Never Have I Ever: Had a Bromance with a Teammate

“Oh good, I was hoping you’d be home.”

“Dude!” I bobbled my phone at Alex’s voice. I’d been so engrossed in what I was looking at I hadn’t heard him come into the living room.

“Sorry.” His grin told me he wasn’t the least bit sorry.

“What’s up?” I jammed my phone into my hoodie pocket.

“Is Eli around?”

“He’s in his room.”

“Good.” He pulled out a brightly wrapped box out of his backpack.

“For me? You shouldn’t have,” I teased. “But wouldn’t Christmas wrapping be more appropriate at this time of year?”

“It’s for Eli.” He shot me a sugary-sweet smile. “My Christmas gift to you is the continuation of my friendship.”

I laughed. “Works for me. That’s what I got you too. But you got Eli something? I didn’t realize you were so close.”

“He and Kai grew up together. They go way back.” Alex jiggled the box. “But this isn’t for Christmas. It’s for his birthday.”

“His birthday?”

“Yeah, it’s tomorrow.”

“His birthday is Christmas Eve?”

Alex nodded grimly. “Did he mention if he was going to be around? We invited him over, but he said he had plans.”

“You don’t think he does?”

“Kai doesn’t. He said Eli always gets squirrelly at Christmas. He didn’t go into much detail, but apparently, he has good reasons.”

“He said he was going to be out with his brother or maybe finding his brother? He worded it weirdly, so I’m not exactly sure. But other than that, he said he’d be here.”

“Can you give him this when you see him? We wanted to make sure he gets it on his actual birthday but didn’t want to risk missing him.”

“Yeah, of course.” I stood and took the box from him.

“It’s an e-reader,” Alex said. “As far as we know, he doesn’t have one. And he reads a lot, like a lot. Hopefully, he likes it.”

I thought back to our trip to the library and his giant stack of books. “I’ll be sure to give it to him. You can tell Kai he’s having Christmas dinner with us, so he won’t be alone.”

“That’s good.” His features tightened. “Has he talked to you about the kinds of foods he eats?” he asked slowly, obviously choosing his words carefully.

“He did.”

“Good.” Alex blew out a breath.

“He also told me why he eats the way he does,” I added, hoping to ease both his and Kai’s minds.

Alex’s expression relaxed. “I didn’t want to say anything because it’s not my place, but I’m glad he did.”

“I should put this in my room so he doesn’t see it.” I wiggled the gift.

“I need to head out too.” He shouldered his bag. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas.”

I hurried up to my room and put the gift on my desk. Then I glanced at the stack of stuff I’d shoved into the corner of my room. An idea popped into my head, and I pulled out my phone to text Jax.

Matt: I have to go out for a bit

Jax: okay, dare I ask why?

Matt: I need to pick up a few things. I’ll explain later.

Jax: k let me know when you want me to come over

Matt: I’ll pick you up on my way home

Jax: see you then

Matt: see ya

I shrugged into my jacket and grabbed my wallet off my desk. I had some shopping to do.

“You’re a crazy fucker,” Jax said as he climbed into my car.

“Why?” I waited as he closed the door and put on his seat belt, then pulled away from the curb.

“Going shopping two days before Christmas.” He hooked his thumb at the bags in the back of the car.

“The stores weren’t bad, but the traffic into the city was rough.”

“I bet. Are you going to tell me who they’re for?”

“I found out that tomorrow is Eli’s birthday.”

“Tomorrow?” He shot me an alarmed look. “Really?”

“Alex told me. Apparently, Eli and Kai are friends from way back.”

“Small world.”

“Yeah. I figured that since he was going to be at the house for not only his birthday but also for Christmas, it might be nice to get him some gifts.”

“That’s really thoughtful of you.”

“I got him one from you too.”

“How much do I owe you?”

I waved him off. “Nothing. I figured he’d feel more comfortable accepting them if they came from all of us. I texted Beck and Finn and got him something from them too.”

“You’re a good friend.” Jax squeezed my thigh.

I flushed. “I like the kid. He’s been a good friend to me. And everyone deserves to feel special on their birthday. Can you imagine having your birthday so close to a major holiday? I can only imagine how many times it was overshadowed or people just didn’t bother celebrating it.”

“One of the guys on my high school ball team’s birthday is the twenty-sixth. He said he grew up having his birthday and Christmas gifts combined and that he never got a party or any sort of celebration, not even as a kid. I bet it’s even worse if your birthday is Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.”

“Probably. How’s the fam?”

Jax launched into a story about how his niece had learned to open the baby gate around the Christmas tree at his sister’s place and had let the cat in and encouraged it to climb in the tree.

He was smiling, but sadness clouded his eyes. Jax was close with his family, and I knew that not going home was hard for him. Hopefully, my surprise helped lift his spirits.

When we got to the house, he checked to make sure the coast was clear, then helped me carry the bags inside.

“What’s that?” Jax nodded to the corner of my room and put his shopping bags on my bed.

“Christmas.” I tossed my jacket onto my desk chair. “Time to get to work.”

“I’m confused.”

Grinning, I made my way over to the corner and grabbed two of the bags.

He took them from me and peeked inside. “Decorations?” He beamed.

“Yup.” I motioned to the other two bags. “You get those, and I’ll get the tree.”

“Tree?” he asked excitedly.

“It’s just a small one.” I picked up the box I’d leaned against the wall. “Nothing fancy or anything. But I figured we should have an actual Christmas since we’re here.”

We carried the stuff down to the living room, where we laid everything out.

Most of what I’d picked up was cheesy and campy. I was clueless when it came to decorating, but Jax’s enthusiasm soothed any nerves I might have had that this was a dumb idea or that I’d messed up.

We spent the next hour putting the small tree together and haphazardly draping and hanging decorations on it. The rest of the stuff found homes around the living room.

“It looks good.” Jax came to stand beside me. “Not bad for a couple of dumb jocks.”

“Not bad at all.” I leaned against his shoulder. “Want to light the tree and see what it looks like?”

“Hell, yeah.” He got down on his stomach and wiggled under the tree to plug it in.

“Probably should have gotten an extension cord or something,” I mused.

“Probably,” he agreed, his voice muffled.

The prelit tree sparked to life, bathing the room in a soft glow. I took in our handiwork, my chest warm and my heart full.

Jax came out from under the tree and stood beside me, one arm draped over my shoulders.

“Thanks, babe.” He kissed my temple.

I turned my face toward him, wanting a real kiss. He obliged, and warmth flooded through me at the soft slide of his lips on mine.

Christmas at my parents’ house was a lonely and somber affair. My mother was usually away, and my father wasn’t one to bother with decorating or taking time off work. I always spent the break alone and killing time until I went back to school.

Jax’s family went all out for Christmas. They had a big family dinner on Christmas Day and had a tradition of opening one gift together on Christmas Eve while they sat around, having a few drinks and eating cookies his mother baked. They had bins of decorations they put out and even wore silly Christmas sweaters for their cookie and gift party.

I couldn’t replace his family, but hopefully, I could make the holiday a little brighter for him.

“Sorry.”

We pulled apart at Eli’s soft voice.

“Wait.”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He was halfway up the stairs but turned to us, his gaze on the floor. “I just need to eat.”

“You weren’t interrupting anything.” Jax smiled brightly at him. “What do you think?”

Eli looked around the room, his expression guarded. “Very festive.”

“That’s a polite way of saying not bad for a couple of dumb jocks.”

He smiled at my joke. “It looks nice.”

“The kitchen is all yours.”

“Thanks.”

I turned to Jax. “What do you want to do tonight?”

“Watch a movie?”

“Sounds good. Here or in my room?”

“Well, here means we can enjoy the tree and cuddle. In your room means we can do the cuddling naked.” He lifted one eyebrow suggestively.

“My room.” I grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the stairs.

He followed, his low laugh tickling my insides as anticipation filled my chest. Hopefully, naked cuddling involved his dick in my ass again.