Author: Kristbethke

**Travis and Noah are out in the world, and you can get His Needs now at all major retailers! I’ve you’ve already read it, here’s the next installment. Travis and Noah, a year later.**

I kept anxiously glancing at the clock and then at the door. I’d only been home twenty minutes, but it felt like longer. With the blizzard blanketing the area, both Travis and I had gotten called into work. Well, he’d already been there, and just had to stay longer. I’d had to go in and work an extra shift. The car accidents alone were keeping our ER hopping. Fortunately, there wasn’t anything too major. But it was a steady non-stop flow for the entire eight hour shift.

Travis had been duty going on twelve hours.

I wanted him home. More than just wanting him snuggled up with me in our cozy apartment–he’d moved in with me almost nine months ago–I was worried about him. He hadn’t slept well the night before, and now he’d been working, out in this storm, for way too long. I knew he wasn’t taking care of himself, he never did, and as I thought about it, I got even more anxious. Travis probably had spent the day drowning his hunger in coffee and not taking any breaks.

The familiar clomp of his boots on the stairs up to our front door had me jumping to my feet. I yanked open the door just as he hit our little hallway landing, and my heart stuttered. Travis had brushed the snow off as best he could, but he was still dusted in it, and his smile as he looked at me was weary. There were dark circles under his blue eyes, and the stubble covering his cheeks glittering as the flakes melted.

I grabbed his face and pulled him in, kissing him hard and fast. His skin felt frozen beneath my fingers, and didn’t waste time. Once I’d greeted him thoroughly, I tugged him inside.

“Shower,” I said firmly. “Get out of those cold, wet clothes and into a warm shower. Now.”

“Hi, baby. Good to see you. How was work?”

I squinted at his playful tone and the way his eyes sparkled with amusement. “I’ll tell you all about it. After you’re warm and dry. Go. I’ll bring you sweats.”

He captured my hand. “You could join me.”

I shook my head, but then used his grip on my to guide him toward the bathroom. “Not now. Get clean and warm.” I shoved him through the door and shut it on his laughter. I smiled, then retrieved his favorite sweat pants and sweatshirt from the bedroom. I set them, along with clean pair of boxers, on the edge of the sink, then ducked back out of the bathroom before the sight of his wet, naked body tempted me too much and buckled my resolve.

By the time he emerged fifteen minutes later, I was ready.

Travis went stock still when he saw the tree leaning against the far wall and the totes containing the Christmas decorations. With only two weeks left before the day, we were behind schedule. But we’d both been working a lot of overtime and hadn’t quite managed to make our schedules mesh. We’d talked about one or the other of us going to pick out the tree by ourselves, especially as the days wore on. I hope he wouldn’t mind that I’d taken the initiative on the way home to do just that.

“It’s perfect,” he murmured, not looking away from the tree.

I grinned, relieved. I made a point of going to the same lot he had gone to for years, and picking out a tree as close to last years as I could. I knew what he liked, and I wanted to do everything I could to make sure he liked it. It was our first together, in our home, though last year’s had felt like ours too. But this one felt even more important.

Travis crossed the room and grabbed me, wrapping me up in his thick arms and bending to tuck his face against my neck. He breathed deeply for a long moment, then kissed below my ear. I shivered a little, then gently pulled back. He was grinning.

“Thank you, baby. This is exactly what I needed.”

I waggled my eyebrows. “I’m good at taking care of your needs. Because I love you.”

“And I love you.”

I knew he did. I took his hand and led him over to the tree. “Let’s decorate our home for Christmas.”

**A little more with Spencer and Alex as they celebrate the holiday. Hope everyone who celebrated had a lovely day yesterday. And enjoy this this little scene from Alex and Spencer’s life.**

“Leave them.”

Alex looked up from where he was stacking dishes and gave me a scandalized stare. “I can’t just leave them!”

I nodded, reining in my mirth. “Yes. They’ll be there later. Besides, don’t we have a housekeeper?”

Alex glared. “To do the everyday stuff. I can’t dump seven thousand dishes on him without notice. That’s unfair and rude.”

“Fine. We’ll do them later. Just…” I blew out a breath and then held up a hand. “Everyone is finally gone, and it was so chaotic I feel like I haven’t really seen you all day. Just come sit with me for a little bit, baby. Please.”

He abandoned his stack of dishes, wiped his hands on a towel, and crossed through the dining room to get to me where I was lounging on the couch. I loved the wide open spaces in this house. It made it simple to find my man wherever he was. And damn, but did I love looking at him. From the very first moment I met him, I’d wanted him. And now I had him. It certainly hadn’t been easy, but we were in a good place and had been since last February. We worked hard to keep it that way.

Alex snuggled into my side the instant he sat down. My extra few inches made just enough difference that he could tuck his head under my chin. We liked to hold each other whenever we could, but that he burrowed in so fast clued me in to his state of mind. He needed some decompressing. The whole day had been a bit stressful, and I hadn’t made it any easier by springing it on him at the last minute. Of course, his dad and I had made a strategic move there. Because if Alex had more time to worry about it, it would have been a thousand times worse. But I had him in my arms now and that was the very best place for him.

I reached down and tipped his chin up so I could look into those beautiful blue eyes. I could see the stress, so I bent and kissed him. Softly, tenderly, but with as much heat as I could manage. Alex instantly melted against me, that tension he’d been carrying disappearing.

When I pulled back, he was panting hard, and I made sure to keep his gaze. “I am thankful for you. I am thankful you gave me that first chance and took me to bed. I’m thankful you gave me that second chance and let me back in. And I’m beyond thankful you have worked at this thing with me, made it amazing, and we have this to come home to, to rely on. I love you.”

For a long moment, Alex didn’t speak. But I could see a touch of wetness in his eyes, and he swallowed hard a few times. I smoothed his hair back from his forehead–it was darker than normal for a role he’d just filmed, and I wanted his auburn back–and waited for him to speak.

“I love you. And ditto to all that. Thankful for you and that I did that and…” He shook his head and grinned. “I love you.”

I chuckled softly. Alex often lamented the lack of script writer in his everyday life but while he wasn’t the most eloquent when his emotions were high, I thought he expressed himself just fine. I pushed him down beneath me on the couch, and Alex spread his knees so I could fit in the vee of his hips. His eyes rolled back as he pushed up, rubbing the best parts together, and I lowered my mouth to bit at his outstretched neck.

“So,” I murmured against his skin. “Where we going to put the tree?”

His bark of laughter, echoing in the large room, was music to my ears.

**Something Like Want is out! And now, here are Alex and Spencer to show us a snippet of their life. This takes place after the epilogue. Enjoy!**

I stared at my boyfriend in utter shock.

“Excuse me, what?”

Spencer just grinned. God, I loved his smile. It was the first thing that caught my attention, and there had been many times over the past year I’d been glad my punch to his face had not damaged it. It was all heat and charm, and really, all he had to do was flash it and I was at his mercy. I’d do anything for that smile.

Well, really because I loved him completely. But I blamed his smile.

“We’re going to host Thanksgiving here.”

Nope. It didn’t make any more sense the second time he said it. I shook my head. “Why?”

“Because it’s our first holiday since we moved in together. And we have this big gorgeous house. That you bought just because the kitchen and dining room were one huge open space, I might add.” Spencer sauntered closer, swagger in his walk, and his grin grew even wider. “So it makes sense to invite your family up. And a couple members of mine. And just celebrate here.”

“But…no. That’s not how it goes. My dad hosts. He does it. We go there. My dad would never allow it.”

“He already said he’s fine with it.”

I narrowed my eyes. “When?”

“A couple of weeks ago when I asked him what he thought of us doing it here.”

“What?”

Spencer grew concerned, and wrapped himself around me from behind, pulling me back to rest against him. I relaxed almost immediately, settling into his embrace. He kissed the side of my head and I let out a sigh.

“What’s the matter, baby?”

I took a breath. “Nothing, exactly. Just…you know. There’s a tradition. And my dad was big on it, so I’m just surprised.” I let out a laugh and turned around. “Plus, you know, Thanksgiving is fucking tomorrow and you haven’t said anything!”

Spence laughed, and smoothed a thumb along my jaw. His eyes were warm and soft as he looked at me and I couldn’t help but melt under his gaze. He loved me and that’s all I needed.

“I knew you’d freak out, so your dad and I decided to keep it quiet. And since you just proved me right, well….” He waggled his eyebrows and I laughed. When he pulled me back into his embrace, I let him. I breathed him in, soaking in his scent. He always smelled so good.

“There’s nothing for you to do, Alex.” His voice was soft in my ear. “The house is clean. Your dad and I are cooking. Let’s create our own tradition, hm?”

“Well, when you put it like that…” I pushed into his arms and kissed him.

***

I walked red carpets in designer tuxes. Kissed my boyfriend in public. Starred in a Steven Spielberg film and met Martin Scorsese without embarrassing myself. And never had I been as nervous as I was watching my boyfriend and father laugh and cook together in the kitchen. Dad was a practiced cook. He’d been creating meals for longer than I’d been alive. Spencer was much better at ordering take out than he was boiling water. A meal as big as this was something far beyond his abilities. But that never stopped Spencer from asserting himself. And this meal, more than any others, was my father’s pride and joy.

My sister, Rachel, had warmed up to Spence, though like a good sister, she still held a bit of a grudge. I’d forgiven him completely, and took responsibility for my part in it. Rachel said she didn’t have to let it go. I secretly kind of loved that she was still a little wary. But my dad and Spencer hit it off the moment they met. Once Dad had established that Spencer wasn’t going to hurt me, that is. I liked that they got along.

So despite their camaraderie, and in the midst of the chaos of our combined families, I hovered just out of sight and kept an eye on things in the kitchen. Because even though it was my house, I didn’t want my father to think that I, or Spencer, was trying to take away the holiday from him.

“Was…was that laughter?” Rachel’s voice was barely a whisper as she popped up beside me. She peeked around the corner, then quickly ducked back. “I’m pretty sure that was laughter.”

I nodded solemnly. I couldn’t believe it. “Go steal an olive or something. See what’s going on in there.” The space was huge, even if it was open concept, so I couldn’t exactly hear what was being said without risking getting too close.

“Okay.” Rachel nodded good-naturedly “You cause a diversion and then I’ll run in and–”

“Alexander!”

“Oh shit,” I whispered. My dad’s bellow never failed to get my attention and make me come running. It was ingrained.

I entered the kitchen just as Spencer lifted the platter of turkey and headed toward the table. He gave me a wink as he passed. I would have grinned back, but I was making a beeline for my father. Because his expression was stern, and I was well trained.

“‘Sup, Dad?”

He held the scowl for a moment longer, then his face broke out in a grin. Relief surged through me. He only grinned like that when he was truly happy.

“Thanks for hosting this year. I get to cook, and then leave the mess.” He clapped me on the shoulder, and then leaned in a little. “It’s wonderful being here. Your man is a good one. I think you’ll be very happy for a lot of years to come.”

“I think so, too.”

He shoved a bowl of mashed potatoes into my hands, then reached for the corn. With a head tip, he led the way to the table. “Call everyone in. The food’s ready. And I think we all have a lot to be thankful for this year.”

I followed him with a nod and a smile. We sure did.