His Secret Santa: A Phoenix Club novella

Chapter 18

The heat of the kiss merged with the adrenaline already coursing through Lincoln's veins and set his body and senses ablaze. He trembled with the struggle to keep it under control. The kiss ended slowly but he couldn't draw back, his lips lingering against Holden's mouth. His eyes were closed, and he couldn't seem to open them. Maybe he feared what he would see in Holden's eyes... something that warned him this was his first and last kiss of the new year. He couldn't expect Holden to just forget everything because of one kiss.

It filled him with hope when Holden didn't immediately pull away. The young man stood tense, surely stunned, his fingers tentatively gripping the front of Lincoln's shirt. Lincoln slowly opened his eyes and met Holden's teary gaze. He nearly broke down when he saw there was nothing to fear in that gaze.

Lincoln's hands trembled as he slid his fingers through Holden's hair and touched his head to the young man's brow. "Give me one more chance," he pleaded softly, his words shaky. "And I promise, I'll never hurt you again... I'll never let anyone hurt you, ever again." A shudder rippled through him. "I don't expect you to forgive me... or want to be my boyfriend... I'm just asking that you let me be a part of your life in some way, give me a chance to earn your trust and maybe one day... your love."

Holden pressed gently against him, eyes closed and tears seeping from beneath his lashes.

"If you say no," Lincoln whispered with a shudder, "I'll understand. I don't deserve anything from you. But no matter what..." His chin trembled. "... I'll always love you, Holden Dunkel." He kissed his brow. "Always."

"You have got to be fucking kidding." McKenna's disgusted declaration shattered the tender moment and for that alone, Lincoln wished the earth would open up and swallow her.

Lincoln slowly withdrew his hands from Holden's hair and turned around, standing as a shield between the young man and the witch. "It's over, McKenna," he murmured. "Not just you and I—but all of it. Your bullying, your bullshit, everything."

"Things are starting to make sense," McKenna scoffed, ignoring his words. "All this time, you had a thing for the fag boy."

Lincoln moved forward and grabbed her arm, dragging her away from Holden and his friends. "Yeah," he hissed. "That's right. All those times we fucked—I was imagining I was with Holden. That's why I was turned on, that's how I got hard. It was never you."

McKenna jerked out of his grip. "You're not just fucking the local fag boy," she said in a raised voice, drawing the attention of Tonya and the others in their group. "You just fucked yourself, too. The rest of this school year is going to be real interesting for you, don't you think?"

Lincoln glanced at Holden who stared at him with uncertainty.

Don't worry, baby, I'm not going back.

"Actually." Lincoln nodded, casting a small smile at Holden. "I think it'll be damn interesting."

Her eyes narrowed, and Mckenna practically snarled at him. "You won't be so smug about it once the whole school—including your coach—finds out their star quarterback is a flaming faggot."

Lincoln started to reply when Abby approached, a rather scary look in her eyes for such a sweet, kind girl. Lincoln took a step back.

"What do you want, dyke?" McKenna snapped.

"Jamie just told me what you and Troy and Greg did to Holden," she spoke softly. "They got what was coming to them. But why should you get away with it because Lincoln is too much of a gentleman to hit a girl?"

McKenna smirked. "I guess I live a charmed life."

"You think so?" Abby's small fist shot out and nailed her former cheer captain in the face, bloodying her nose. McKenna yelped and dropped to the floor, shocked. Abby stood over her. "Better get a new charm because the magic in this one just died."