“Earth to Tyler.” Hailey stood on a chair in the doorway to the living room, looking at him expectantly. “Julien will be there when we’re done. He’s helping Daddy.” There she went, reading his mind again.
Tyler rolled his eyes and held the tape up. “Shut up.”
“God, seriously, though, he is sooo hot,” Hailey said. “I’d stare at him constantly.” She stood on her toes, trying to reach the tall ceiling to tape the ball of mistletoe up. She almost couldn’t get that high but carefully stuck it on the middle of the door frame.
“I know,” Tyler admitted. “It’s kind of unfair.”
Hailey held the ball before gently releasing it so it didn’t bust through the tape. When she was satisfied it wouldn’t fall, she stepped down. “Unfair? You’re the onebanging him.”
Tyler felt his face heat up as he picked the chair up to follow her to their next destination.
“What? No. I mean, don’t be weird,” he said. He and Hailey were close, and they did talk about sex. However, it felt weird talking about his still non-existent sex life when she was under the impression he was getting his fill of Julien.
Which he tried to avoid thinking about at all costs.
A part of him longed to tell her the truth, but then what would be the point of any of this?
Hailey hummed and circled the kitchen before stopping near the mudroom. “It’s not weird. I’m really happy for you. I’ve never seen you like this with someone. You guys can’t keep your hands off each other.”
Julien’s acting was way better than he could have hoped if he even had his twin fooled. “I guess.” He ensured Hailey didn’t topple off the chair as she reached up to put the other ball of mistletoe on the doorframe.
“The way he looks at you, ugh, my heart. Seriously, he watches you, and I want to cry. I can tell he’s smitten.”Hailey put the other ball of mistletoe up and looked at it with satisfaction.
Tyler glanced over his shoulder. The rest of the family was in the corner between the fireplace and the stairs, working all hands on deck to get the Christmas tree in the perfect position.
Julien caught his eye and smirked, and Tyler smiled back, and the words, soooo sexy,popped into Tyler’s mind before he was swatted on the head with some mistletoe.
“Ow. Hails,” he said, then flicked her arm.
“Focus. We have a job to do.”
When they set the final mistletoe trap, his mother called them to start decorating the tree. If Tyler was honest, he hated this part. It was tedious, and his mother and Cece followed everyone around, trying to change where the placement was. They always did it wrong, so he would have to return and fix whatever they did. Luckily, he was there to correct their errors.
“No, Julien,” he said once the lights were lit so they could better see the branches. “You can’t put two redsthat close together.” He pointed out a better branch from which to dangle the ball.
Julien stared at him. “They’re basically all red.”
Tyler sighed. “Yes, but you want to disperse them. It has to look balanced." He placed a glittery silver ball in the spot Julien had mistakenly put a red one a moment ago.
“Whatever you say, Baby.”
Tyler wished that every time Julien called him the term of endearment, his toes didn’t curl, but here he was.
The Ashford decorations were always coordinated. They had solid-colored balls with a few patterns in complementary colors here and there and then several bows to set the whole thing off.
When Julien picked up a glittery black ball and set it in the wrong spot, Tyler went right behind him and took it off, placing it higher on the tree.
Julien scowled at him. How dare he do that in front of his family? Tyler almost grinned in spite of himself.
“Would you rather me just put them where you tell me?” Julien folded his arms. He wore one of the cashmere sweaters Tyler had gotten him, and the temptation to run his hands over the muscled arms was too intense, so he gave in.
The soft fabric gave way to the firmness of Julien’s arms, and Tyler enjoyed the slight crook of Julien’s thick eyebrow as he gazed down at him.
Tyler laughed. He couldn’t help it. “Now that you mention it…” He handed Julien the buffalo plaid ball, which he held and pointed above his head. “Up there, where I can’t reach. No, a little to the right? Oh, yes, perfect,” he said once Julien put the hook over the precise branch Tyler had been eyeing.
“You’re the worst,” Julien said in his gruff, low tone. “Alright, where should the next one go?”
It was nice to be a director for once, even if Cece came over and directed Tyler’s directing. For his part, Julien didn’t argue and just did as he was told.
