Extraits

“Hello! I hope you can help me. I’m in a bit of a fix. I need a Christmas present, something knitted, but I’ve never knitted anything before in my life. And I know Christmas Day is fast approaching, but have you ever lived with someone after losing a bet? She’ll be insufferable!” The man took a deep breath.

Noah blinked at him, registering flushed cheeks and bright blue eyes. “Excuse me?”

“Er. I need to knit something and don’t know how. Please tell me you can teach me how!” The man leaned on the counter and in to Noah, his full lips parted, his lashes fluttering.

Noah hated teaching others how to knit—the skill required patience, something he’d never been long on for amateurs or incompetents. Well, he wasn’t long on patience for most human interactions, really. He often gave thanks to a higher power he only reflexively believed in these days that yarn customers tended to be quiet introverts who loathed to talk or old ladies who carried the conversational weight.

“This is a yarn store, not a school,” Noah said dryly.

Blue Eyes—they really were startlingly bright—chewed his pink bow lip. “Right, I am aware. Only I’m not sure where I could learn how to knit, and I don’t have any supplies, and surely you can help me in some way.” Noah had the vague impression of a Marilyn Monroe type batting her lashes.

Noah sighed. “I can sell you yarn and needles.”

“Yes, but—” Blue Eyes widened his eyes and stared beseechingly up at Noah. “Please? I have no idea what I’m doing, and it’s for a Christmas present. If I screw this up, I’ll be in the doghouse. You know how it is with Christmas, right?”

Noah lifted an eyebrow. “I’m Jewish.” And gay. And single.

Startled, Blue Eyes leaned back, then waved his hands spasmodically. “Er, oh, sorry for assuming, but—but surely you’ve had to give important presents before!”

Noah inclined his head. He’d learned to knit at his father’s knee so he could gift a hat and scarf to his mother. “What is it you were hoping to make?”

“She wants one of those tube scarf things.”

“I see.” Noah put down his pen and regarded Blue Eyes. “And why can’t you just buy her one?” And leave me in peace?

Blue Eyes slumped. “We made a bet,” he mumbled. “Or an agreement, I guess.” He picked up the pen and wiggled it with an absentminded air. “She knits, you see, and I paint, and we got into a bit of a, a thing about which is harder, and it eventually ended with us agreeing that she’d paint me a thing and I’d knit her something for Christmas, and if I don’t follow through, I’ll be in trouble. Also did I mention the smug?”

Straight people. Noah didn’t shake his head. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

Blue Eyes seemed to slump even further. “It is, isn’t it? But you don’t know her. She’ll exact revenge.”