Chance to Bloom

by Dillon Hunter

  He wouldn’t know until he gave it a shot, anyway.

  That was the mindset that he'd woken up with, and he’d tried to hold onto it as he’d gotten ready for work that morning.

  “Just give it a shot. Just see what happens.” Ethan drummed his fingers on his steering wheel as he sat in front of the flower shop, psyching himself up to go inside. “Just. Give. It. A. Shot.”

  With a brisk nod to himself, he got out of the car, threw his shoulders back, and raised his chin. He could at least look confident, even if he wasn’t exactly feeling it yet.

  Fake it till you make it, right?

  He’d been doing his best to carry on and put one foot in front of the other since Gary’s death, trying to deal with his grief and still hold things together at the shop. But with Jack suddenly there—not just an abstract idea anymore, but actually there, making decisions and figuring out his role in the business, it reminded Ethan yet again that nothing was certain. Not even the things he’d thought were most stable in his life.

  Jack could fire Ethan or Frankie at any minute, and in the blink of an eye, the job he loved so much would be taken away… just like Gary had been.

  It wasn’t until he was halfway from the car to the front door of the shop that he noticed the lights were on inside the building. That was… weird. Ethan never left the lights on overnight, but maybe he’d been so distracted thinking about Jack and what his new normal would look like that he’d forgotten?

  Possible, but he still approached the door cautiously. With one hand on the door handle and the other on his phone, he pushed it open just enough to peek inside.

  “Hello?” Ethan called out, trying to make his voice sound a little deeper and more authoritative than it was by default. “Is someone in here?”

  “Oh, hey, Ethan,” Jack answered, appearing across the room in the office doorway. “Good morning. I hope you don’t mind that I came in a little early.”

  “I, um, no, not at all.” Ethan stumbled over his words, feeling relieved… and then suddenly nervous again for a whole new reason.

  Damn, Jack really was as good looking as he’d remembered from the day before.

  Ethan was staring, and after a minute, the corners of Jack’s mouth twitched and turned up slightly.

  Was he smiling?

  At Ethan?

  Ethan tried to bring back the confidence—real or fake, whatever—that he’d left his car with a moment ago, but… nope. It wasn’t happening. With Jack looking so hot and smiling like that?

  Yeah, Ethan was too flustered to even think straight.

  “I just had a hard time sleeping last night,” Jack said with a sheepish shrug, saving Ethan from blurting out something stupidly inappropriate. “So I figured I’d get a head start on the day. Plus, my body seems to still be on military time, no matter how good sleeping in might sound in theory.”

  Ethan smiled, trying to relax a little. Or, if that wasn’t going to be possible, at least trying to get the image of Jack in bed out of his mind. Thankfully, Jack seemed to be in a good mood, and hopefully that meant they’d be able to avoid a repeat of the awkwardness from the day before.

  “I had a little trouble sleeping last night, too,” Ethan said, trying not to blush as his mind immediately supplied him with vivid memories of exactly how Jack had played a part in his… sleeplessness. He cleared his throat, continuing, “But yeah, this building creaks and groans and makes all sorts of weird noises at night. I can’t imagine trying to sleep through it. I assume you heard all of that from upstairs?”

  “Oh, God no.” Jack shook his head, his eyes going wide. “Nope. No way I was sleeping up there. Not yet. I just… need a little time. I’ll probably keep my room at the hotel down the street for at least a few more days.”

  Ethan felt a little jolt of compassion for him as he realized why it would have been hard for Jack to sleep upstairs. Of course. He hadn’t even been thinking of how difficult it must have been for Jack to be surrounded by all of his father’s old things. He wanted to say something comforting, but he just didn’t know Jack well enough to know what to say, or how to say it—or even if Jack would’ve wanted him to say anything. Probably better to just keep the conversation light and keep it moving.

  Fortunately, Jack changed the subject on his own.

  “I stopped at the coffee shop next door,” Jack said. “Grabbed you a coffee when I got mine. I didn’t know if you might like sugar or creamer or maybe some of the pink stuff or the blue stuff…” Jack cleared his throat and looked away as his cheeks turned a very distinct shade of pink. “So anyway, I just grabbed some of everything. And the, uh, coffee. Here.”

  Ethan laughed as Jack shoved the cup into his hands, doing his best to ignore the little flutter in his chest at the unexpected consideration. “Wow. Just… wow,” he managed, less-than-eloquently.

  “I know… I probably should have just waited until you got here and then gone next door, but… I wanted coffee, and I saw your cup and bagel sitting here on the desk yesterday, so…”

  “No, it’s perfect. Thank you.” Ethan dug through the small pile of sweeteners and creamers that Jack had dumped on the desk, amazed that Jack had noticed that level of detail while he’d obviously been caught up in his own memories of Gary the day before. “I was just… surprised, I guess. I’m not used to having anyone get me… well, anything, really.”

  It was a weird feeling, but Ethan had to admit that it was kind of nice. Kind of… really nice. And definitely made even better by the sight of Jack looking so deliciously pink.

  Ethan hid his smile behind a sip of coffee. He had to assume that Jack wasn’t used to wearing that particular color, but it certainly suited him.

  “Well, hopefully you like it,” Jack said, thankfully acting oblivious to how flustered his small act of kindness had made Ethan feel. “If not, I can always go back and get—”

  “No,” Ethan interrupted, probably too emphatically. “I mean I do. Like it—coffee. I like coffee.”

  Ethan took a deep breath and set the cup down on the desk. He needed to get the conversation back on track before he did something unfortunate—like tell Jack how hot he was first thing in the morning, when they still had to spend the entire day together. Especially since Ethan didn’t have any reason to believe that Jack was even gay—or all that comfortable with the fact that Ethan was, in light of their awkward conversation the day before.

  “Okay, so,” Ethan said, trying to collect his thoughts and focus on work. “If you want, we can go over a few—oh, I see you’ve already found the profit and loss reports from last month.” He nodded to the stack of papers next to the computer—the computer that he also couldn’t help but notice had started right up for Jack.

  Beginner’s luck, no doubt. Or else maybe it liked Jack as much as Ethan was thinking he might be starting to.

  It was good to see that Jack was taking initiative, though. It was what Ethan had been hoping for, in fact. One of his many fears was that Jack would come to take over the business, only to decide it was too boring or too difficult, then end up half-assing everything.

  He should have known better, given that Jack had been a Marine for so long. Ethan might not know a lot about the Marines, but he was pretty sure they didn’t half-ass anything.

  “Yeah, I just sort of came in and started looking at stuff,” Jack said with a little half-shrug. “I hope I’m not stepping on any toes. It’s just easier for me to jump in and start doing things, you know?”

  Ethan’s eyes tracked Jack’s hands as he spoke. The hands that had held his, the morning before. They were big, and tan, and marked with calluses and a few little scars—rough hands, but in a way that made Ethan want to touch them, to trace the little lines, to find out what it might feel like if Jack started doing things to him.

  “Um, right, yeah,” Ethan said, shaking his head a little to try and dislodge the very not-safe-for-work image that had taken hold.

  God, he was really going to have to stop letting himself
get so distracted by Jack. It wasn’t like Ethan normally went off and fantasized about every hot guy who crossed his path, but for some reason, Jack was different. Even though Ethan knew he needed to focus on work, there was just something about Jack that got to him, that made everything inside him seem to sit up and take notice whenever Jack was around.

  “Doing things is the best way to, uh, do things,” he added lamely, grabbing his coffee for another shot of caffeine to hopefully kick-start his brain. “And you’re the boss, so you can pretty much do whatever you want. Definitely not stepping on any toes, so don’t worry. You’ll probably be running the place on your own in a couple of weeks at this rate.”

  “Oh, hell no.” Jack snorted as he shook his head, laughing. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I just need a handle on the finances so I have an idea what kind of offers I should be looking for.”

  Ethan blinked, everything inside him screeching to a halt.

  Wait, what?

  “Offers?” he repeated, forcing the word out through a suddenly dry mouth. His stomach clenched and he started to feel like he might throw up before Jack could even reply.

  Then, when Jack finally did continue, the feeling only got worse.

  “Yeah, I really need to sell the place as soon as possible,” Jack said, frowning down at one of the reports on the desk. “One of those big flower chains has apparently been interested in buying this place for a while—I was going through some of my dad’s old mail—but it looks like he didn’t even open most of the letters from their corporate office.”

  Those words immediately killed any and all fantasies—sexual or otherwise—that Ethan might have been entertaining. It felt as if the floor had disappeared out from under him, and he sank down into the comfortingly familiar squeaky chair as he took in what Jack had just said.

  Ethan could vividly remember the look on Gary’s face whenever he’d see another one of those letters Jack was referring to arrive in the mail, and he could almost hear the words Gary had spat out every time another one came.

  Those soulless corporate bastards will get the keys to this place when they pry them from my cold, dead hands.

  Ethan shuddered at the memory. It seemed a cruel irony that it was apparently going to become some sort of weird, self-fulfilling prophecy.

  Jack was staring at him, the hint of confusion on his features making it clear that he didn't have any clue that he’d just rocked Ethan's world. And not in the way Ethan had spent half the night fantasizing about.

  “I… see,” Ethan finally managed, even though, no, he did not see. How could Jack even think…? A wave of loss went through him, and he wanted to say more—so much more—but no words were coming to him.

  Or maybe too many words were coming at once.

  His brain felt foggy. He was hurt, and mad, and confused, and the worst part was that he had to pretend like he wasn’t any of those things.

  Because Jack was the boss.

  It was Jack’s business, and he could do what he wanted with it.

  It felt naive now that Ethan’s biggest worry had been that Jack might be a lazy or absentee owner. He’d literally never considered the possibility of Jack selling the business out from under him.

  They were both silent for several long seconds, and when Ethan looked back over, Jack was quick to shift that intense gaze that Ethan had been admiring just minutes before back to the papers in front of him, to the creamers and the sweeteners, to the stupid computer—anywhere, it seemed, to avoid Ethan’s stare.

  “It’s really the only option for me at this point,” Jack said, clearing his throat. “I can’t even… there are just so many bills, you know? I’m sure you can understand that.” He shrugged a little and looked back at Ethan. “And anyway, it’s not like the place will really change. It’ll still be the same store, just with a different name on the door. Not a big deal, really.”

  Ethan couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and it was making him feel equal parts sick and angry. He knew, no matter what Jack said, that it would absolutely not be the same if some big corporation took over. Everything that made Beverly’s Blooms special, that made it stand out from places like Simply Flowers across town—the love, the caring, the family atmosphere—would be the first things to go once a bunch of executive types got their hands on the place.

  But what was he going to do? What could he do?

  Nothing.

  “Not a big deal,” Ethan repeated, his voice thankfully empty of most of the emotions that he was feeling. “Right. Sure.”

  It felt like his entire world was spinning out of control and had completely come to a stop, all at the same time. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, wanting nothing more than to run screaming from the room.

  Or to ask too many questions that would have been completely out of line.

  Questions he probably didn’t want to know the answers to, anyway.

  He wanted to do those things, and more, but the fact of the matter was that he wouldn’t. Couldn’t. The decision was out of his hands, and all he could do was help his new boss get up to speed so that Jack could cash in on the business that his father had spent years building with Ethan’s help.

  So that Jack could take away everything that was beautiful in Ethan's life.

  It had been almost three hours—it was almost lunchtime, thank God—since Jack had dropped the bombshell that he would be selling the flower shop. Even though Ethan had had a little time to let the information sink in, it was still new and shocking enough to rock him—to make him physically shudder—every time he thought about it.

  Which had been pretty much constantly during the time that had passed.

  The idea of Beverly’s Blooms becoming just another corporate franchise was impossible for him to wrap his mind around. It didn’t feel like it was something that could actually happen. But no matter how many times he’d told himself that he’d misunderstood, or that Jack might change his mind—or even that Ethan was just stuck in a bad dream—he’d take another look at Jack's gorgeous-but-emotionless face and feel that shudder go through his body again, realizing that it was all too real.

  To add insult to injury, he'd been stuck in the office within arm’s reach of Jack all morning. While he may have considered that a blessing before he’d heard the news, it had only felt like a curse ever since.

  Ethan needed some time alone. Preferably with flowers to arrange, something to keep his hands and his brain occupied enough that he could relax a little. Something that wouldn’t let his mind wander to all of the nightmare scenarios it had come up with in the hours since Jack’s announcement. Like how Beverly’s Blooms would turn into just another place that sold flowers—no character, no soul. No family. If that was how it would be, the customers who Gary and Ethan and Frankie had spent years getting to know and working hard to please might as well start buying their roses at the grocery store.

  To see the place stripped of everything that had made it stand out—had made it special—would almost be worse than seeing it closed down completely. Either way, though, Ethan knew he didn’t want to be a part of that. He wasn’t going to stick around while everything he’d worked for and everything he stood for was sold off to the highest bidder.

  For now, though, he didn’t have many alternatives.

  Jack still had a lot of questions about the business, and Ethan worked for him. He couldn’t just get up and wander off—even if, from his heart’s perspective, it felt totally justified. And better to have Jack there with him, where Ethan knew what was happening and what he was doing, than to leave him to his own devices.

  At least Frankie had the day off. Ethan hated the fact that he’d have to break the news to him. Frankie had become like a little brother, and even if the younger man didn’t have the same passion for the place that Ethan did, Ethan knew that working there was still something Frankie enjoyed, something he could count on.

  Ethan never liked seeing Frankie upset, but he definitely wanted to
tell Frankie himself rather than let him be blindsided by the news, like he had been. And he needed to do it sooner rather than later.

  But… not now.

  For now, Ethan had enough on his plate just keeping himself together. Professional. Between worrying and stressing and taking care of everything Jack had asked for, it was just about all he could handle. If he added Frankie to the mix before he got a handle on his own emotions, he might just lose it.

  He took a deep breath, praying for a reprieve.

  He got it.

  The bell over the front door sounded, announcing a new customer, and Ethan perked right up, nearly knocking his chair over in his rush to get up and out of the office. Finally, a legitimate excuse to do something on his own, somewhere besides that tiny office.

  Somewhere away from Jack.

  “Should I come with you and help?”

  Ethan froze at Jack’s question. Shit.

  “Um, no, that’s okay.” Ethan smiled and hoped he looked as nonchalant as he’d managed to sound. No matter how devastated he felt inside, he’d be damned if he’d let Jack see him as anything but professional. “I’ll probably only be a minute. Most people either know exactly what they’re looking for, or they want to browse for a while before figuring things out.”

  Jack didn’t seem to mind the gentle rebuff, thank goodness. “Okay, I’ll just keep looking over these reports, then.”

  “Perfect. I’ll be right back.”

  Ethan waited until he was out of the office to exhale. He didn’t want to be short with Jack or rude to him. Not only was the man Ethan’s new boss, but he did genuinely seem like a nice guy. A hot, nice guy. Just the kind of guy Ethan would have been really interested in getting to know better if it had been under different circumstances.

  But this hot, nice, sexy guy had just turned Ethan’s whole world upside down, and he just needed to get away—at least for a few minutes.