Wow. If I thought Vaughn looked good yesterday in that green shirt, it had nothing on the red one he’s wearing today. “Quit staring at Vaughn, Julian. You’re being creepy.”

“I’m not staring at him. We’re all working in the same area today. I just happened to look over there, and he’s there so I couldn’t help but notice him.” At Chuck’s snort, I say, “Don’t even act like you didn’t spend summer after summer staring at Nathaniel’s amazing body.”

“I did not stare at Nathaniel.”

“Oh, you so did stare at him. Every chance you got. And Vaughn’s a man, of course he likes being ogled or he wouldn’t have worn a shirt that so clearly defines his traps.”

“Okay, there are so many things wrong with this conversation.” Chuck stands up and moves around to my other side, so he can see Vaughn now as clearly as I can when I peek over my shoulder. “Even if my eyes did used to sometimes rest on Nathaniel’s fantastic ass for long periods of time, it wasn’t because I craned my head around on my neck like an ostrich like you keep doing. And you know why, Julian? Because that’s creepy.”

I chuckle, but he shakes his head, giving me a stern look and continues, “Now might also be a good time to point out that Nathaniel wasn’t the boss of a job back when we were in high school; he was a regular old worker like us. And ‘Vaughn’s a man,’ so that means, what? That it’s okay to objectify him. If you heard someone say that about one of your sisters, you’d flip out on them. Seriously, both your sisters work out and are fit as hell, so does that mean it’s okay for men to gawk at them? And last but not least, he’s your boss. That’s a terrible idea when you need your job.”

Taking my time to let my eyes linger on Vaughn, because—he’s gorgeous, I say, “You really need to loosen up, you know. You’re always pointing out the negatives of every situation.”

Chuck reaches over and lightly grasps my elbow. “The last time you charged full steam ahead and didn’t even consider what I was saying it could have cost you your life.” He darts his eyes all around one more time to make sure no one is listening before he continues. “Listen, I’m not only talking about the drugs. I didn’t want to say anything since I know you don’t plan on seeing Phillip or going anywhere he hangs, but a couple weeks after you called me from rehab, there was a shooting at Bernie’s house.”

My eyes widen as my jaw drops. “What? Was anyone hurt? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because, I didn’t want to upset you. And yeah, someone was shot in the leg. They said they were only fooling around and the safety wasn’t on. I don’t know. But that’s Phillip’s best friend, Julian. Those people are dangerous. I know Vaughn isn’t anything like that. I worked with him last year, and I know what a good guy he is, but I don’t want you to derail your life again because of a guy. And I know this job is good for you. Us working together again is good for you.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not even sure he’s gay.” Although, if he’s not, the attention he pays me and the way his eyes follow me is kind of weird.

Chuck giggles, which isn’t that unusual but sounds funny when he’s covered in grime and sweating his butt off doing hard work. “He’s bi. I know because Jack mentioned it last summer. I was bummed about what was going on with you, and I think he was hoping that maybe we’d hang out.” At my sharp look, he holds up his hand. “There’s never even been a seconds worth of attraction, believe me.” Then I remember his unrequited love for Nathaniel and wish he’d had someone to hang out with last summer. “But he’s worried about his brother, too. That’s what I’m saying, I guess. I don’t know why he’s worried about his brother. And it’s not only you perving on him. He can’t keep his eyes off you either. I guess, I’m just saying I want you to be careful. Remember how Jack told us once he didn’t know why his brother never came home. You’ve been through a lot; I’d hate to see you get wrapped up in another bad situation is all. He’s a great boss, but…”

Chuck has made us coming back into each other’s lives painless. He’s not once begrudged me the year of our friendship that I sacrificed for a man, and then for the drugs. And he knows me better than anyone, probably better than I know myself, so he knows I made excuses to myself to stay with Phillip once the habit formed. Once I was in therapy and clean, I knew how terribly Phillip treated me right from the beginning. And eventually I acknowledged in group that if it hadn’t been for the dependency on him for my drugs, I would’ve left him much sooner. “Okay, C. You’re right.” Shaking my head for a minute, I cast my gaze down to my feet. “I know you’re right. I even thought that when I first met him and noticed how hot he is that I’m not in a place yet to even think about… whatever.”

“Hey.” Turning my head back up to meet his eyes, Chuck gives me a small smile. “You’re my best friend and the best guy I know. I’m not saying you’re not good enough to date or anything. I’m only asking you to be careful. If someone you’re attracted to asks you out, and they’re a nice guy with a good job, then go. Don’t deny yourself a good, healthy relationship. Just don’t jump in bed with someone because you think they’ll be a hot lay, that’s all.”

“Okay.” We grin at each other in solidarity before getting back to work.

A little while later Chuck says, “Not to make it sound like I’m psycho and can’t make up my mind, I do want to mention one thing, though.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Vaughn never dressed this nice last summer. In fact, I can’t think of one time I saw him and his shirt didn’t have a hole in it. It seems like he’s making as much of an effort to dress nice, or as nice as you can dress for this kind of work, as you are. I just wanted you to know that.”

I don’t respond, but I feel a little thrill as I duck my head to hide a smile. I’ve been trying to figure out how I’m going to afford my clothing budget for this job if I keep wearing all my nicest t-shirts to work and ruining them. It’s nice to think that maybe I’m not alone.

The next couple weeks continue much the same way. Vaughn still seems to be mindful of his appearance and I know I am. As the job continues, we get more comfortable in each other’s presence and he comes around more and more. Not that we could actually avoid one another since I work for him, but it’s nice that he comes to tell me stuff himself instead of sending someone else. Today has been particularly brutal with temperatures rising earlier in the day. Most of the guys shed their shirts at lunchtime, and I grasp the bottom of my own when I feel eyes boring into me. It doesn’t surprise me when I look around to find Vaughn staring at me intently. Feeling flustered by his scrutiny, unsure whether it would be an issue with him if I took my shirt off or not, I let it go and settle back to eat my sandwich, internally snorting at myself for even questioning myself because of him.

After finishing my lunch, I run over to the hose we have on the side of the building we’re working on and run it over my head. The water is nice and cool on my head and brings my core temperature down enough to actually feel chilly. A tremor works through my upper body and I shiver, shaking my head to get the water off, I stand back up to be find Vaughn standing in front of me. “Did the water cool you off any?” he asks.

“Uh, yeah. It felt great actually.” I flash a quick smile, but uncertainty clouds my mind, and I begin looking around to not meet Vaughn’s searching eyes. Chuck’s right, I need to be careful. It’s not that I know if Vaughn came over here for any ulterior motives, but at the same time, the guy’s hot and I haven’t had sex in months. As funny and flamboyant in his actions as Chuck can be, he’s never slept around. I was always the one who tended toward sex before seeing if there was a possibility for a real relationship.

Vaughn discreetly clears his throat. “Yeah, so, I have an idea.”

“For the building?” I ask quickly.

“No, for my clothes.” My eyes jump to his before he says, “I’m about out of my nice t-shirts, also, I’m almost out of shirts I haven’t worn to work, yet. Um, I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable at all, so if it’s no, that’s cool.”

He doesn’t say anything else for a solid minute before I realize he’s done. “If what’s no?” I ask, confused but maybe hopeful that he’s asking me out.

“Oh, yeah, that would help.” He clears his throat again. “Julian, I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but would you like to go to dinner with me so that I can quit trying to impress you by dressing up for work every day?”

Trying to process through everything Chuck said recently, plus how attracted I am to Vaughn, and then there’s the adorably uncertain way he’s looking at me which is extremely appealing on such a usually take-charge guy, movement around the side of his body catches my attention. Cutting my eyes over, I see both Chuck and Jack nodding away at me, and I realize they heard Vaughn ask me out. Jack used to talk about his little brother all the time and how much he missed him. Chuck is the brother I never had. My lips begin to tilt upward, but I break into a full smile when Vaughn follows where my eyes went and turns slightly to see them both nodding like fools. “Oh Lord.” He turns back toward me with a frown while rolling his eyes.

“I’d love to.”

We both smile like idiots when Chuck and Jack both let out a very enthusiastic, “Yes!”

“Okay, great. How about you stop by the trailer before you head out after work, and we’ll set something up?”

“Sounds good.” I go for nonchalant, but I’m pretty sure how quickly I respond betrays my excitement.

He winks at me before turning and yelling at his brother as he walks away, “Get over here, Jack. What’re you doing on my site following me around and eavesdropping?”

As Jack goes to join him, Chuck bounds over to me like he’s a puppy, and I’m waving a strip of bacon at him. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. You have a date with Vaughn. I’m so excited. Are you excited? What am I saying? Of course you are. This is so exciting.”

Slightly confused, I hold up my hand. “Wait. But I thought you didn’t want me to go out with Vaughn?”

“Oh no.” He shakes his head harder than I did when I was trying to get the water out of my hair. “I’m thrilled about you going on a date with Vaughn. But with all the sexual tension flowing between you two, with all the not very discreet, smoldering glances between you two, I didn’t want you to do anything stupid.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I’m not sure what he’s talking about, so I don’t know whether to be offended or not.

“Julian, I may have left the bar the night we graduated, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t hear about the face fuck you took that night in front of everyone.”

My stomach drops and I feel like I’m going to throw up. “You heard about that?”

“You made yourself a legend that night, my friend.” Taking in my shattered expression, he clasps a hand on each of my shoulders. “That’s the past and Phillip’s a jerk. But Vaughn asked you on a date. He wants to do things the right way. That’s all I want for you. What’s more, it’s what you deserve. Now what are you going to wear?”

And just like that, another shackle from my messed up past falls off me.