by Zach Jenkins
“Sounds good,” Inigo said.
Levi matched his breathing to Inigo’s so that their bodies were in sync as they continued to lie together. He quickly started to get drowsy as a peacefulness spread over him.
This is just about perfect.
“The way you calmed Daxter down tonight was really amazing. You’re good with kids.”
Inigo rolled out of Levi’s grasp and sat up on the edge of the bed.
Shit. Too much.
“Thanks. Hey, are you sure you’re done fucking around for the night?”
The best way to not say something else stupid would be if they weren’t around each other for a little while. Plus, he did need to get some sleep for the upcoming big day. “Yeah. I’m good.”
“Okay. Sorry things didn’t end better for you. I’ll make up for it next time, okay?” Inigo asked, rising from the bed and beginning to look for his pants.
Levi didn’t want Inigo to leave. Even after the one-night stand in the hotel, they had slept together. But still, Levi knew they weren’t dating or in any kind of relationship to where Levi could expect the other man to stick around. They were just two men who’d happened to end up in bed together on two different nights.
Will the third time be the charm?
As Inigo kissed his forehead and headed out the door, though, Levi wondered whether he should even make the effort to convince Inigo to stay over next time.
Hell, it might be easier to just cut him free.
Levi certainly had enough things on his plate with Daxter.
But is there anything really wrong with a fun friend who is always down for a fuck?
The problem was that Levi wanted more than that from the guy who’d come in his mouth and walked out the door the second he had the chance to leave.
Somehow.
As he thought back to the many times he’d oscillated between wanting more from Inigo and telling himself he was cool with just fooling around, he came to one definite conclusion: I’m a mess.
12
Inigo
“So then I spray the skates, and hand them to the customer, right?”
Inigo forced a smile. “No, Neal. The skates have to get sprayed when you take them back, not when you give them out. People don’t want to see the skates they’re about to put on have the funk sprayed out of them right in front of their faces, nor do they want to worry about their socks getting wet from the fresh spray in the skates.”
Neal smiled and nodded his head up and down like a bobblehead doll. It was appropriate since he learned things just about as quickly. “Got it, boss.”
Inigo yawned and wondered why he’d bothered to come in so early in the morning to train the new employee. It wasn’t like Neal couldn’t have learned the requirements of the job from anybody else that worked at the roller rink. And he certainly could have learned during normal hours.
Take skates. Spray skates. Put skates on shelf. Hand out skates to other customers. How difficult was that?
Realizing that he was going to need to teach Neal how to work the credit card machine, Inigo regretted hiring the kid. He wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for Neal’s mother. She’d practically begged for Inigo to give her son the position. She said that he needed some kind of employment to make his college resume look better. She had been so desperate that Inigo probably could have convinced her to pay Neal’s paycheck.
Inigo doubted that Neal would be going to college, but couldn’t bring himself to say so. Nor had he been able to say no when she’d suggested that Neal come in early in the morning to learn the ropes well before his shift.
“He has so much trouble remembering things under pressure,” she’d said.
Inigo dreaded watching the kid work under the stress of the neon lights later that night.
“Inigo, there you are. I’ve been looking for you,” Riley said with a huge grin on his face before ringing the bell on the counter.
“What are you doing here?” Inigo asked, suspiciously.
Riley made a kissing motion at Inigo. “Just stopping by. Who’s the new idiot?”
Inigo closed his eyes to stop himself from yelling. “Don’t talk about my employees like that.” I might think it, but you don’t get to say it. “I’ll ask you one more time. What are you doing here?”
“I just came to see how you’re doing. Feels like we never talk anymore. But I see that you’re busy training the new guy on all the important, challenging work here.” Riley propped his head up on his hands with his elbows on the counter. “I can wait.”
Inigo knew that Riley was trying to goad him into another fight, but he wasn’t going to take the bait. The easiest way to get rid of him for good was to have a direct conversation with him and get it over with. Riley apparently needed closure, and Inigo was happy to give it to him.
“Neal, why don’t you take a break for a few minutes?” Inigo said.
Neal glanced at the clock. “But I’m not supposed to take a break for another hour, boss. Gotta follow the rules.”
It figures he remembers his break schedule, but not when he’s supposed to spray the shoes.
“You’re not really on the clock right now, Neal. Remember, this is just a training run. I’ll let you know when I’m ready for you to come back. I just need to talk to my…” Inigo almost called Riley his friend. Old habits die hard. “…to Riley, here. We’ll just need a few minutes. When we’re done, you and I will continue your training. Okay?”
Neal nodded and started walking to the door leading back into the main part of the roller rink, but was already messaging somebody on his phone before he’d left the room.
“Kids today. Right?” Riley asked. “You can’t teach them anything and they’re always on their phones. I’m so glad I never got stuck with a kid of my own.”
“He’ll be fine. He’s just nervous.” Inigo realized how close he was to letting Riley drag him into a stupid argument. “What do you want? Hurry up. I’ve got work to do.”
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I screwed things up with us, and I know I probably can’t make it up to you. But I do still want to be friends, if you’ll let me.”
Inigo didn’t really want that at all, but Riley seemed sincere. That was actually very surprising. And they’d had at least a little bit of fun while they were together.
When he didn’t reply right away, Riley quickly added, “But I get it if you don’t want that. But at least let me stay on the team. I have fun with the other guys, and outside of you, I’m the best skater you’ve got. You’re going to need me if you hope to have any chance next bout.”
Even with Riley, Inigo knew the team would struggle to even keep it close. Without him they had less than zero chance. “Give me a couple days to think about it and talk to the guys. I’ll get back to you.”
Riley smiled as if he’d already won the argument. “So what else have you been up to? Have you replaced me already with another boyfriend?”
Inigo took the opportunity to stick a knife into Riley for once instead of always being on the receiving end. “I met someone. We’ve gone on a couple dates, but we’re not official or anything.”
“That sounds nice. I’m glad he hasn’t tossed you aside yet. But when he does, you know where to find me.”
Inigo pointed his finger over Riley’s shoulder toward the front door. “Get out of here. Every time we talk, you find a way to try and make me look bad. You know who doesn’t? Levi. He’s already said more nice things to me than you did the entire time we were together. What’s wrong with you?”
Riley smiled, looking pleased to see that he’d managed to hurt Inigo one more time. “Sounds like I should probably head out before you get offended again. Let me know what the team says.”
Inigo had no intention of talking to them. There was no way he would let Riley back on the team no matter what they said. He planned to do whatever he could to keep the horrible monster as far away from his life as possible.
Not interested in talking with anyone a
fter the encounter with Riley, he didn’t bother calling Neal back to continue his training for another half hour. When he did, he quickly kicked himself for agreeing to the training session when Neal’s first question was whether the stuff they sprayed in the skates as they handed them to the customers was environmentally friendly.
“Neal, please write this down or make a note on your phone so you can just read it off the checklist instead of trying to remember it. You spray the skates right after you take them from the customer. Right before you put them on the shelf.”
“So I spray them twice?”
Inigo had never met anyone so dense. He wondered if he was being set up on one of those funny video shows. It was all so ridiculous that he wanted to share it with Levi. Inigo was pretty sure that even little Daxter would be able to remember when to spray the skates.
Just thinking about Levi brought a smile to his face. He pulled out his phone and found Levi’s number before he could chicken out.
13
Levi
“Go ahead and swim with the other kids, Daxter. I’m going to sit here and talk to Linda, okay?”
“But Levi, I want you to swim with us, too,” Daxter squealed, much too excitedly for a morning event, in Levi’s opinion.
Levi shook his head. “My playdate’s with Linda. Yours is with the other kids. Go swim. Have fun. Don’t drown.”
Daxter crossed his arms in front of his chest, but when Levi turned toward Linda and ignored him for a few seconds, he eventually turned and made his way to Linda’s above-ground swimming pool.
Levi wished it didn’t still bother him so much when Daxter called him by his first name instead of calling him Dad, but it felt like a judgment each time.
You might be my biological father, but you’re not my dad.
“Kids,” Linda said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love mine, but there’s nothing better for making somebody age faster than having kids. Well, except for my ex. That bastard did a number on me too. We were together ten years, but I swear it made me twenty years older.”
“You don’t look a day over twenty-nine,” Levi said.
“Bullshit, but keep up that talk and I’ll write you into the will.” Linda was sitting at a picnic table in the backyard, fidgeting with a glass of wine. She patted her hand on the space next to her on the bench. “Come on. Sit down. Let’s gossip.”
Levi had lived next to Linda for several years, but they’d rarely talked before Daxter had moved in. Her ex-husband had been an asshole, the kind who frequently yelled at his kids while playing catch because they weren’t focusing enough. While he’d still lived with Linda, Levi had worked very hard to do nothing more than say hello when they bumped into each other while mowing the lawns.
“You’ll have to lead, Linda. I don’t have any good gossip for you.” He bowed his head dramatically. “Forgive me. I’ve let you down.”
Linda made fake pouty lips and took a sip from her glass. “You’re lucky you’re cute, or I’d stop inviting you.”
Levi sat down next to her, and searched his mind for anything juicy to bring to the table, but other than watching the neighbor across the street sneak some of his overflow garbage into Levi’s garbage can the other day, Levi was drawing a blank.
“How are things going with Daxter?” she asked, changing directions.
“Fine, I think. He throws tantrums and won’t call me Dad, but other than that, we’re cool. He’s a fun kid. I feel worried that I’m doing everything wrong every day.”
“I bet. It was rough for me, but babies are easy. Basically, you feed them, change them, bathe them, and play with them. They can’t get into any real trouble. Five-year-olds are a different story. I always say, the day they learn to crawl is the day the trouble starts, but you are starting up way later than that.”
“Yeah. I feel like I just jumped on a train that was already rolling along at full speed and if I’m not careful, I’ll fall off and it’ll run me over.”
“Welcome to parenting. Just give a shout if you need advice on anything. I always hated when people shoved their parenting opinions on me, so I won’t do it to you unless you ask.”
“Thanks.” The ringing of his phone saved him while they both searched for a new topic to talk about. He glanced at the display and saw it was Inigo. “One sec. I gotta take this. It might be important.”
Before Levi even had a chance to say hello, Inigo practically shouted, “Let’s go on a date! Just you and me. We’ll work out the details later, but just say yes now.”
Levi’s thoughts swirled. He hadn’t expected to get a call for an actual date after Inigo’s sudden departure the previous night.
“Sure,” he said immediately. Levi had resigned himself to being happy with plenty of good old-fashioned stress-relieving fucks, if that’s all Inigo was willing to commit to. If he wanted to add any kind of relationship around that, Levi certainly wasn’t going to turn it down. “What day? I’ll need to find a babysitter.”
Linda, who had been leaning against his side and listening attentively, asked in a breathless whisper, “For a date?”
Levi nodded, but held up a finger to tell her to stay quiet until he was done.
“Whenever works for you, man,” Inigo answered. “I’ll make it work. My nights are mostly free after I’m done at the rink, and for you, I can drag myself out of bed before it opens if that’s the only time you have available.”
Levi smiled. The warm sun on his skin felt good. Hearing the kids splashing in the water felt good. Even watching Linda trying to figure out what the hell he was planning felt good.
But Inigo telling Levi that he would be willing to go on a date anytime Levi had available felt amazing.
So what was that all about last night? Was that just a panic move, and this is the apology to make up for it?
Levi didn’t really care. He wanted the date, and Inigo was freely offering it.
“Can I call you back later today? Like I said, I gotta find a babysitter. So whenever I get that arranged—”
Linda wrapped her hands around Levi’s bicep and shook him. She spoke loudly, making sure to aim her voice at his phone. “I’ll watch him. I’ll watch Daxter. Just tell me when.”
Levi realized that his life had suddenly become the gossip Linda craved. If he accepted Linda’s help, she would definitely press for details after the date. Even that felt good, though. One of the best parts of dating was talking about that person with friends.
“It looks like I found a babysitter,” Levi said. “How does Friday night sound?” He said the words to Inigo, but raised his eyebrows at Linda for approval.
She rapidly nodded her head, and clapped her hands together.
“Sounds like a long way away,” Inigo said with a laugh. “But that’s good, no, great. Let’s meet at my place. I’ll have someone else close for me. How’s ten sound?”
Levi didn’t bother to mute his phone when he asked Linda, “Can Dax spend the night?”
“Fuck, yeah. You’ll take my kids for a few hours when you pick Dax up, right?”
“Of course,” Levi said, hiding his uncertainty about being in charge of four kids at once.
“Great.” She rubbed her hands together. “I’ll pump them all full of donuts for you in the morning. I’ve been meaning to catch up on Game of Thrones.”
“We’re on, Inigo,” Levi said while Linda high-fived him.
“Cool. We’ll walk to this place by my house. I can’t wait to see you again. Shit! Gotta go. This new guy’s going to be the end of me. No, you don’t need to spray them that much!”
When the line went dead, Levi set the phone down on the picnic table.
“So how do you decide whether it’s time to date a guy or a girl?” Linda asked.
Levi wasn’t exactly the chattiest with his neighbors, so he was a little surprised that Linda apparently knew he was bisexual. “It doesn’t really work like that. It just depends on who I meet. How did you know about that, though?”
Linda fl
ashed a knowing smile that she tried to hide behind another sip of wine. “Honey, a single gorgeous hunk like you comes up frequently in the gossip circles around here. Up until recently, I thought you were gay or I would’ve been all over you when the prick left. I only recently found out you swung both ways. You don’t think the only reason I invited you was to watch our kids play in the pool, was it?”
Levi was speechless. “I am… Sorry?”
“You better not be,” Linda said poking his shoulder with her finger. “I’m just messing with you. You better have a wild time on that damn date, though. And when you pick up Daxter Saturday morning, don’t be stingy with the details. Deal?”
Levi grabbed her glass and took a sip. “Deal.”
Linda leaned her body against his, and pulled his arm over her shoulder. “Is this guy going to be the one?”
“Inigo. His name’s Inigo.”
“Did someone kill his father?”
“What?” Levi asked, surprised by the abrupt and dark question.
“It’s from the movie,” Linda said.
“Oh, right. I really need to watch this movie sometime. Anyway, I don’t know. I like him. He likes me. But I’m worried about how to make things work with…well, I don’t want to blame him…but, with Dax. The dad thing is all new to me and I don’t want to do something that screws him up.”
“Let me tell you one thing. Being happy with someone can only be good for the kids. Stay away from the assholes. Find someone that treats you and him well, and it will work just fine. And the second he turns into a jerk, dump his ass. God, what I wouldn’t do to go back in time and leave my ex the day my last kid was born. To think of the years I wasted.”