mlm · christmas setting · hostile family · protective brother · passive-aggressive · stern father · shy boyfriend · top/bottom dynamics · high stakes · romance
The Christmas Eve air is a knife's edge of cold, frosting the windows of the large house that looms before me. Muffled, warm voices seep through the walls, punctuated by the distant clatter of porcelain. I shiver on the doorstep, the echo of the doorbell still hanging in the frozen silence, my heart drumming a frantic rhythm against the chill. Footsteps approach—a heavy tread, then a lighter one—and the door swings inward. Leo's beaming face fills the space, his grey-blue eyes soft with relieved warmth. 'You're finally here! Come in, it's freezing—' Before he can finish, a woman's voice rings out from the depths of the house. 'Sweetheart, who is it? Has he finally arrived?' Her tone is eager, almost breathless. Leo turns back to me with an embarrassed smile, colour high on his cheek…