Chapter 8

 

By next morning, Rico had slept on and off, jerked off a bunch of times, and woke up pretty sure he had done a dumb thing the day before. He was supposed to work at the house again today, but it was going to be seriously weird to go over there after he planted that kiss on Mitch.

First he was putting in some time at the café. He was manning the counter, and who should he see coming through the door but the troublemaker herself. Lara was there bright and early along with Noreen, whose eyes were hooded like she was still half asleep. That woman needed coffee stat.

As they came up to the counter, Lara grinned at Rico wickedly. "I'm here to make my report," Lara said as she leaned on the counter.

"I'm here to get coffee," Noreen grumbled. "You know how I like it."

Rico did. "Strong, black and in the biggest cup we got."

While he poured her a cup, Noreen asked Lara for details from her visit to the house. First off, she wanted to know, "Was Mitch illegally good-looking like Rico said he was?"

"And how," Lara told her. "That man defines hunk. As for my verdict." She paused for effect then announced her findings. "I declare him bi."

"How did you score that?" Noreen wanted to know.

Lara pointed at herself and what she had going on. "He looked, he appreciated what I had on offer, but he couldn't keep his eyes off Rico. Every minute his gaze would wander over to check out his young apprentice."

"I'm not his apprentice," Rico told her.

"Aha," Lara said. Dismissing his quibbling, she turned to a more appreciative audience, and spoke to Noreen. "When Rico wiped his face on his t-shirt sleeve, Mitch looked like he wanted to lick every drop of sweat off him."

"He did not," Rico said, but, inwardly, he grinned and his stomach fluttered.

"He did. It was so dirty," she said. "Everything going on over there is like that. I watched them work for a bit, and I felt like I needed to stick some dollar bills down their pants. All sweaty, their t-shirts sticking to them..."

Rico had to interrupt her before things got X rated. "It's not a palace of porn. It's a rundown, old house that we're fixing up. You were using your imagination pretty generously there," Rico told her and that made her conclusion about Mitch suspect as well.

"Just charge her admission next time," Noreen said, but Lara wasn't giving up on her version of things.

"Tell the truth. You two are at it day and night, aren't you?" she asked.

Rico groaned as he wished that was true. "Like I wouldn't be bragging about that if we were," he said.

"Maybe you're being discreet or something," Lara said.

"Discreet? I don't even know the meaning of that word," Rico said, but he didn't tell her that he did his own test.

 

It wasn't long after Lara and Noreen left when Rico saw the café doors open and his heart nearly stopped. As Mitch and Sammy came in, Rico gaped at them. Just the sight of Mitch hit him so hard. His unexpected arrival had Rico feeling about ten different emotions all at once.

It seemed incredible to him that he had gone as far as to kiss that man, but that kiss did happen. Whatever the consequences might be, there was no going back now. He just had to shake it off, regroup, not crave more kisses, deeper kisses and everything that came after.

Watching Mitch and Sammy come up to the counter, Rico tried to steel himself but he didn't know for what. Sammy was smiling, but Mitch was unreadable.

"Good morning, Rico," Sammy said to him.

Rico cleared his throat before he greeted them, "Good morning. Are you guys here for breakfast?"

"We already ate. We're meeting your grandmother," Mitch said then he looked around the place but didn't see her.

"Oh, OK. I'm sure she'll be here soon," Rico said while trying not to stare at Mitch's profile.

"You don't know about this?" Mitch said. "We're going to Ashbury. Your grandmother wants to choose stuff for the house—blinds, countertops. There's a long list."

"So do you have anything for me to do at the house or maybe Grandma wants me working here," Rico said since she hadn't mentioned anything to him. Typical.

"No. Your grandmother said you would be coming with us," Mitch said and frowned at him slightly.

"Oh. And are you OK with that?" Rico had to ask.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Mitch said with an unmistakably defensive tone.

"No reason," Rico said and he smiled down at Sammy, who was looking around at all the people and waving at anyone she recognized. When she became extra animated, Rico knew that his grandmother must have arrived.

And there she was way too dressed up to go picking out construction supplies. She was wearing a dress in her favorite color, burgundy, high heeled shoes, though she was plenty tall already, and a piece of jewelry everywhere she could stick one.

"I hear I'm going with you," Rico told her reproachfully as she sauntered over picking up greetings and compliments along the way.

"Didn't I tell you?" she asked innocently.

"Of course you didn't. You like to spring things on me," Rico said. "My tuxedo is at the cleaners, you know. Now I'm going to be underdressed."

"Oh, you," his grandmother said and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. She turned her attention to Sammy. "You like my outfit, don't you, sweetheart?"

"It's nice, but you need a big hat," Sammy told her.

"I knew I forgot something," Grandma said. "We all ready to go?"

 

Outside Sammy stopped on the sidewalk. She and Mitch were going in his car so he could bring back some supplies. Seeing that Rico was heading to his grandmother's car, which matched her burgundy dress, Sammy called out to him, "Come with us, Rico."

He gave Mitch a quick glance and told her, "I have to keep Grandma company."

"OK. We're going to the same place, aren't we, Daddy?" she asked, looking up at her dad.

"We are," Mitch reassured her.

"When you see us on the road, wave to us, OK," Rico told her and they got on their way.

 

Once they arrived at the building supplies store in Ashbury, Mitch and Grandma got busy. She was going to be picking out paint, countertops, blinds, some stuff for the bathrooms and probably buying whatever else her eye landed on. Mitch would be advising her, trying to keep her from going crazy. Rico's job was to keep Sammy occupied, and try not to obsess about kissing Mitch.

Rico was still confused about what happened. Mitch's reaction wasn't what he expected. But if he expected Mitch to shove him away and get mad, why the hell did he kiss him in the first place? Did he need to test him that bad?

As of now, the test results hadn't come in yet. It's not like Mitch could tell him off while Grandma needed to be talked out of slapping burgundy paint on all the walls and buying the gaudiest bathroom fixtures.

Meanwhile Rico hung back with Sammy so they could be bored together. "Maybe I'll just chill with you," he told her.

"You can be my buddy," Sammy told him.

"It's a deal. Now let's go look for something pretty," he suggested and they went to explore the massive store.

As they went in search of anything pretty, Rico hoped that Sammy wasn't sensing the strain between him and Mitch. Rico already felt it was crushing even if Mitch was pretending there was nothing going on. In fact, his act was making it harder to deal with the tension between them.

While he and Sammy roamed through the store, Rico caught a glimpse of Mitch now and then. He looked so serious as he consulted with Grandma. Rico imagined what Mitch's expression would be once he confronted him. It would be grave, maybe even angry.

Every time he saw him, Rico tried to predict what would happen if they were alone and then his mind would stray. Instead of the likely cold brush-off, Rico was picturing throwing himself at Mitch again, risking an even harsher rejection.

No matter how hard he tried, Rico couldn't abandon fantasies like those and even wilder ones where Mitch was the one dying to kiss him and do a lot more.

By the time he and Sammy met up with Mitch and his grandma, Rico still hadn't beaten back his crazy imagination. But at least Grandma was done making her choices and orders had been put in. Mitch was at the register with other supplies he needed.

"So did you find anything good?" Grandma asked Sammy while they waited for Mitch to check out.

"Little, pink tiles," she said. "This big." She showed her the size, and Rico could tell his grandmother was dying to add them to her order.

Actually the choices she made for the house seemed pretty subdued, not Grandma's usual style. That must have been Mitch's influence.

"Look at you being sensible," Rico praised her then he got serious. "OK now, no kidding around. Who the heck are you and what have you done with my grandma?"

To prove her identity, his grandmother whipped out a lavender paint chip. "This is the color I picked out for Sammy's room," she said.

"OK. You're still my grandma," Rico told her.

"What do you think of this color, Sammy," his grandmother asked her just as Mitch came over to join them.

"It's pretty," Sammy told her.

"I bet you tried to talk her out of it," Rico accused Mitch. He leaned close to Mitch so he could whisper before he remembered that he should be keeping his distance.

Mitch didn't react, only confirmed Rico's accusation. "I did, but she put her foot down."

"You got your way with this other stuff. This lavender is for me and Sammy," Grandma told him.

 

Mitch wheeled out what he bought and Rico went to help him load it into the back of his SUV. Away from his grandma and Sammy, they worked in silence, and Rico wondered if he should speak up now. He wasn't sure what he would say plus having Mitch so close was distracting.

Leaning into the back of his car next to Mitch brought back memories of what happened yesterday and made him tongue-tied. It also made him want another taste or maybe just a touch, a brush of his hand against Mitch's skin.

Great. He was worried that Mitch would never want to be near him again. And then as soon as he got within inches of him, Rico wanted to maul the guy.

"What's next?" Mitch asked, and what a good question that was. But it was meant for Grandma.

"Let's just walk around a bit and see if anything catches my eye. And maybe we'll grab some drinks. Shopping is thirsty work," Grandma said and pointed toward a shopping plaza not far from there.

They headed that way with Sammy walking with Grandma, which left Mitch and Rico to walk side by side. Wondering if that made Mitch feel weird, Rico was antsy, but not so much that he wanted to give up his spot next to him.

While he and Mitch walked in silence behind them, Grandma was chatting with Sammy. "How do you like it here? It's bigger than Peach Tree, that's for sure."

"Maybe," Sammy said like she would have to take some measurements to be sure. "But this is just a regular place."

Grandma looked at her questioningly. "Regular?"

"Not like Peach Tree. Peach Tree is special," Sammy said.

"Listen to this wise child," Grandma said turning back to Rico and Mitch then giving Sammy an approving smile.

"You used to hate it," Rico reminded her.

"That was before. It used to be a real small-minded little burg. It's not like that now," she said and stepped back so she could put her arm through his.

Rico could guess that someone like him wouldn't have been welcome in the version of Peach Tree that his grandma had wanted to escape when she was young.

"Should we grab something to eat?" Rico asked seeing a few places ahead of them where they might grab something to eat on the go.

"Let's have a proper lunch. My treat," Grandma said and then turned to lead the way back to their cars. "And I know just the place. The Stone Creek Inn. Mitch, you should meet the owner. Andy is sure to have some work for you."

Rico should have guessed she wanted to go someplace like that considering how she had dressed up. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Mitch to see how he felt about them all having a sit down lunch together. He couldn't tell. Not being able to read Mitch was driving him nuts.