“I’ve got some news that I think you’re going to be pretty excited about,” Jack said, bursting into Gage’s office and looking more out of breath and disheveled than Gage had ever seen him.

“Um… hi? And… what? Are you okay?” Gage took in the sight of his friend, hair messed up, cheeks a ruddy red color, shirt half-untucked. “You look like you’ve been through a tornado.”

“I feel like I’ve been through one,” Jack acknowledged, running a hand through his hair, but doing no good whatsoever if his aim was to get it back to its normal look. “It’s super windy outside, though. And I’ve been busy. Literally running up and down Main Street trying to coordinate some stuff.”

Gage blinked. “That sounds like a lot,” he said.

None of it really surprised him, though. Jack ate, slept, and breathed the business end of Second Chance Books, and had taken it upon himself to help Calvin make it as successful as he could while still keeping as much personality in the business as possible ever since he’d moved back to Silver Lake.

“It is a lot, but that’s also why I’m here.” Jack took a moment to catch his breath, then nodded toward a chair next to Gage’s desk. “Do you mind if I grab a seat?”

“Not at all,” Gage waved him over. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ve got coffee in the break room if you’d like. Or maybe some water?”

Jack shook his head. “No, thanks. I can’t stay too long. I just wanted to see what you thought about some of us getting together for some group promo things.”

“That sounds… good? I think?” Gage shrugged. “What does that mean, exactly?”

Gage loved the idea of promoting his business—especially if he could benefit the other businesses on Main Street, too. The whole town was still watching all of the local business owners to see how they fared in the coming year.

Ever since the city council had considered repealing the ordinance that kept big nameless, faceless corporations out of Silver Lake, Calvin, Jack, Gage, and a few others had been working hard to prove they could keep the town’s economy thriving without selling its soul to the highest bidder.

He still felt pretty clueless when it came to the actual marketing part, though.

“We’re still in the planning stages, honestly,” Jack said. “But we’ll definitely need to involve Newton. I’m thinking separate photo shoots for each business, and then some group stuff where we can all chip in and participate. What do you think?”

“I think that’s awesome,” Gage said, nodding as he understood more of what Jack was talking about. “Who do you have so far?”

“Well, there’s Calvin, me, hopefully you…” Jack paused and shot Gage a grin. “Then there’s Scottie from Steamin’ Beans, Danny from Twisted Scissors, and Lane from the animal clinic. And of course, we’ll want to make sure Newton is on both sides of the camera, so he can promote his studio, too.”

Jack really hadn’t been joking when he’d mentioned a group. That covered most of the businesses on the street, aside from Trenton Lewis’s coffee shop, of course. Trenton was Scottie’s direct competitor—right across the street from him, in fact—and had sided with the people in town who had wanted to repeal the ordinance that Calvin, Jack, and the rest of them were trying to save.

Gage didn’t know the guy very well, but he couldn’t fathom how a small business owner in a town like Silver Lake could find more value in letting in the big corporations rather than strengthening the close-knit bonds that Gage thought made the place so wonderful.

“Have you talked to Newton about it yet?” Gage asked, bringing his focus back to the task on hand. “Is he on board with doing all of that stuff?”

“He asked me if I’d talked to you,” Jack said, laughing. “But yeah… I mean, everything is still sort of up in the air, so I haven’t gone into a lot of detail with anyone yet, but he seemed to be tentatively on board. He said he’d help out however he could.”

Gage wondered just how many of those vague details Jack had offered Newton, particularly the part about Newton being in front of the camera as well as behind it. Not that Newton shouldn’t have the exact same opportunity to promote his business as all the rest of them, but just because he knew how shy Newton could be, particularly since he didn’t really know the other business owners that well.

Still, if Newton was on board, Gage was definitely on board. He’d just have to run the specifics by Newton later as they became clearer. The last thing he wanted was for Newton to get roped into something that he’d regret doing.

“If Newton is in, I’m in,” Gage said. “I’ll head over and talk to him tonight after I wrap things up here.”

“Great,” Jack said, standing up and moving toward the door before stopping and turning to face Gage again. “Oh, that reminds me. Calvin told me you guys went on a date a few days ago? How was that?”

“It was really good,” Gage said, unable to keep from smiling as he thought back on that night earlier in the week. “We both had a lot of fun.”

A lot of fun. Maybe even a little too much fun, considering how little sleep Gage had ended up getting.

But he wouldn’t have changed one single thing about that night. It had been more than worth the sleep deprivation and sluggishness he’d felt the next day.

“That’s so exciting, Gage,” Jack said, mirroring Gage’s smile. “You know Calvin and I are going to start bugging you guys to go on double dates now, right?”

“I’ll add it to the list of things to talk about with Newton,” Gage said, laughing. “You want me to call later after I talk to him about the promo stuff?”

“You’ve read my mind,” Jack said, nodding. “I’ve gotta go, but please do call. I’ll talk to you later.”

He was out the door and down the short hallway that led to the front of the gym before Gage could even begin to reply. When Jack was in business mode, there was absolutely no slowing him down. And he was in full-on business mode today.

But at least Gage had a good excuse to stop by and see Newton, so he was glad Jack had stopped by.

Now he just had to hope Newton was really on board with Jack’s big plans.

“Hey, Gage,” Newton’s face lit up as soon as Gage stepped through the door to his studio. “I got your text earlier about Jack. I’ve just been swamped with orders today, so I couldn’t really talk earlier. You came at just the right time, though. My last client of the day just left.”

“Oh, that works out well,” Gage said, crossing the distance between them with just a few steps. “Because I don’t think I could have waited patiently for them to leave before I did this…”

He scooped Newton up into his arms and kissed him long and deep, loving the feel of Newton’s body as it melted against him.

Kissing him, touching him, just being near him never got old for Gage.

“I don’t think I could have waited patiently for that, either,” Newton said, breathless as he looked up at Gage. “So, um… what were we talking about?”

Gage laughed. “Did it have something to do with getting naked? Because that’s all I’m thinking about right now.”

“I’m pretty sure we will have to lock the doors for that,” Newton said with a grin. “But I’m definitely not ruling it out.”

“Careful,” Gage warned. “I might hold you to that if you agree to go out with me again this weekend.”

“Promise?” Newton asked, standing on his toes to steal another quick kiss.

“Always,” Gage answered, then sighed. “But I guess we really should talk about this promo thing. I promised Jack I’d call him about it later.”

“Oh, right,” Newton nodded. “The promo thing. Yeah, he came in here like a whirlwind earlier and asked if I’d be willing to take a bunch of pictures and put some graphics together.”

“Did he tell you how many people are going to be involved?”

Gage didn’t want to do anything to dissuade Newton from taking on the job. Gage thought it was a really good idea, and he knew Jack was excited about it. But he also wanted to make sure that if Newton did accept, that he did so with both eyes open.

“He rattled off a bunch of names,” Newton said, shrugging. “I don’t know most of them, but it sounded like half the town.”

“Yeah,” Gage said, chuckling. “That was the impression I got, too. And did he mention that he wanted to include your studio in the promo materials?”

“Sort of?” Newton opened his hands a little. “He was tossing out so many names and so much information at once that it was kind of a blur, to be honest. Do you know what he has in mind?”

This is why Gage was glad he stopped by to talk to Newton himself before fully agreeing to anything. He knew Newton would be able to make the best decisions for his own business, of course, but how could he make those decisions unless he knew all the details?

And even though Gage didn’t know everything, either, he had worked with Jack enough over the past few months to at least offer some general information.

Plus, Gage just felt protective when it came to Newton. He couldn’t help it. It wasn’t that he didn’t think Newton could take care of himself—he’d done just fine without Gage up to this point, after all.

But Gage also knew that Newton was new here and didn’t know many people yet. If he could help ease the transition a little, there was no harm in that, right?

“He said he wants to get a bunch of solo shots for all of the individual businesses, and then some group shots that he could use to promote all of us as a group. Including some of you in front of the camera, he said. And if I know Jack, he’ll want to get this done as soon as possible so he can get everything published and out into the world.”

“Oh, wow,” Newton’s eyes went wide. “He wants me to be in front of the camera? Like… like starring in my own promo?”

“That’s the way he made it sound to me,” Gage said. “I just wanted to make sure you knew that was what had been discussed. But please don’t feel like you have to do it. There’s a million other ways to promote stuff, you know?”

Newton nodded, but Gage could tell he was mulling over the news Gage had just given him.

“I don’t want to be a pain,” Newton said, finally. “So, I’ll do what everyone else ends up doing. If he wants me to be in some shots, I can do that.”

“You don’t have to,” Gage repeated. “I mean… do think about it. But don’t let Jack or me, or anyone else, talk you into doing something you’re not completely comfortable with, okay?”

That was the most important part to Gage. Newton was so sweet and vulnerable, and it was obvious that he was a people-pleaser—probably to his own detriment sometimes.

Gage didn’t want that to be the case this time, though.

If Newton didn’t want to go along with any aspect of this promo stuff, Gage would defend that decision to anyone, even if it meant his best friends had to alter their plans a little.

“Okay,” Newton said. “I will think about it. I already know it would be a great opportunity for me, though. I just don’t know how I feel about stepping in front of the camera. But if that’s what everyone else is doing…” He sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

“Yes, do think about it. But please don’t feel pressured. We can always brainstorm other alternatives.”

Newton nodded and then smiled again as he stole another quick kiss. “Okay, then. Thank you for coming by and looking out for me. I really do appreciate that.”

“I would have stopped by anyway,” Gage said, grinning back at Newton. “The looking out for you part was just a perk. But seriously, if I ever over-step my bounds with something like that, you can let me know. I think it’s almost always better to say what’s on your mind and hash it out. Even the hard stuff. Especially the hard stuff.”

“I’m not the best at talking about how I feel, to be honest,” Newton said. “But I think I’m getting better. I’m trying.”

“We’ll figure it out as we go,” Gage replied. “Together. But now for the important part—did you say you will go out with me this weekend?”

“I’d love to,” Newton said, pressing himself close to Gage again. “I don’t know what we’ll be doing yet, but I do know a second date with you will be the best part of my week.”

“And the best part of mine.” Gage rested his head against Newton’s.

It was hard to imagine another moment beating this one, this instant, to become the best part of Gage’s week, but he knew a second date would be full of more moments like this.

He was going to have a really hard time waiting until then, but it would definitely be worth it. Sometime this weekend, he’d be able to take Newton into his arms and not have to let go for the rest of the night.

And Gage was really, really looking forward to that night.