“It’s my son.” Smiling widely, he nodded at me. “And this is his friend who has set-painting experience. Levi, how do you feel about trim?”
Levi stood a little taller, like this was an important question. “That it should be painted, sir?”
“Excellent. And so polite. You’re going to fit right in.” Dad’s proclamation would undoubtedly make it so. If any of his friends ever had opinions about me coming out, Dad and Mom had made sure I never heard them. And it was nice to see Dad in charge and happy on such a perfect summer Saturday.
I left Levi with the painting crew so I could go check on some outlets and grab a coffee. Coming back, I lingered outside one of the bedrooms, watching him work with Inez, an older woman I knew from other projects. She’d arrived with more of the senior center crowd.
“Here.” Levi pulled over a stepstool. “I’ll do the high places. I like ladders.”
“You do?” Inez sounded like she knew Levi was trying to keep her on the ground.
“Yup. I was that kid they couldn’t keep out of the apartment complex’s trees.”
Like with my dad the night before, and with Bold Brew customers, he was friendly and helpful, the sort of charming that I loved to watch. Because I knew how shy and unsure he could get sometimes, watching him be social and make a big effort to make others feel comfortable made me proud. Not that he was mine or even close to it, but I couldn’t help the cozy feeling he inspired, or the twinge in my chest.
“Oh, hey, Joe.” He beamed as he spotted me. His smile was like the sun in March, the promise that another long Pennsylvania winter was almost over. “Did you get your coffee?”
“I did.”
Levi eyed my paper cup speculatively. “You know…last weekend you came into Bold Brew. But they have free coffee here.”
“Yeah, well, last week they didn’t have you here.” I’d probably said too much, too soon, but he kept right on smiling.
“This is true.” He winked at me.
Damn it. Why did he and that magical smile of his have to fit so perfectly into my life? He made me wish for things I hadn’t thought about in years, made me want to see where else he might belong.
Chapter Sixteen
Levi
“Doing okay?” Joe came up to me right as I finished washing paint brushes.
The workday was winding down, many volunteers already gone, others standing around in clumps with the last of the coffee and lunch sandwiches.
“Yeah. This is fun.” I dried my hands as I smiled at him. I wasn’t faking a happy face, either, because I’d genuinely had a great day. “A lot of these people remind me of my grandma. I miss her. It’s nice to be around older people again.”
“That’s great.” Joe clapped me on the shoulder as we walked out of the partially finished house.
“I always like hearing their stories. Plus Inez has a crush on your dad.” I added the last bit slyly, making certain to get a good look at Joe’s face.
Predictably he blinked and sputtered. “Inez has a what now?”
“A crush. You know. Like when you’re super into someone and mess up their coffee order because you’re nervous, but you give them free cookies to make up for your goof.”
“Is that so?” More blinking from Joe. His eyes were wide like he hadn’t considered the possibility that I’d been into him from the start. Or the chance that his dad might be on the verge of a flirtation of his own.
“Inez works part time at that new bakery.” Rubbing his arm, I patiently shared my intel, trying to give him a chance to catch up. “The one your dad brought dessert from.”
“Oh.” Joe’s deliciously full lips made a perfect circle. “That doesn’t mean—”
“You heading home?” Joe’s dad appeared, looking tired but happy, dust in his gray hair and smile lines around his eyes under his glasses.
“Yeah, things seem to be winding down here.” Joe eyed his dad speculatively. He was cute all befuddled like this. “How about you? Plans for later?”
“You offering to feed me again? I’d have thought you have your own plans.” Doug glanced over at me. And I did have every intention of being Joe’s plans, but later. I could share him first if I needed to.
“Joe has more cooking to teach me. You can be the tester if you want.”
“That’s…nice.” Doug had a bemused expression on his face, as if he still wasn’t sure what to make of me in Joe’s life.
Me too, buddy, me too.
“So, burgers?” Joe prompted.
“Actually, no.” Doug was as adorable as Joe when he blushed. There was something about big, burly men going all shy. “You’ll have to survive without me because I just agreed with Herb that we’d get an early meal at the senior center. It’s meatloaf night.”
“Meatloaf is hard to compete with.” I was dying to ask if Inez was going too, but I didn’t want to torture poor Joe either. “Have fun.”
“You…uh…too.” Doug’s cheeks went even more red, probably at the thought of Joe and I having anything resembling more-than-friends fun.
“We will,” I said brightly, elbowing Joe.
“Yeah, have fun.” Joe sounded dazed. And I wasn’t surprised when he continued to blink even after Doug had departed and we’d continued the trek to Joe’s truck. “I know I should be happy. But him being social again is…”
“Weird? It’s okay for it to be weird.” I paused by the front of the big truck. “When my mom started dating Ed, it was strange at first for me too.”
“Dating? He’s not dating.”
Time for some tough love. I gave him a pointed look. “Joe. He could, right?”
“Right.” Joe exhaled in a loud huff. “And that would be good. I guess.”
“It would.” After glancing around first, I gave him a fast, tight hug.
“What was that for?” Joe frowned, probably thinking I was handing out pity.
He’d touched me a bunch of times all day, clearly having zero fucks if anyone figured out that we weren’t simply platonic friends, so I repeated the gesture, this time lingering until he hugged me back.
“No reason. You just looked like you needed a hug.”
“Well, thanks.” Joe kissed the top of my head before releasing me and heading over to the driver-side door. “Since Dad turned us down for dinner, what do you want? You want to come back to my place?”
His assumption that we were spending the evening together made my insides all warm as I climbed into the truck. “I believe that was you earlier making all sorts of threats…I mean, promises about later. Can we use the hot tub I saw off your deck?”
The mix of old and new at Joe’s place was really welcoming—older house, newer kitchen, and a deck with an enticing-looking hot tub in the small backyard.
“Yeah. We could.” Blushing, he started the truck. “Should probably shower off the paint smears first.”
“Excellent. Show me to your shower. This time we can share.” It hadn’t escaped my notice that Joe was most comfortable with sex where I was naked and he was not. And the sheer naughtiness of that dynamic was enough to get me half-hard even thinking about it as we drove through Laurelsburg.