Cody — 13
Wow. Just…wow. I…wow. I had no idea. How did he? Why didn’t he? What else did…wow. Adrian just completely kicked ass at paintball. I was still having problems completely processing that. Yeah, he was attractive, and yes, I wanted him. But hell, had I been worried about him being too old for me for nothing?
“You going to make it over there?”
I turned to Hawke, ready to reply, but I had nothing. Absolutely zilch. I simply sat there and opened my mouth to reply before I closed it again. Hawke laughed at the expression on my face.
“Do you want to talk or be left alone?”
“I’m an idiot. Fuck, Hawke, I’ve been so stupid.” I stopped, still processing the fact that Adrian just kicked ass at paintball. He thought it was fun and he and Bishop played paintball frequently. Then why the fuck did he only ever take me out to dinner and want to talk? I was trying to make heads or tails of things, and unfortunately, I just ended up confusing myself more.
“How so?”
“I completely misjudged Adrian. I thought he wanted…I don’t know. A dinner companion maybe? He kicked ass at paintball. He never took me out to paintball.”
“Did you ever give him the chance?”
“No, that’s what I mean. I’ve been such an idiot. Do you think it’s too late?”
“I think—” Hawke was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. The only people we were expecting that weren’t there already were Adrian and his partner, Bishop.
“Looks like your guy finally got here,” Hawke said as he looked toward the front of the house. Moments later, Adrian and Bishop came into the living room where we were all congregating.
“Yeah,” I absently replied as my eyes tracked Adrian’s every move. He was talking to Walker, Trace, and Richard, but when his eyes met mine, he sent me a wink that did funny things to me. Damn, with just a wink?
“Hey, wanna go out back and sit?” Hawke asked.
“Umm, sure.”
We got up and walked out back where Tristan and Raymond were manning the grill.
“I thought Walker was supposed to be doing that?” I asked.
“Yeah, he was, but he went inside to grab something. He said he’d be back shortly,” Tristan said as he flipped the burgers.
“He got distracted. Adrian and Bishop arrived,” I told him as I looked back to the house.
“Well, if he’s here, why are you out here?” Tris asked as he sent me a scowl over his shoulder.
“I…” The back door slid open, and I watched as the man that had me off-kilter came out with the rest of the crew. Shit, the last thing I wanted was to have a very private conversation in front of everyone. So, I left the back deck and walked out into the tree-lined backyard. Walker had a nice property; it was perfect for a family, which he had with Tristan now.
“Cody? Did I do something to upset you?” Adrian called out from behind me.
I stopped and waited for him to catch up. I needed to…what? Talk to him, yeah, but how did I even begin to say what I had to? “No, I just don’t know how to say to you what I want to say.”
“All right. I can go if you’re uncomfortable with me being here. They’re your friends after all.”
“No. Really, it’s good. How have you been? Your texts were…”
“Less frequent?”
“Yeah, that too. But they were a little…short? How are things going with you? Last I really talked to you was last weekend. I assume you’ve been busy.”
“Somewhat. I had a fairly calm week at work, but my evenings have been… I was trying to give you space, but now I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t have.” Adrian sighed loudly and I looked at him. He looked so frustrated.
“You okay?” I asked.
“What’s going on? I’m trying here, but you’ve got to give me something, Cody. Are you still friend-zoning me?”
I looked up into Adrian’s brown eyes, and that was it. I simply couldn’t fight the battle anymore. I wanted, no, I needed to see where this could go.
“No, I want…”
“What?”
“I…I want to talk.”
The frustration on Adrian’s face was evident for a split second before he masked it.
“What did I do?” I asked, needing to know what I’d done to frustrate him.
“You want to talk? All we do is talk. I’m trying to figure out a way to understand what it is that I need to do in order to get you to respond to me the way I’d hoped you would. But you want to talk, fine. We’ll talk. What would you like to talk about, Cody?”
“Anything. Everything. I miss chatting with you.”
Adrian turned his head and let out a heavy sigh. What did I do now?
“Pick a subject and we’ll talk about it. Work? Friends? Family? How the fuck I get you to date me? You name it.”
Ahh, so that was it. Now I understood his frustration. I didn’t blame him. I’ve been an ass and have kept him at arm’s length for too long and needed to let him know I wanted to give us a try and see where things went.
“Hmm, well, not a lot going on at work. The restaurant opens tomorrow, but that doesn’t really involve me as I’m not kitchen crew, per se. I’m staying on as pastry chef, and so is Hawke. You know my two best friends, they’re both a mess and pains in the ass. My family is still my family. Love my siblings and adore my niece. My parents…meh.”
“Is that what you want? To be a pastry chef I mean?”
“Yes, it is. I do love to cook, although I never have anyone to do it for except myself, so there’s not much of a point doing it. But I’m happy for Denver. I know he’s really put a lot into the spa and now the resort, and to see it so successful, that’s a good thing.”
“Are you happy there though?”
“I’m not unhappy. I like my job, and Hawke is one of my best friends. And he’s not difficult to work with, so that’s a plus. Then there’s Denver. He’s great. And Emme, she’s nice. I have no real complaints. What about you? How’s work going? Keeping busy?”
“I can’t fuckin’ believe this,” Adrian muttered under his breath before letting out another heavy sigh. “There’s always something for me to do. Bishop and I will be going back to Cheyenne in a few weeks. Other than that, just routine stuff unless something urgent comes up.”
We continued to walk side by side out onto the property. The trees were a nice break from the blistering sun, giving us a much-needed break.
“Does that happen often? The urgent thing?”
“Sometimes. I’m always on call, just in case. But if we’re needed out of state, the airport is right there in Jackson.”
“So, you have Emme for a sister. Any others?” I asked, changing the subject.
“No. Just her. But you have three siblings. Did you enjoy growing up with them?”
“Yes. I get along with all of them. Evelyn is actually getting married next weekend. Our parents aren’t too happy about it because Marco, Heidi’s dad, is in the Army and they’ll be moving to Maryland with him. I’m happy for them though. It’s been really rough on the two of them being apart for so long, and Marco’s missed so much.”
“Wow. Yeah, I’d imagine that would be. Are they having a big wedding?”
“No. Just a thing at the courthouse. But they’re having a dinner at one of the ski lodges in Jackson after.”
“You know, just because they’re having a small wedding, that doesn’t make them any less married.”
“I know. I’m not really upset about that. I’m going to miss Heidi though. I love my niece. She’s only one, but she’s so much fun.”
“Maybe you can go out and visit? I mean, it’s not that far of a flight, really. Well, okay, it’s about a five- to six-hour flight. But still, that’s not bad.”
“Yeah, we’ll see. You wouldn’t happen to want to go with me, would you? To the wedding that is.”
“I would love to go with you. But just to be clear, is this as friends or as a date?”
“I’d really hoped as a friend that I happened to also be dating?” I stopped and looked at Adrian, hopeful I wasn’t too late. I knew there was the possibility that I’d held him away for too long, but I was ready to take the chance.
“Are you sure? You know that’s what I want, but I’m too damn old to play games, Cody. It’s either we’re dating or we aren’t. And I don’t share so if you’re seeing someone else, it won’t work.”
“Yeah, you know I’ve been cheated on, and that’s not my thing. I have no issues not seeing anyone else. But…”
“But what?”
I turned and looked toward the house as our names were called. I could just barely see everyone in the backyard through the trees, but as we all knew, Tristan could be incredibly loud when needed.
“I guess we should go back so we can eat.”
“Not until you answer. But what?”
“If I’m not seeing anyone else, you can’t either.” Adrian gently grabbed my bicep, keeping me from leaving.
“Cody, I’ve already told you I haven’t dated anyone since my divorce.”
I gently tugged away and started the trek back to the house. I knew they wouldn’t wait for us, which was fine, but I didn’t want Adrian to miss out on eating because of me.
“Well, you said your evenings had been relaxing and I just assumed you’d been seeing someone and…you know.” I walked a little faster, both embarrassed and hoping that maybe he’d drop the subject. Yeah, I wasn’t going to get that lucky.
“My legs are a little longer, don’t forget that. And I might be a bit older, but I can keep up with you. I think I proved that today. This isn’t over, Cody. We’re going to talk and soon. As in when we leave here, you’re coming home with me because we’re going to have this out.”
I nodded and Adrian did the same before we continued on our way to the rest of the group. I could smell the hamburgers as we got closer, and when my stomach growled loudly, Adrian chuckled beside me.
“Let’s get you fed so we can leave and go talk. There’s definitely some things that need to be hashed out.”
I glanced up at Adrian but didn’t get a chance to respond because we’d made it back to the rest of the group. “There you are. You know, if you two wanted some alone time, you could have just said so and we would have just left you be,” Tristan said jokingly.
“Har-har. It’s fine. I’ll get plenty of alone time when we go to Adrian’s place after we eat,” I replied, effectively silencing Tris and getting everyone else’s attention. “You hungry, Adrian?” I asked, holding out a plate with a cheeseburger on it. The slow smile that came across his face made the embarrassment of my comment worth it.
“Very,” he said as he took the plate and went to the table to add condiments and get his sides.
I took another plated cheeseburger from a silent and stunned Tristan and laughing Walker. I nodded to them, and Walker winked at me in return. I joined Adrian at the condiments table, and after doctoring my cheeseburger, I spooned both mac salad as well as mixed fruit onto my plate and grabbed a plastic fork and napkin before sitting at the patio table beside Adrian. I figured why not?
“Okay, we absolutely need to talk. How soon is too soon that it’s considered rude that we leave?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe we should stay for at least ten to fifteen minutes after everyone eats. I honestly couldn’t say though.”
We sat and ate in almost complete silence, letting the others around us dominate the majority of the conversation. Adrian and Bishop answered any questions that were asked of them, but for the most part, everyone was hungry and too busy eating to actually talk much.
Shortly after we’d finished, Bishop got a text and excused himself. Whomever was messaging him had his full attention because he walked into the door on his way back through the house. That caused the rest of us to chuckle, but I felt bad for him because I knew how he felt. I’d been going through the same thing for weeks now.
“Are you ready to go as well?” I asked as I turned back to Adrian with a hopeful look on my face. I was more than ready to leave; hopefully he was, too.
“Sure. As long as it’s all right with everyone else. I don’t want you to think we ate and left immediately.”
“Naw, it’s okay. Most of the guys have to leave soon anyway,” Walker told him. I smiled and sent a silent thank-you to him. He wrapped his arm around Tristan’s shoulders and pulled him into his side, kissing his temple. The look of bliss on Tris’s face said it all. He was happy and content, and that was all that mattered. Would I have that with Adrian?
“Hey, we can stay if you want,” Adrian said.
I turned back to him and shook my head. “Let’s go,” I said as I got up. I grabbed both plates and dropped them in the trash can that was sitting beside the back door.
“Thanks, everyone. See you tomorrow, Hawke,” I yelled over my shoulder as I walked through the sliding glass door and into the house.
“Are you in a hurry?” Adrian asked once he caught up with me.
“Not really. But if we hang around here much longer, it’ll be hours before we leave.”
“I thought Walker said the guys were leaving soon?”
“Yeah, no,” I replied as we walked out the front door. “I’ll follow you to your place? I’m not exactly sure if I remember where it is.”
“That works. Hey, if I’m pushing too hard…”
I shook my head before looking up at Adrian again. “No. It’s okay. Honestly. I want to talk and see where this can go. But I don’t want to do any of that here. The guys from the station will probably be here for hours yet, and I really don’t want to wait that long for us to talk.”
“Fair enough. Follow me, then.” I watched as Adrian turned and walked to his SUV that was parked farther down the driveway. Having been one of the first to arrive, I knew better than to park by the house, so I followed and climbed into my truck. After we’d both turned around, we were on our way toward Sulfur Springs and Adrian’s house.
The drive over gave me time to think about what I wanted to talk about first, and where I’d hoped things would progress to. If I could get even a tiny kiss from Adrian, I’d be happy. The thought of his lips on my body had been more than enough of a visual for many happy times in the past several weeks, and if I was being honest with myself, I really wanted them…well, everywhere.
As we pulled into Adrian’s driveway, I followed behind, parking in front of the other garage door, the one Adrian hadn’t pulled through. I was already out of my truck and walking into the garage by the time he opened his door.
“I’m not sure how long you plan on staying, but anytime you want to, you’re welcome to park in that stall. There’s a lot of wildlife out here even though the house is basically in a neighborhood.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. I mean, I don’t park in a garage at home, so here wouldn’t be any different.”
“Well, then, shall we?”
I nodded and followed Adrian into his house. As he pushed the button on the wall to close the door, I realized it was time to close the door on my uncertainty and take what had been so readily offered. Adrian.