George still thought about the rescue and the horses they brought in for rehabilitation. Some of those beautiful animals ended up at the ranch. Others were sold to vetted owners. Some retired at the rescue for the rest of their natural days, and George was interested in the process. While they didn’t have any current openings for someone like him (with no actual experience with horses or rehab), it was tangible proof to George that he was open to a new career. To doing something bigger than closed-captions for porn. Maybe even moving closer to Levi.
With the ghost town due to reopen in roughly two more weeks, Levi’s spare time was dwindling. George decided to take a bit of extra time off—and by time off, he crammed in as much work as he could into three whole days so he could take three more off—and spend a few days with Levi. That turned into spending time with Shawn and Robin, and helping them do some work around their new house.
The house was midcentury, one story with two bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. Their patch of land was small, but the backyard showed remnants of what might have once been a vegetable garden and could be replanted if the pair got ambitious. The floor plan was a little boxy, compared to how open George’s apartment was, but Shawn and Robin also didn’t have the budget for a huge renovation to open it up. For now, the pair said, this house would work for them.
George loved getting his hands dirty. The biggest job was renovating the kitchen, which had come without working appliances and with outdated cabinets that refused to be cleaned to matter what they threw at them. Their quartet spent a fun morning demolishing the kitchen and hauling the debris to the dump in the back of Levi’s truck. After a long day of hard work, George slept like a rock next to Levi and the cats.
The next day, they yanked up a ton of old carpet to reveal gorgeous hardwood floors that needed some sanding and refinishing. Shawn was beside himself with joy over the discovery. “I will never understand why people covered gorgeous wood floors with carpet,” he said during their lunch break that day. “Wood floors are so much easier to sweep, especially if we get a pet.”
“A pet?” Levi parroted.
“We’ve discussed options but made no decisions,” Robin replied. “As much as we’d both like a dog, neither of us is keen on keeping the poor thing kenneled for eight or more hours a day while we’re at work.”
“Cats are great and very independent.”
“And they tear up furniture.”
“Not if you train them not to. My girls are very well behaved.”
“We’re still discussing it,” Shawn said. “And we’re nowhere close to a place where we can get a pet. The house still needs lots of work and we haven’t even moved in completely yet.”
“Did Judson give you guys any kind of deadline on leaving the cabin?” George asked.
“No, because he’s that amazing, but Robin and I agreed we want to be moved in here by mid-February. That way, if Judson needs to hire any new horsemen before the summer season gets into full swing, he’ll have the space. He’s been more than generous letting us live there for as long as we have, considering neither of us technically works for the ranch. We work for Mack.”
“The good news is,” Robin added, “neither of us has a lot of stuff to move over from the cabin. Once we’ve got the floors and kitchen situated, all we need to do is buy furniture. I mean, I’d carve it all from wood if I could but a couch is a lot more complicated than a chess set.”
George startled. “You play chess?”
“Not me, but Shawn is really good. He even taught Slater’s old roommate Hugo how to play.”
“My grandfather taught me to play,” Shawn said after he ate a handful of kettle-cooked chips. “We’d play late into the night and snack the whole time. It’s a game I enjoy, and I like spreading that joy to other people. Do you play, George?”
“I don’t but I’m willing to learn,” George replied. The more he hung out with the other couple, the more he admired the strength of their relationship. “I remember watching the film Searching for Bobby Fischer when I was a kid and being fascinated by the game. But my parents wouldn’t let me try it because my focus needed to be on skating the whole time. No distractions.”
“You mentioned skating once before. Is that what you used to do?”
George popped a chip into his mouth to give himself a moment to collect his thoughts. He wasn’t ashamed of his past anymore, or of the impulsive decision he’d made to quit. And he didn’t want to keep hiding from his new friends. “Yes. I was a figure skater, and I could have possibly made it on to the Olympic team, but I chose another path.” A path that wouldn’t kill me.
“Wow, that’s impressive. I’m about as athletic as a worn sneaker.”
“You do pretty damned good on a horse,” Robin said. “You got yourself up in the saddle on your first try, unlike a lot of other people I know. I remember the week that Wes and his crew were here for a vacation-slash-bridal shower. Talk about a bunch of greenhorns who either needed a boost or the steps.”
“George did pretty darn good his first time mountin’ a horse,” Levi added. “You and Figuro made a fine matched set.”
“I do love riding,” George replied. “Horses are amazing animals.” He nearly brought up his interest in a possible career change but he didn’t want to get too serious on such a fun-filled day. They had a lot of work left to do once lunch was over, and he hadn’t told anyone—not even Orry—that he was interested in the horse rescue.
“They are that. You can look a good horse in the eyes and see they’ve got an old soul.” Levi held his gaze a beat. “Kind of like with some people.”
George grinned.
By the end of the day, all the old carpet was gone, most of the staples were removed, and there was only a bit of crusty glue left to be sanded off before the floors could be restained and varnished. George was exhausted in the very best way, and he fell asleep on the tiny home’s couch while attempting to watch a movie with Levi. Levi woke him, and they stumbled upstairs to bed with the cats.
The next morning, they made love in a familiar, tender way. George adored how they had sex. It was exactly what he wanted: unhurried, passionate, and perfectly right for them. Occasionally, he worried that his disinterest in anal sex would wear on Levi, make him resent their relationship, but Levi never pushed. Never pressured George into anything he wasn’t comfortable with, and that was something he was only used to from Orry. The lack of pressure. Everyone else in George’s life had always pushed him. Pushed him to skate better, faster. To lose weight and be slimmer. To be the best.
All Levi ever asked George to be was himself.
The last day George was in town, their quartet mostly worked on the floors. The kitchen cabinets were due to arrive tomorrow, and they’d hired professional installers to do the work. “Absolutely worth the money to do it right,” Robin said. “Shawn deserves the best kitchen we can afford.”