The wind blew through Rhys’s thick hair as he looked at the various shops on Victory Boulevard. He was sitting in the back seat of the blue Chevrolet convertible, Mason in the driver’s seat, their guest riding shotgun. They’d spent all of yesterday afternoon bouncing ideas on how to best rent out Mason’s two stunning cars. They had initially discussed school events, like the Winter Formal approaching at Hidden Creek High.

But even with H Triple C formals, Mason would only be renting his cars out three or four times a year. That was when they realized there was one kind of formal event that happened all year round.

That was when they’d decided on expanding Mason’s Body Shop to include a wedding car rental service.

As they passed Grind, Rhys leaned forward, gauging the reaction of Bryan Silvers. After some Googling, Mason had found Hidden Creek’s most prominent wedding planner and rung him up. They talked excitedly on the phone for nearly an hour before agreeing to discuss the details in person. What better way than showing Bryan the product in action?

“I’m worried about the lack of power steering,” Bryan noted, scribbling in his small notebook. Rhys noted he was using a green pen, the page already covered in black, blue, and red ink.

“Either I or my apprentice would be driving,” Mason replied. Bryan nodded in approval, his blond hair billowing as they drove.

At the mention of Lily, Rhys double-checked Mason’s cell phone. He had given it to Rhys in case Lily rang in an emergency. According to Mason, the first morning had gone like a dream, and she’d completed a supervised oil change with no trouble at all.

No calls or texts. There was no one scheduled, and Mason had told her to call if any drop-ins came by.

“Oh, yes, brilliant,” Bryan pulled another pen out of his tan suit, this one purple. He scribbled another note on his pad excitedly. “As long as your man looks good in a suit.”

Rhys looked up, raising an eyebrow as he tried to figure out what his clothes had to do with Mason’s car rental.

It finally clicked. By ‘your man’ Bryan meant one of Mason’s mechanics. Not Rhys.

“Only ever seen her in a leather jacket or coverall, not in a suit yet,” Mason replied. “I’m assuming you’d supply clothing so it best matched the couple’s… err, color ideas.”

“Aesthetic,” Bryan absentmindedly corrected, going back to his green pen to make another note. “A standard black suit should work perfectly unless the client requests otherwise. Even without power steering, you handle her like a dream.” Bryan beamed at Mason before sharing a smile with Rhys in the back seat.

They were already back at JJ’s. Rhys marveled at the distance traveled, used to trodding everywhere in the baking Texan sun. Within what felt like the blink of an eye, they pulled up outside of Mason’s Body Shop, where the black Pontiac Firebird was also parked outside.

“Yes, I feel like several couples would love to drive up to their special day in a car like this,” Bryan affirmed as all three stepped out of the car.

Mason shook the man’s hand briefly before he headed toward the shop.

“So,” Mason began, “you think we can work something out?”

“Oh, yes, absolutely,” Bryan said. “I have a few weddings just before Christmas. It’ll be too late to slip any of your cars in for them. But I can test it out with a few clients planning their weddings for spring. I’ll also need to adjust my website services…”

Bryan pulled out a blue pen, turning to a page in the front of his notepad and scribbling something down in his near-illegible cursive.

“But it’s safe to say we have a deal,” Bryan confirmed. “We can haggle over prices, but gorgeous classic cars like these will fetch a tidy sum, for sure.”

“That sounds fantastic,” Mason replied, a big goofy grin on his face. “I look forward to hearing from you!”

“Take care.” Bryan smiled at them both before practically skipping to his own hot pink Smart car, gently pulling off from the curb in the two-seater. Rhys could feel the vibrations from the club music playing, Bryan had the base turned up so high.

Mason chuckled before turning around to face Rhys.

“That went great!” Rhys exclaimed as Mason pulled him into a big hug.

“Amazing! I couldn’t have done it without you,” Mason told him.

They held their hug for a few more seconds. Rhys could feel himself melting into Mason’s arms. It was somehow exactly the same as the hug before. The hug after Rhys had given Mason’s Body Shop its makeover. Even though it felt the same, Rhys knew the hug meant something different now. More tender, somehow.

They broke away, Rhys looking up into Mason’s turquoise eyes.

It was Thursday afternoon. They still had that evening and another whole three days together. That was if the part arrived first thing Monday morning. Right now, Meadow’s Hardware felt a million miles away, something from a different life. Rhys tried to imagine a world where he didn’t get to look into Mason’s piercing eyes every day.

He struggled greatly.

The two of them headed into the shop, which looked even bigger and emptier now both cars were parked outside.

The only thing filling up the space now was Lily, sitting cross-legged on the floor, the tool cabinet open behind her. Completely empty.

She had every single tool laid out on the ground from smallest to biggest, checking them before writing on a big A4 pad of paper.

“Oh, Mr. O’Neil… Mason!” Lily corrected herself before standing up, her new blue Mason’s Body Shop coverall already wrinkled from sitting down so long. “I was looking at the tools when I noticed one of the quarter-inch socket wrenches was missing. I double-checked, then thought I should write down what we did have… and things kind of went from there,” she sheepishly explained.

“She’s definitely better organized than Tristan,” Rhys quipped, looking up at Mason.

He wouldn’t have dared make a crack like that at the beginning of his stay at Hidden Creek. But with Mason by his side, Rhys felt bold. His shyness from high school and college finally melted away.

“I tried to find an inventory on the computer, but I couldn’t see it,” Lily explained. “So I thought I’d write my own. Then we can compare it to the one on your computer.”

“Yes. The one on my computer. Of course,” Mason replied. Rhys got the distinct feeling that the list in Lily’s hand was the only inventory that currently existed for Mason’s Body Shop.

“Oh, come on!” Rhys chided him.

“This is the only inventory I need,” Mason explained, tapping his forehead.

“You can’t audit a brain,” Rhys pointed out.

“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” Lily said, grimacing. It reminded Rhys of how nervous he’d acted when he first met Mason. She would just have to get to know him.

“Not at all, Lily,” Mason replied. “It was very studious of you. Good job. How about you finish cataloging that up. Then Mr. Business Major here can set up an inventory on the computer.”

“Gosh, you two are so in sync,” Lily noted. “My parents were surprised when I told them a gay couple owned this garage. But it’s twenty eighteen. They’re getting used to a more diverse world.”

“Oh, I don’t—” Rhys began.

“He’s not—” Mason stopped as they both talked over each other.

“I’m just passing through,” Rhys explained. “He’s letting me crash upstairs. I’m happy to help Mason out any way I can.”

A part of Rhys wanted to tell Lily all about how they were together for the next three and a half days. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops. The rooftop decorated with the lights he’d painstakingly put up himself.

But he also knew Mason had a life here, and he couldn’t shift it all for someone passing through like Rhys.

“But we are…” Mason paused. Rhys could tell he was thinking about what to say next. “We are a gay couple. For now, when Rhys is in town. We’re… I guess you kids would call it ‘going steady.’”

Rhys breathed in deep, his chest all aflutter. Mason didn’t have to tell anyone his personal business. But he had. He’d boasted about being with Rhys, even if it was only for a few more days.

“Yeah, you two are totes obvs together,” Lily said. Mason frowned. Rhys guessed that the acronyms in the Marines didn’t cover teen slang.

Rhys spent the rest of the day hanging out in the shop with Lily and Mason. It seemed like there were a lot of drop-ins traveling into town that day. Whenever customers came in, he went up to check on Socket, who seemed to be eating through the dry kibble left out for her at a record rate.

At five thirty, Lily went home for the day. At six o’clock, when Rhys and Mason were discussing dinner plans, a delivery driver from Zhao’s turned up. He had Mason’s standard order, along with extra side dishes. A thank-you from Lily’s parents and a good first day.

They ate on the customer couch. They had no clients scheduled but were still open until eight. They ate slowly, occasionally one of them pausing to talk to the other.

“You thinking you’ll keep with the twelve-hour days?” Rhys asked before sliding a mini spring roll into his mouth, expertly using the free wooden chopsticks provided by Zhao’s. As he chewed, he squinted at the wall on the opposite wall. It was just coming up to seven o’clock.

“I think until Christmas, yeah,” Mason replied. “In the New Year, I’ll cut back on opening hours, the car rental will help cover the costs. I’ll also need another apprentice or mechanic if I’m going to be down a worker on wedding days.”

Rhys had never thought about a wedding for himself. He’d always struggled to imagine a groom.

He looked over at Mason, pushing those thoughts from his mind. He was here for three and a half days, not for life.

“That sounds reasonable,” Rhys finally replied after swallowing his mouthful of spring roll. “Once the rental gets into full swing, between you and Bryan, I would organize a full-time driver. They would cost less than a mechanic, and it means you would have a guaranteed workforce here.”

Mason nodded in agreement, using his fork to munch down a mouthful of chow mein. “Maybe even a couple part-time drivers,” he pondered between mouthfuls. “It would work great for… what’s the thing where the couple is making good enough money, then one of them gets a side job to help pay for vacations and stuff?”

“Supplemental income!” Rhys said proudly. “Yeah, part-time to help out with cash flow. That would work great!” Rhys lifted a big chunk of black bean beef with his chopsticks. “And since all they need is a driver’s license, you have a wide pool of potential employees to choose from, so you can find the best person for- HEY!”

While Rhys was talking, Mason had leaned over and gobbled the black bean beef from Rhys’s chopsticks.

“You dirty mean man!” Rhys admonished. Mason replied with a wicked grin.

“What you gonna do, college boy?” Mason asked, his grin turning even more mischievous.

“We can’t. You’re still open for another…” Rhys checked the clock on the other side of the garage, squinting to accurately read the time. “An hour.”

Rhys slumped, looking at the big metal doors, then at Mason. He could see the outline of his muscles even under the baggy blue coverall. Rhys’s jeans were already too tight, his cock springing to attention.

“I can’t wait an hour,” Mason told him.

“There’s no one scheduled?” Rhys double-checked. Mason shook his head. “Me neither.”

Rhys put down his box of nearly empty Chinese food, lunging on top of Mason. They sprawled onto the sagging customer sofa, Rhys straddling the mountain of a man.

“We’ve only got a few days left,” Rhys began to explain. “And I’m going to spend every free moment making you come your brains out, Mason O’Neil.”

He leaned down, kissing Mason hard, pushing him down into the soft sofa.

They broke away, Rhys leaning up to pull his plaid shirt off.

“Whoa, slow down!” Mason said. “Let’s head upstairs first.”

“No. Here.” Rhys was overcome with desire and leaned down once more. He liked how confident he felt around him.

Except this time Mason put his hand up, gently stopping Rhys by the shoulder.

He paused, sitting back up, still breathing heavy. Rhys could feel the blood pumping through his body.

“We can’t have sex on the customer couch,” Mason told him. “And the door’s still open.”

Rhys looked up and saw that the big metal door was still wide open.

How had he forgotten about that?

He sheepishly got off Mason, who hopped up from the sofa, pulling out his set of keys to close the customer door.

When it was fully locked, he turned back around to face Rhys.

“Look,” Mason began. “I want to make the most of our time together too, but as you rightfully pointed out, I have a business to maintain.”

Rhys nodded in agreement.

“Which means we won’t be having sex on the customer sofa with the door open,” Mason made clear with a chuckle. “But my bed is ready whenever you are.”

Rhys’s eyes lit up. “You’re right. I got caught up in the moment. We don’t need to force this.”

“Darn tootin’,” Mason replied.

Rhys smile quickly formed into a laugh.

“What?” Mason asked.

“You are so Texan sometimes,” Rhys said.

“Well, I’m about to go big and go home,” Mason told him. He then rushed forward, literally sweeping Rhys off his feet, cradling him to his chest.

Rhys laughed in surprise, looking up at Mason. He was struggling slightly but was able to carry Rhys to the stairs on the other side of the garage no problem.

Rhys felt his muscles relaxing in Mason’s strong arms. He wondered how he had gone this long in life this tense. And for a brief moment, he worried how physically bad his muscles would feel without Mason’s comfort.

Within no time, they were at the top of the stairs, Rhys opening the door with his free hands.

Mason carried him over the threshold, kicking the door closed behind him. Socket was sitting in her usual kitty watchtower position, looking at the two of them with her big wide eyes.

“Meow!” she commented. ‘Glad to you having fun with him, human.’

Rhys chuckled as Mason carried him into the bedroom, chucking him onto the bed. Rhys bounced on the mattress a few times as Mason grabbed a towel from the nearby closet. He laid it down underneath Rhys.

“Good idea,” Rhys said. Like a giant version of their wet wipe, it would clean up any mess they made.

Mason jumped down next to him, having already peeled off his blue mechanic's coverall. They kissed a few times. Rhys could already see the tent of an erection through Mason’s underwear.

“I’m still hungry,” Rhys told him before moving down the bed toward Mason’s crotch.

“Oh!” Mason was already on the same page as Rhys. “So am I.”

Mason flipped himself over on the bed, so now both of their faces were facing the other’s hardening cocks.

Rhys was already at an advantage and whipped off Mason’s underwear, revealing his large cock.

Mason was still unzipping his lover’s pants as Rhys took Mason in his mouth. He lapped up the precum as it came, spreading it across Mason’s rock-hard member with his tongue.

Mason was already a mess of moans before he took Rhys in his mouth. He was slower than Rhys and didn’t take the member into his mouth as far as Rhys did.

But he made up for his inexperience with enthusiasm, quickly switching to lick Rhys’s cock like it was the most delicious ice-cream cone on the planet. Lots of fast licks, each touch making Rhys that bit harder.

Rhys grabbed Mason’s hard ass cheeks. Just as big and muscular as the rest of him.

The licks on his own cock suddenly slowed down.

“Rhys!” Hearing Mason plead with his name made Rhys feel all the more desired. “I’m about to… I’m close…”

Rhys bobbed his head up and down even harder, grabbing the muscular ass tightly as Mason cried out again.

The wet jet of cum spurted into his mouth. Rhys paused briefly, rolling it around on his tongue before spreading it all over Mason’s softening cock.

Mason chuckled in satisfied relief before Rhys lapped up all of his lover’s cum. He swallowed hard, taking it all in.

For a couple minutes, Mason just lay there, unable to move, struggling to form a sentence.

Eventually he muttered just three words.

“Best… blow job… ever.”

Mason then wrapped his mouth back around Rhys’s cock, spending the next few minutes gently bringing him to climax. He swallowed too before the men snuggled, whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears until they fell asleep for the night.

The shrill ringing cut through Rhys’s mind, waking him up from his slumber.

He knew for sure he was in Mason’s bed this time. But was what that ringing?

It wasn’t Mason’s alarm clock on his phone.

It wasn’t Rhys’s phone.

Mason stumbled out of bed, shambling over to a silver box by the doorway. It took Rhys a moment to realize it was an intercom on the wall that he’d failed to notice.

“Hello?” Mason asked wearily as he pressed a button, the ringing finally stopping.

“Hi, it’s Tom! From Southeast Auto Parts Emporium!” A cheery voice replied from the intercom. “We spoke on the phone a few days ago!”

“We did… wait, the oil pump regulator?” Mason asked.

Rhys sat up in bed, now wide awake. That was the missing part for his Impala. The part arriving on Monday.

“Yes sir. I’m downstairs. Can we have a quick talk?” Tom asked.

“Sure, down in five,” Mason replied before pressing off the intercom.

“What time is it?” Rhys asked, pulling on his pair of jeans from yesterday.

“Six fifty in the morning,” Mason replied as he pulled on his grubby white shirt.

Within three minutes, they were both hurriedly dressed and heading down the stairs in the large garage.

“What do you think this is about?” Rhys asked as they reached the bottom.

“No idea,” Mason replied. They came to the big metal doors, Mason unlocking them to let them out into the cold morning air. The sun was barely beginning to creep up, just illuminating the forty-year-old man in front of them. Balding with big ears, he grinned at the two men as they opened the large metal front doors.

“Good morning!” Tom greeted them. “Sorry for waking you so early. I’m Tom, head of the shipping division at Southeast Auto Parts Emporium.”

“Morning, how y’all doing?” Mason asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“After our chat a week ago, we all got together Monday morning and realized you were right. We absolutely need to implement a fast-track system for emergencies like these,” Tom explained. “So that’s what we’re doing in the New Year! We’ll do some trial runs before getting our fast-track system up and running by spring. All thanks to you!”

“You drove all the way down here just to tell us that?” Rhys asked. He must be missing something.

“Haha!” Tom beamed at the two of them. Rhys had only met the man a minute ago and was already grated by his overly cheery personality. “I was on my way to San Jose to spend Christmas with the dreaded in-laws! I realized stopping by this dinky town would only add a few hours to my drive.”

Tom walked over to a pickup truck by the side of the road, pulling a brown parcel from the passenger seat.

“Dinky?” Rhys asked Mason, feeling hurt that someone would insult a nice town like Hidden Creek like that.

“So I figured I’d drop off the oil pump on my way, shave a few days off your wait!” Tom explained excitedly, handing the parcel over to Mason.

Mason looked at the brown paper parcel, horror drawn across his face, before ripping off the wrapping.

“Looks like I brought you guys Christmas early,” Tom said. “Or should I say — I brought y’all Christmas early?”

The brown paper dropped to the ground. In Mason’s hand was a box for the seven-inch oil pump regulator.

They had everything they needed to fix Rhys’s car.

There was no reason for him to stay in Hidden Creek anymore.

He wouldn’t be with Mason for another three days. He’d be gone within three hours.

“Super,” Rhys replied, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.