For fuck’s sake, it’s four a.m. and I’m standing in front of my drawer picking out a t-shirt like I’m getting dressed for a date instead of going to work on a construction site. Damn Jack and his meddling. Without giving it a second thought, I shut my eyes and reach in the drawer, pulling out whatever shirt my hand lands on. Of course, it’s an old gray shirt with holes in it, so I toss it toward the trash can in my room because it should’ve been thrown out already. (Or at least that’s what I tell myself.) That means I’m once again forced into picking a shirt. Closing my eyes again, I grab another one and keep my eyelids squeezed shut until I’ve pulled it on. I’m not acknowledging how unreasonably happy I am that it’s one of my tighter t-shirts, one that shows off my pecs, or how I like the way the green in the shirt looks with my dark brown eyes. A shirt that happens to be the same color green as Julian’s eyes.

Damn Jack. This is all his fault. Grabbing my phone, I call him. “Hey, little brother. Patsy says wear your green Nike t-shirt. She says it makes your eyes glimmer. Whatever the hell that means,” he answers. Amusement is thick in his voice, pissing me off even more.

“You have to switch me jobs.”

“No can do. I have a couple bids to work on, and I’m going to need Nathaniel’s help with one of them so I have to be near him.”

“Fine, then Nathaniel can switch back to this one, and I’ll cover his job and I’ll help you.”

“Sorry. No can do, again. He spent the weekend on that job getting acquainted with the project and had a couple of the guys come in for some overtime yesterday. They’re probably pulling up to the site right now, as a matter of fact. It’ll look like we don’t know what in the hell we’re doing if we go switching everything back now.”

“Fine.” I can hear him laughing as I hang up the phone. It’s not until I’ve filled my thermos, packed my lunch, picked up bagels for the guys, and am almost to the site that it occurs to me that my brother’s wife was handing out fashion advice for me to go to work.

I generally try to arrive earlier than my guys, but with the stop for bagels, I pull in at the same time as Chuck and Julian. “Hey, guys,” I mutter, not making eye contact with either one since I’m thrown by the fact Patsy thought it necessary to help me dress, like she thought I was going on a date, too, instead of to work. On a construction site. With twelve other people. To do a job. I make my way to the trailer and can hear them chatting behind me. “There’s bagels.” I don’t stop but go straight up the steps, unlock the trailer, and dump the bagels on the side table.

“Whose birthday?” Chuck asks from behind me.

“No one that I know of.” I busy myself with putting my other items on the desk and going to start a pot of coffee, hoping they don’t notice my thermos.

“Then why’d you bring bagels? We usually only get breakfast for special occasions.” He’s right of course. I don’t even know what I’m doing. This is work; I’m not going on a damn date. Not being able to put it off any longer now that the coffee is going, I turn around to face the two men. My eyes slide quickly past Chuck and land on Julian, and it’s like being punched in the gut. He’s every bit as handsome as I remembered from the other night when we all went for coffee, and it’s obvious he’s feeling more comfortable. His eyes are less guarded and his lips have a slight upward curve without the tension he was carrying the other night weighing him down.

Choosing to ignore Chuck’s question, I ask, “Did you guys have a nice weekend?”

Chuck’s already turned to pull the bagels out and open the different flavors of cream cheese I bought, so he doesn’t notice that I’m staring at Julian like a teenager with his first crush or that his friend is now peeking shyly at me through his extraordinarily long eyelashes.

Chuck says, “We had a great weekend. We spent it together. We helped Julian’s parents with lawn work on Saturday, and then we spent the night together at my house and just hung out and talked all day yesterday. We really needed that.”

My eyebrows rise, clearing my throat I focus on crossing the small space back to my desk, hoping that Julian doesn’t see the disappointment I feel. “Oh, I didn’t realize.”

“Realize what?” Julian asks.

“That you two were, uh,” I motion between them, “more than friends.”

Chuck drops the knife he was holding to his bagel and spins toward me. “Ewww… Vaughn. No. We’re like brothers. That’s disgusting.”

“Oh.” I sink into the chair behind the desk, uncomfortably pleased that my whole body feels lighter knowing for sure they aren’t an item.

“We’ll be outside when you’re ready. I’ll make sure the other guys know to come in and get food,” Chuck says when they finish getting their bagels ready and head toward the door.

“Thanks… Vaughn,” Julian says shyly before he ducks out behind his friend.

Letting my head fall back, I groan. What the fuck am I doing? Julian’s ten years younger than me with his whole life ahead of him. His last relationship had to have left emotional scars, and he needs to heal from the drug abuse. He doesn’t need his boss perving on him. Unfortunately, it’s all of those things that draw me to him. The glimmers of vulnerability I saw when we all sat having coffee together. The glimpses of his sense of humor when he and Chuck got to picking on each other. The determined set of his shoulders and jaw when he talked about his dreams for the future. All of those nuances tied up in a man with broad shoulders, bulging biceps, and a sweet, boyish smile. When he’d been in the trailer to apply for the job, I’d been intrigued and in lust. By the time we left the cafe, I was charmed.

The men trickle in over the next ten minutes to say good morning and grab a bagel. Pushing myself to act normal, I walk out with the last of them and give everyone their assignments for the day. The only thing that seems to be going in my favor is that most of the guys on this particular job are seasoned workers, a couple of them even up for foreman positions when they come available, and so I can spend a lot of the day in the trailer getting paperwork done. With a concentrated effort, I push down my desire to spend the whole day following Julian around and get to work.

At three o’clock the guys start making their way home for the day. Julian and Chuck stop in last as they head out. “Night, Vaughn,” Chuck yells from outside the open door of the trailer.

Since I saw them get out of the same car when we pulled up together, I jump up and make my way to the door. My restraint today has felt super-human, especially when the guys broke for lunch. There was nothing I wanted to do more than go out and sit with them, meaning Julian. Choosing to make my necessary phone calls while they ate to trap me inside was a smart move to avoid my little crush, but made me cranky and irritable for the rest of the afternoon. “Hey, guys. How was your first day back?” I ask after walking out of the door. I can only hope they didn’t notice I didn’t walk out to talk to any of the other guys as they left.

“I’m exhausted,” Chuck grumbles.

“The cushy life of a teacher. Forgot how to work those muscles, didn’t ya?” Julian teases him.

“Dude, you’re only able to handle the labor because you were working out and getting all kinds of physical activity while in drug rehab for three months. Excuse me. If you had gone straight from college and got a job in your degree, your ass would already be spreading from sitting in a chair.”

Alarmed at how rude Chuck is being to his best friend, I cut my eyes to Julian in time to see him biting on his bottom lip to keep from laughing at Chuck’s huffing. It’s not the first time I notice that Julian likes to rile Chuck up. It’s also not the first time I notice how appetizing his bottom lip is. Dragging my gaze from where his teeth are embedded in his lip, I see Chuck plant his balled-up fists on his hips. “Tease, tease, tease. That’s all you do is tease me. Geesh. You forgive a guy and let him back into your good graces after he royally fucks you over, and what’s he do? He makes fun of you over and over and over again.”

As he speaks, I dart my eyes between them and watch the color rise in Julian’s cheeks. Honestly, I can feel my own blood pressure rising at how Chuck is throwing Julian’s past transgressions in his face. I’m about to interject before the two friends get in an actual argument, when Julian suddenly barks out a laugh and doubles over. Chuck’s eyes narrow on his friend before he turns to me. “Do you see what I put up with? It’s a wonder I even wanted him back.” Then he winks at me and cracks the tiniest bit of a grin.

With a hand planted on each knee, Julian is bent over heaving in deep breaths while he tries to get his laughter under control. “Hold on, hold on… I’m sorry, C… give me a minute…” And then he’s laughing all over again, a joyful laugh from deep in his belly.

Chuck throws his hands in the air and begins walking toward his car, complaining over his shoulder as he goes. “I can’t even with you right now. I should make you walk home. Maybe Vaughn will give you a ride.” Even though I can’t clearly hear what he’s saying, I know he’s still going off as he moves farther away.

After a few minutes, still bent over but finally under control, Julian tilts his head at me and winks. “See you tomorrow, boss.” Then he’s up and walking toward Chuck’s car where his friend is patiently waiting for him.

I can still see the back of the car as they drive down the road when my phone rings. “Did you get a date, yet?” my brother asks without preamble.

“Dude, I’m at work. Not cruising a bar for a date,” I mutter.

“Well, since you rarely go out to a bar, and you sure aren’t dating, a work romance may be your only option,” he snickers.

“I don’t have time for this.”

“Oh hey, before you hang up, Patsy told me to tell you to wear the red Adidas shirt tomorrow. She says it looks great with your complexion and that it accentuates your triceps.”

For fuck’s sake.