She had retired from catering years ago but had always appeared in the square over Christmas with her urn, whatever the weather. Apparently, that hadn’t changed, either. She raised a mittened hand to him.
“Nick? Nick Bostock! Thought that was you! Come warm your cockles, lad.”
Nick resisted looking at his watch and wandered over. The smell of warm wine, citrus and spices cut through the cold like heated gold. She held out a cup, and he sipped politely. It warmed him all the way to his toes.
“Good?” The woman was smiling, her round face wrinkling, her black eyes shining in the flashing tree lights.
“Yes, Auntie Mia,” he said, setting the cup down. “I see you haven’t lost your touch.”
“Oh no,” she chuckled, putting the lid back on the urn. “Not yet. So, it’s been a long time.”
“Yeah,” Nick said awkwardly, glancing over his shoulder. “And I’m just on my way to my dad’s…”
“See much of young Seph these days?” she asked. “You were always so close, back in the day.”
Something in her voice made Nick pause. She was still smiling benignly, dimples denting her pink-flushed cheeks, but it seemed something had sharpened in her gaze.
“We’re in touch, yeah.”
“Glad to hear it,” she said, holding his cup back up to him. “On the house, lad. To help remind you home is where the heart is.”
Nick took the cup, smiled stiffly and turned away, taking the main road out of town.
The snow grew heavier, and he lamented the state of his new trainers as he turned onto Oak Street. He was just heading up the drive to his old front door when it opened and out stepped Seph. He spotted Nick and beamed. His hair was longer and threaded with silver. His green eyes shone. His smile lit his face and crinkled the skin in the corners of his eyes. The sight stole the air from Nick’s lungs as effectively as a kick to the gut would.
Nick still spoke to his old friend regularly. No matter what was going on in his life—a frustrating case, office politics, another disastrous relationship—Seph always had a listening ear and a kind word, so Nick felt like he still knew him well. But it was only now, seeing him standing there in the snow with a look on his face like all his Christmases had come at once that Nick realized how long it had been since he’d really taken notice.
He was certain Seph had not this effect on him when they had last met in London. But then Nick had to admit that he’d been so distracted by a case that he hadn’t paid much attention during the one drink he’d been able to squeeze into his schedule.
“Nick! You made it.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m here,” Nick said, finally finding his voice. He blinked at his father’s door. “Is everything okay?”
“What? Oh, yes, everything’s fine.” Seph smiled wider and came down the drive. “I’m not on duty. I was just checking in.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Not too bad,” Seph said, his smile losing some of its brightness. “His chest’s bothering him a bit. The cold, you know.”
Nick nodded. “Thank you.”
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S. J. Coles
S. J. Coles is a Romance writer originally from Shropshire, UK. She has been writing stories for as long as she has been able to read them. Her biggest passion is exploring narratives through character relationships.
She finds writing LGBT/paranormal romance provides many unique and fulfilling opportunities to explore many (often neglected or under-represented) aspects of human experience, expectation, emotion and sexuality.
Among her biggest influences are LGBT Romance authors K J Charles and Josh Lanyon and Vampire Chronicles author Anne Rice.
Find S. J. Coles at her website and follow her on Instagram.
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