Chapter Text
“I’m taking a lunch!” Rhett called out to his coworkers at Black and Veatch. “Want me to bring anything back?”
“No thanks,” they all responded, grateful for the offer.
Rhett waved goodbye, heading into the elevator. He pulled out his phone, sending Link a simple “Be there soon!” text. He added a kissing emoji for good measure, smiling to himself. He and Link had a standing bi-weekly lunch date at Don Chipotle, a small, family owned sandwich shop. It was near enough to his office that he could walk to it, hang out with Link for a while, and walk back before his break was over.
Rhett hurried down the sidewalk, the crisp December air biting at his exposed skin. As always, Link was already in the comfortably warm restaurant when he arrived. “Hey, baby,” he said with a smile. “You look nice today.” Rhett leaned in, kissing Link sweetly on the cheek.
“You look better! Is that the new suit you bought?”
“Yeah. You like it?” Rhett chuckled and did a goofy twirl before sitting in the metal chair across from Link.
“You look sexy,” Link responded, voice lowered.
“If you hadn’t slept in all morning, you could’ve experienced the sexiness earlier,” Rhett teased, wiggling his eyebrows.
“I’ll have plenty of time to experience it later tonight.” Link winked. Their flirting was interrupted when the owner, Don, placed their usual meals in front of them.
Rhett thought back to a conversation he’d had back at the office, regarding the holidays. “Hey, do you think we should set up our Christmas tree tonight?” He took a large bite of his sandwich, eagerly waiting for Link’s response.
Link’s smile transformed into a wide grin. “Definitely! I already bought a couple of your gifts, so I need somewhere to put them.” Rhett’s eyebrows shot up and bit his lip once Link mentioned presents.
“Hmm, presents , huh?” Rhett said with a small wink as he took a sip from his can of Diet Coke. Link simply rolled his eyes playfully, reaching over the table to take Rhett’s hand in his own.
“Rhett? Link?” A voice was heard behind both men. Link turned around to see a familiar face smiling at them.
“Nick!” Link exclaimed excitedly as he stood up and ran up to the man. “It’s been so long!” Link remembered this man--he was an old friend from college. Rhett had also stood up, and Link figured he was waiting for him to move to also get a hug.
“Hey man!” Rhett exclaimed with as much excitement that Link had.
Nick stole a chair from another table and the three men sat down at the table where Rhett and Link had been eating. “So, what are you doing all the way over here?” Link asked, remembering that Nick had expressed his lack of interest in going any place other than North Carolina.
“I wanted to start a new life here! I think it was time for me to move on. You miss a lot of experiences stuck in rural North Carolina,” he answered. “Besides, I hear that it’s great here in LA!”
“You know it!” Rhett said with a big smile. “There’s so much stuff to do here. You won’t regret coming here.” He reached over to Link’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Link saw that Nick’s eyes had landed on their intertwined hands. “Oh, did we ever tell you that we were in a relationship?” Link wondered. He felt nervous that Nick would say something negative about it. His facial expression wasn’t positive, but it also didn’t seem as if it was negative.
“You guys never made a big announcement, but we all knew. You guys were always closer to each other than the average male best friends. You two kissed in front of me a couple of times,” Nick said. He looked at Link for a bit before a smile grew on his face. “I’m glad for you two! Especially since you guys live in such a liberal place like L.A. Back at home, it would’ve been so much different. You two make a great couple, and you deserve to be able to be open about it.”
Link’s smile turned into a frown when Nick mentioned back home. He knew that in North Carolina, two men in a relationship wasn’t something to be shown off. Whenever Rhett and Link would visit for the holidays, they would have to keep something simple as hand holding away from the public eye.
“Well, we aren’t going to sit here and talk about that. What matters now is that Rhett and I are happy,” Link said with a wide smile.
“Yeah and besides, you’re here and we haven’t seen each other for so long. Are you going to be getting a job while you’re in town?” Rhett asked as the waiter came up to the table.
“Link, Don wanted to ask you something privately,” he whispered to him. Link was confused as to why the owner would need him. Rhett looked at him with the same confused expression.
“Uh, where is he?” Link asked. The waiter pointed over where the man was standing in front of the Employees Only door. Link stood up and slowly walked over to the man waiting for him. “Is everything okay?”
“I needed to talk to you about a job opportunity. I overheard your conversation with your boyfriend the other day, about the fact that you were looking for a job, but no one would accept you?” He got right to the point. “I wanted to start a delivery service for the shop, but we don’t have anyone who can drive around the city to deliver. You’re here hanging out all the time, so I figured you’d be the one to ask. Would you want to work with us as a delivery boy?”
Link got excited about the offer and accepted it without a moment of hesitation. “Yes! Gosh, thank you so much! When is the interview?”
The owner smiled at the excited man and lightly patted his shoulder. “You already got the job, I just need you to come back tomorrow in the morning to sign some stuff and arrange a schedule for you.”
“Thank you so much. You have no idea how grateful I am,” Link said as he shook his new boss’s hand.
He went back to the table with his friends, grinning and sat down, looking to Nick and Rhett with a wide grin on his face. “It seems like today went way better than how I originally thought it would!” He held onto Rhett’s hand, squeezing gently.
“Why, what happened?” Nick asked as he shifted a bit in his seat.
“I got a job here as a delivery guy!” Link almost yelled. Rhett gasped and pulled his boyfriend in for a hug. Link knew that Rhett was happy for him. He’d been looking for a job because he hated seeing Rhett always going to work when he spent his days at home alone.
“I’m so happy for you!” Rhett said and gently kissed his lips.
Rhett pulled his phone out to quickly check the time. “Sorry to cut this short, but I have to go back to work. My break is ending soon.”
Link pouted and pulled him in for another small kiss on the lips.
“Bye, Rhett! Hopefully I can see you later?” Nick asked with an arched eyebrow. “Christmas is right around the corner, and I would love to hang out with you guys.”
Link immediately answered for both of them, “Yes! Of course, Nick!” He exclaimed with glee. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun for the three of us! It’s been too long.”
Rhett smiled at Link’s excitement. It was obvious that he was overjoyed about seeing their old college friend. Link was already listing different things they could do for Christmas Eve and what he and his boyfriend could try and cook together. It was so exciting to him that all he wanted to do is talk about the possibilities all day.
“Well, see you later Nick!” Rhett said with a big smile as he walked away.
Once Rhett was out of sight, Link moved seats so he was across the table from Nick. “We should do something just the two of us soon,” Link said as he took a bite out of his sandwich that was still sitting on his plate in front of him.
“Well, I was thinking about starting to go mountain biking, but I find it embarrassing going alone,” Nick admitted, placing his chin on his hand. “Perhaps you can come with me?”
Link smiled widely and nodded his head to agree with Nick. “That sounds great! How about we start this weekend? You know, so you have time to move into your house and get comfortable with LA. It’s a pretty busy city,” he said.
“It’s a plan! Well, I have to be going right now. I still have to do some paperwork and look for a job,” Nick quickly said. He stood up from his seat and offered Link his hand. Link grabbed it and got pulled into a big hug. “It was so great seeing you and Rhett.”
“Same goes to you.”
----
Rhett got home from work late that night. When he entered the home, the lights were either off or very dim, and candles were lit, leaving the home in an orange glow and scented with vanilla. Some very soft Christmas music was playing in the other room. Rhett smiled and set his bag down, walking into the living room to find Link. Sure enough, there he was, sprawled out on the couch holding a cup of hot chocolate.
“You’re late!” Link whined, pouting for dramatic effect.
“I know, I’m sorry. I see you got started without me…” Rhett glanced at their tree in the corner of the room. Link had already strung some fairy lights around it, and there were a handful of ornaments hanging from its branches.
“I wasn’t sure when you were gonna get here.”
Link stood and walked over to Rhett, grabbing his hand and dragging him further into the room. “C’mon! I’ll make you a cup, too. You start putting more ornaments on.”
“Alright,” Rhett laughed. He kneeled down, still in his suit, and began unwrapping their ornaments. They’d been collected throughout the years--some from arts and crafts days from their childhood, some from work functions, and others gifts from friends and family. Every year, decorating the tree was a time of warm, fuzzy nostalgia between himself and Link--a time of reminiscing about all the years they’d shared side by side. Link returned, kneeling next to him. Link handed him an identical mug to his own, and they began decorating the tree together, sipping on their warm, rich beverages. After an hour, with warmth sitting comfortably at the base of his belly, Rhett placed his mug on the end table. He took Link’s from his hands and placed it next to his own.
“What are you doing?” Link asked, eyebrow raised.
Rhett didn’t respond. He just placed his hands on Link’s hips and began swaying slowly. “You look gorgeous in this light,” he muttered.
“You sayin’ I look best in the dark?” Link teased, resting his hands on Rhett’s chest.
“You know what I mean,” Rhett chuckled.
Link stood on his tip toes and kissed Rhett gently, but firmly on the mouth. Their lips moved in perfect unison, each man tasting the rich chocolate on the other’s breath. Link pulled away first, but he was still close enough that their noses were touching. His chocolate breath caressed Rhett’s skin as he spoke. “I know Christmas is still a few weeks away, but I wanna give you an early present.” His voice was deep--sensual. Rhett felt a wave of warm tingles travel down his body, settling in his lower abdomen.
“Gosh, Link…” he muttered, his voice breathy.
Link began leaving kisses across Rhett’s jaw, travelling down his neck. His mouth moved to Rhett’s chest, kissing down his abdomen through his shirt. He stopped just above his crotch, and said, “Ready?”
“You bet.”