I was stuck. At least I felt like I was stuck. It was obvious that Sven and I were getting closer. I really liked that, but I didn’t want to just be best buddies. I wanted something a lot more intimate than that, and I wasn’t sure how to make the next move.

Sven invited me over to his house to help fix the gutter that hung loose on the north side of his house. I was enjoying the handyman fix-it jobs. When I was a kid, my dad insisted that I help him any time that he had to fix something up around the house, and I hated it. I did learn a few things. Actually, I learned a lot of things, but I rebelled the entire time.

Now, when I was helping Sven, it was fun. There was a huge sense of accomplishment, and, I got to spend more time with him. That was the big bonus.

By the time I arrived at his house in the late morning, Sven had visited the hardware store and purchased a sturdy extension ladder. Any time Sven went shopping, the goods he came home with made it abundantly clear that he was in a comfortable financial situation. I expected that from a banker.

We stood at the side of the house and both looked up. Sven said, “From here, it looks like the brackets to hold the gutter are still there, and I don’t think the gutter itself looks damaged. We just need to put it all back together.”

I nodded and said, “Yep, I agree with that assessment from down here.”

Sven asked, “Who do you think should climb the ladder? You? Or me?

I asked, “How many gutters have you worked on?”

Sven laughed and said, “Zero. How about you?”

I said, “I think I’m going up the ladder. I helped my dad repair gutters after a storm once. I cleaned them out multiple years, and then I helped him completely replace them.”

“It’s my lucky day,” said Sven.

The entire job took a lot less time than I expected. Sven was correct with his assessment. It was a pretty simple job of just putting things back together. I was worried we would find bent pieces or wood at the side of the house that was starting to crumble. All things considered, the house looked like it was in pretty good shape. I think Sven’s string of house repairs were normal. He just had the bad luck of them happening all at once. Then I thought about the patio roof. That one was a little bit different.

When the project was finished, it was just after noon. Sven asked “Do you want some lunch? I’ve got stuff for sandwiches, and I picked up some local beers before I came home this morning.”

I said, “Sven, you’re always ready for everything. Yeah, I would love to have lunch. I need to clean up a little, but that sounds great.”

When I’m at someone else’s house and using the bathroom, I’m always tempted to look in the medicine cabinet. I think it tells a huge amount about the life of anyone. Of course, the stories could be a little inaccurate. My medicine cabinet still held opioid meds that I had left over from my leg injury. Someone could incorrectly assume that I’m an addict. So far, I resisted the temptation to snoop on Sven. I expected his medicine cabinet held little more than shaving equipment and aspirin.

I gave my hands a vigorous washing and then splashed my face before drying it off with the hand towel that matched fluffier bath towels and washcloths. I couldn’t help but smile when I looked in the mirror. I was feeling happy. That was an emotion that I felt far too little before reconnecting with Sven.

In the kitchen, Sven put together a big platter with stacks of ham, bologna, roast beef, and cheese. One plate held a stack of slices of whole wheat bread. A big bowl was filled with potato chips, and he even had a selection of raw carrots and celery.

I said, “Don’t tell me you put all of this together in the five minutes I was in the bathroom.”

Sven said, “I put the meats and cheese together. I had a bag with the veggies, and the chips I just poured into the bowl. This is how my mom puts lunch together.” Then he looked up at me. “Is something wrong?”

I grabbed a chair and sat down. “Nothing is wrong at all. I think it’s all perfect. I’m hungry now.”

We sat down for a hearty lunch. I marveled as Sven stacked together ham, cheese, and roast beef on whole wheat bread slathering one slice with mayonnaise and the other with mustard. He then sliced the sandwich in half on the diagonal, carefully positioned them on his plate, and then piled on the potato chips. He grabbed a handful of carrots and celery to complete his meal.

Sven said, “Dig in. What are you waiting for?”

“I was just watching the master at work.”

I was satisfied with simple ham and cheese and a small handful of potato chips. When I was a teenager, I could eat up half the food in the house and not gain any weight. Unfortunately, less than ten years later, it was no longer true. I couldn’t figure out where Sven put it all. I guessed that he had some sort of seriously rigorous gym routine.

The cold beer was perfect after working on the gutter. It wasn’t quite hot outside, but I did work up a sweat. I asked, “So did you have nightmares from the horror movies last night?”

Sven finished up chewing a bit of his sandwich and said, “No, but I checked under the bed and left the closet door open before I went to sleep.”

I laughed and said, “That’s great. I hope you weren’t too scared.”

He grinned. “Not scared enough to keep me from falling asleep.”

As we each finished off some of the last of our chips, Sven asked, “Do you think the two of us could do the patio roof? Or should I wait on the contractor for that? I did get a quote, and I got a pretty good chunk of money from the insurance company. It would easily cover the materials. If we did it ourselves, there would be quite a bit left over.”

I swallowed a swig of my beer and said, “Why don’t we go out there and take a look after we finish up lunch. I’m willing to give it a try if you are, but it’s your house that’s the guinea pig.”

Sven shrugged. “I gave my dad a call, too, about it. He thought we could handle it, and he said we could always bring a contractor in to fix it if something goes wrong.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You told your dad about me?”

He nodded. “I tell my dad about almost everything. Yeah, he knows about you and the softball guys.”

“What did you say about me? Am I that crazy guy that makes you go skinny dipping in Lake Michigan?”

Sven laughed. “Oh, I didn’t tell him about that. I’m not really sure what he would say.”

“He knows you’re gay?” I asked.

I got a strong nod in response. “Oh, yeah, my parents are great about that. Last year when I went home for my birthday, my mom even put a couple of little rainbow flags on the cake.”

“You went all the way back to Minnesota for your birthday?”

Sven gave me that huge smile with a mouthful of perfect white teeth. “Yeah, I did. It was the first year that I was living outside of Minnesota. I love my birthday, and my mom makes the cake from scratch. I think they would be very unhappy if I didn’t go home for my birthday.”

I stood up and carried my plate to the dishwasher. The plates clinked against each other as I closed it back up. Sven was crunching on one last carrot. When he finished chewing, I said, “Sven, get up for a second.”

He looked a little confused for a moment, but he did as I asked. I stepped up to him, wrapped him in a hug and then pressed our lips together. To my surprise, he parted his slightly, and it led to a real kiss with just the tips of our tongues touching.

I reached a hand up behind his head and raked my fingers into that handsome blond hair. Sven pulled back from the kiss and looked into my eyes. I could feel a slight shudder move through his body as it vibrated against me. Then it was followed by a blush and a grin. He said, “I’ve wanted to do that since the softball practice.”

I shook my head and asked, “Well, why the hell didn’t you?”

“I was waiting for you.”

I started to laugh but continued to hold Sven tight. It was almost a giggle at first, but when Sven started laughing, too, it got louder until we were both laughing out loud. I clenched my fingers in that hair and then kissed him hard again. This time it was longer and the heat in Sven’s tongue made my toes curl. I let go of his hair and placed my hand on his chest instead.

We were both breathless when we separated from the kiss. When I could speak again, I looked into those blue eyes and said, “Don’t ever wait for me again. Just jump right into the deep end of the pool, Sven. You know what to do. Just jump in and start paddling.”

He laughed again. “That’s what my dad said when he threw me in the pool at the camp up north in Minnesota.”

I said, “Dad had the right idea.”

Sven reached out to wrap his arms around me again, and we kissed. This time there was nothing tentative about it. It was passionate, and it was intense. I slipped one hand up inside Sven’s T-Shirt and I could feel his warm skin and the hard muscle beneath. Sven tilted his head to the right and kissed harder.

Our tongues tangled together, and I let go of a soft moan. Sven cupped the back of my head in his powerful fingers as he pressed his lips hard to mine.

When we both finally came up for air, Sven asked, “Would you like to go out tonight? On a real date this time?”

I said, “I would love to, but I signed on for an extra shift at work. I really kind of need the bit of extra cash. In fact, I probably should get going shortly as much as I hate to.”

As he stared back at me, Sven looked genuinely sad. Even though I hated having to leave, I loved seeing someone feel that way about me.

I said, “Maybe we should plan to go out after the softball game tomorrow.”

The smile slowly came back to Sven’s face, but there was a hint of some kind of discomfort beneath it. He asked, “Can I tell you something about that?”

Our arms were still wrapped around each other’s waists, and I stared into his deep blue eyes. “Of course you can.”

Sven said, “I’m really nervous about the game. Please tell me you don’t care how I do. I’m really worried I’m going to totally humiliate myself, and all the guys will hate me.”

I wanted to laugh and tell him that he was being stupid, but I could see the seriousness in his eyes. I took a deep breath and said, “Sven, I like you. I would like you whether you were playing softball or not. Having said that, I bet you’ll do a great job, and, even if you don’t, you’ll have a lot of company. Guess what happened in my first game.”

He raised an eyebrow and asked, “What happened?”

Antonio and I both called for a ball, and it dropped to the ground right between us. “As a result, the other team scored the winning run. I was worried I would get kicked off the team.”

“What happened?” asked Sven again.

“We all had a really big laugh at the Toolbox, and three years later we’re both still on the team.”

Sven leaned in and gave me another quick kiss before he whispered, “Thank you.”