Desperate...

By Heather Mar-Gerrison

George met Eli Galbraith last Christmas on a skiing holiday and fell for him in a big way, making it a Christmas to remember but for all the wrong reasons when Eli never calls once George gets back home...
This Christmas, his best friend, Eleanor, asks him to go home with her for Christmas, rather than back to his less than understanding parents who have once again, invited along his homophobic grandparents for the Christmas break.
He agrees to go, hoping against hope that he might meet up with the skiing instructor again since Eleanor lives near the resort.
He gets the shock of his life when Eleanor reveals that she has a cousin who's a skiing instructor, called Elliot Galbraith. He realises after a rather embarrassing conversation that Elliot and Eli are actually one and the same guy...
He goes along hoping to rekindle something with the elusive Eli. What he doesn't imagine happening is meeting another guy, Kane Swain, who makes his Christmas one to remember... but for all the right reasons.
This is the first in a new three part series that tells the love stories of three best friends, Kane and Kurt Swain and Elliot Galbraith. This is Kurt and George's story. Sit back, eat too much turkey, pudding and chocolate and enjoy... It's Christmas...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Heather Mar-Gerrison
• Release date: Aug 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463742990

Heather Mar-Gerrison

I love to write M/M romance and as a sucker for a HEA, you're guaranteed one in my books. #happyheatherafters

Book preview

Desperate...

(Last Christmas #1)

Smashwords Edition

Heather Mar-Gerrison Copyright 2017

Revised 2022

Beautiful front cover design courtesy of Shutterstock designs

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work.

Prologue

George

What do you mean you want me to come with you? I asked my best friend, Eleanor, in near horror, "It’s a time to be with family." I knew the moment those words left my mouth that I’d pretty much lost the argument and would be going with her to wherever it was that her parents lived and would be spending the holidays doing whatever it was that they did – and do you know why? Well, I’ll tell you – it was because my family didn’t really give a shit about spending any time with each other. Hell, it was an effort to put the obligatory twenty quid in a card and getting it posted early enough for it to be delivered in time for the big day, never mind actually having to see each other. Still, I tried my best to put her off. It’s not a time to be dragging your best friend halfway across the world to piss off all of your homophobic relatives that hate my guts.

Eleanor snorted, Don’t be ridiculous. She scoffed, "It’s not my family you need to worry about. Okay – so they’re not wholeheartedly on board with my best friend being a raving queer, she eyed me mischievously and I pulled a face at the remark, making her grin, But it’s your family that wouldn’t know you were dead until your body had rotted sufficiently for the smell to have seeped out into the street – and for people to start noticing the unusual activity of flies. Hell, the authorities would have to have been alerted before they even bothered to check if it was you – so don’t give me that crap – and besides, you went on holiday last Christmas. They weren’t in the slightest bit bothered then, so what’s the big deal with coming on holiday with me this year?"

Well, that was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? She was sufficiently hurt and indignant, though, so I was going to have to give her a decent enough answer to get her off my back...

In the meantime, I’ll tell you what the big deal was – even if I wasn’t about to tell Eleanor... it was all because of Eli.

I’d met Eli on holiday last year when, on a whim, I went on a last-minute skiing holiday to the French Alps with a bunch of my mates from university – completely and utterly pissing off Mum and Dad for not going home but I was just relieved that I didn’t have to pretend to be straight ‘for the sake of your granddad’ for a fortnight and I wasn’t about to apologise for it.

Eli and I had instantly hit it off and we’d had an amazing two weeks, having amazing sexual experiences together even if we didn’t actually ‘do it’ and for me, at least, falling in love – or at least that was what I thought was happening at the time.

I’d even bought him a Christmas present that I thought was utterly perfect for him and had carefully wrapped it, with a little note, stupidly telling him that I thought I loved him. It was utterly pathetic, looking back – but I’d been a virgin when I met him and he’d completely swept me off my feet and taught me all sorts of new experiences and I’d fallen hard.

I thought it was the real thing. I really thought he was the one.

And then the holiday ended... and that was that.

He stopped texting after the first three days of me arriving back home and it finally dawned on me that I’d been stupid – that I’d been used. He didn’t love me at all and he never had. I’d just been a holiday fling...

My problem now, therefore, was this… Did I spend Christmas at home, avoiding granddad like the plague in order that I didn’t inadvertently tell him I had boyfriends instead of girlfriends? Or, did I up sticks and run off with Eleanor to the exact same resort that I’d met and almost lost my virginity last Christmas to Eli, who was a local...?

What if we ran into each other? What if he’d got himself a new guy, now? I’d kind of gotten on with my life over the past year and had actually done the deed with someone else who really knew what he was doing and I was grateful that I was no longer waiting to lose my virginity – but I couldn’t deny that I still carried a bit of a torch for Eli... I honestly couldn’t help it. I knew I’d been a total fool over him but if he gave me a sign – any sign at all – I knew I’d be back in his bed to sample his goods like a shot...

I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing... Well, remember me telling you about Eli?

She nodded, Yes. She said, The guy you met in Tenerife last year?

I nodded. Hell. It was nightmarish to have to tell the truth when you’d done such a convincing job of lying. I may have been a little bit economical with the truth. I said. At her wide eyes, I winced, It was only a white lie, I wheedled, pinching my fingers together and fluttering my eyelashes a little to gain her approval, "as in – I didn’t actually meet him in Tenerife. I may have met him, uh, somewhere else..."

She looked at me in total surprise, Where? she asked, looking completely bewildered at my duplicity.

It took me a moment to gather the courage to start talking again, Um, it was i-in F-France – the French Alps actually – in the uh, the exact s-same resort that your f-family come from. He, uh, he lived and worked there t-too...

Eleanor stared at me, Holy hell, she murmured, "I probably know him – what was his surname? Tell me you actually did get this guy’s surname before you let him shag you senseless."

He’d never shagged me senseless. He’d sucked my cock and I’d sucked his and there were other things we’d done but shagging had never occurred between us, more’s the pity... I cleared my throat. Yes. Actually – I did... and I’d even practiced my married signature a couple of times in my more fanciful moments, which I agree is a little pathetic – forgive me, I was young and impressionable... I didn’t need to share that with her, though... It was, um, Eli Galbraith.

She stared at me, her face showing her growing horror as she realised who I was talking about, Eli? she repeated, "Oh, holy fucking hell, not as in short for Elliot?"

I stared back at her, suddenly as utterly horror-struck as she was. She’d often talked about her cock-slut of a cousin, Elliot. The man-whore who had cheated on so many of his partners that she described him as not being able to lie straight in bed... She’d never said his surname before though and I hadn’t made the connection... Well, how many Eli’s do you know that are actually Elliot? I guess so. I murmured.

"Oh, my God. You were a notch on Elliot’s bedpost. She stood up, actually pacing my bedroom floor, That’s disgusting!" she raged, "I’m going to kill him."

I took hold of her arm, No. I said, Don’t do that. Just take me to him and I’m sure he’ll realise that I’m the one. He’ll fall right back in love with me...

He had to... I was desperate!

Chapter 1 – Elliot’s idea of dating...

Kane

"Oh, fuck off, Elliot!"

The door banged shut as I got to the top of the stairs and some random guy stormed past me, while still managing to give me a death-glare, as I watched the drama unfold in a bit of a daze. This was nothing new, by the way. I was quite used to seeing guys leaving in a hurry from my best friend’s flat – just not usually with such rich language. He’d clearly pissed this one off, big time...

Once I was confident that the guy had actually gone and wasn’t going to come storming back up to bitch-slap Elliot – or me, imagining that I was somehow another lover of Elliot’s, I rang the bell.

Elliot’s voice rang out from the other side of the door, I’ve had enough drama for one day, thanks, Jaime – go and cool off.

I shook my head, suppressing a grin at his total lack of romance and bucket load of sass, It’s Kane. I