“Okay then,” I said, attempting to inject a lighter note into our conversation again.
We were both quiet when we redressed and returned to his kitchen. The grilled chicken on the salads looked a little rubbery, but we were both famished and woofed them down without complaint. Unfortunately, I no longer had a valid reason to stick around once the food was gone. Kyle walked me to the front door and placed a hand on my arm before I could leave.
“One more kiss,” Kyle said. I couldn’t tell if he was pleading with me or asking, but it didn’t matter because there was no way I could’ve told him no.
His goodbye kiss was so much different than any other we had shared. It was languid and filled with so much promise that my eyes watered with unshed tears by the time he pulled back. Kyle looked confused by my reaction until I smiled at him.
“So much better than any book boyfriend,” I whispered as I traced his lips, committing the feel to memory.
Loud voices echoed through his neighborhood when I opened the door. I stared in shocked disbelief as his neighbor lady across the street launched a pile of clothes out the front door followed by a set of golf clubs.
“Get out of my house! I’m not going to stay married to a lying, cheating bastard like you another minute,” she screamed.
A balding man shoved past her and ran down the porch steps. “Oh, Betty,” he said as he started picking up his clothes and clubs off the front lawn.
“I mean it this time, Eddy,” she yelled before she slammed the front door closed.
Eddy just sighed and dug his keys from his pocket. Kyle and I watched him toss his stuff inside his car before he got in and drove away. I shook my head then looked at Kyle. “He’ll be back in a few hours,” Kyle said. “They’ll make up just as publicly. It’s gross.”
“No wonder you want to move to the country. Won’t you miss the show?”
“Not even a little,” he quipped. “Goodnight, Chaz.”
“Night, Kyle.”
I had a heavy heart and a turbulent mind when I drove away from Kyle’s house. Everything I wanted was in my rearview mirror. I had to be honest with Kyle if I wanted a chance at the future I glimpsed when I looked into his eyes. I knew at that moment how Gideon really felt. Even if Kyle never forgave me for my betrayal, it would prod him to move on from me and find someone to make him happy. I would be glad for him no matter how much it hurt to see him share a life with someone else. When you loved a person, you wanted what was best for them. I realized something very important on my ride home that night. I was in love with Kyle Vaughn, but I couldn’t say that I was the best man for him. That was something that only he could decide, and I was terrified to find out what he would choose.
I couldn’t get the idea of finding a permanent home off my mind once I spoke the idea out loud to Chaz. I had been thinking about it ever since Josh and Gabe bought their home, but I never put a plan into action. The house hunting apps available for smartphones were pretty awesome and made it possible to do a lot of shopping without pressure from an overeager realtor.
After rolling it around in my head for one more day, I downloaded an app and selected the filters based on the kind of property I was looking to buy. Even though there were very few houses on the market that appealed to me, I started the process to get preapproved for a loan with the mortgage loan officer at my bank. I wanted to be ready when my dream property became available.
“Honey, you need to call a realtor and let them know you’re preapproved for a loan,” my mom said after I received my official letter from the bank. We met for lunch toward the end of the week, and she sounded as excited as I was about the possibility of owning my first home. “That gives you an advantage over someone who hasn’t already been vetted by the bank. Besides,” she added, “realtors are often tipped off about great properties before they’re listed on the market.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Here,” she said, sliding a business card toward me. “I happened to grab a business card of the realtor who presented at the Rotary meeting yesterday morning.”
“Mom, I didn’t tell you I was buying a house until last night so how’d you know to snatch one of his business cards for me?” I asked.
“Busted,” she said then grimaced. “Becker is single and cute.”
“Becker, huh?” I asked. She was already on a first-name basis with the guy. It was the first time my mom had attempted to set me up with someone, so he was either cute, or she was worried that I’d die old and alone.
My mom shrugged her shoulders casually and said, “Two birds, one stone.”
“Mom, I’m already interested in someone,” I told her. If Jenna knew I had a thing for Chaz then my mom did too. Did that mean she didn’t like Chaz or was she was nudging me to make a move? My mom was a card shark and could be hard to read when she wanted it that way. I didn’t even bother to ask how she knew he was gay.
“You are?” she asked in mock surprise. “Are you serious about him, Kyle?”
“Yes,” I replied without hesitation. Chaz made me very happy. He made me laugh harder than anyone, his smiles brightened my day, and just hearing his voice caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand up. I adored his kindhearted nature and the way he loved with all that he had. The lucky bastard who won Chaz’s heart would be loved for all his life. I wanted to be that man. I was positive we could have a future together if he got past whatever it was that held him back.
“Well, Becker still sounds like a wonderful real estate agent,” she said before diving back into her salad.
I called Becker the next day and introduced myself. “Ahhh, Racheal’s son,” he said. Great! My mom had obviously made quite the impression on the guy, or she overshared information about me. I was too afraid to find out which applied.
“Uh, yeah,” I said. “My mom told me to give you a call and let you know what I’m looking for and the amount I want to spend.”
“That almost sounds dirty,” Becker said.
He was right, and I was mortified. “Chaz is rubbing off on me,” I said as an explanation. “Let me be clear, so there’s no confusion. I’m already preapproved for a home loan, and I have very specific things I’m looking for in a house.”
“I think I can better help you now that we’re on the same page,” Becker said then laughed good-naturedly. He asked me a series of questions to get a better understanding of what I hoped to buy. “Rural, but not too far away from civilization. You’d like to have three or four bedrooms and at least two full bathrooms. You’re looking for a new home or at least an older home that was fully renovated within the last fifteen years. Let’s see,” Becker said as he consulted the notes he’d taken. “As far as extras go, you’d like to have a finished basement for a man cave, a large garage or barn, and property that has a pond. Does that about sum it up?”
Damn, I sounded like a diva. “That’s right,” I confirmed.
“How much acreage would you like to buy? That will help me narrow the search quite a bit,” Becker inquired.
“I don’t want less than two acres or more than five or six,” I explained.
“Believe it or not, I think I might know the perfect house,” he told me.
“You do? I’ve been looking for the past few days and haven’t found anything close to what I’m looking for,” I told him.
“There’s a property that’s about to go on the market that meets all the requirements you listed. I can call the seller’s agent and ask if you can see it before it gets listed,” Becker told me.
“Really?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” he said proudly. “Let me give Stacey a call and we’ll see what she has to say.”
Becker called fifteen minutes later and said we had an appointment to look at the house the following Monday night. He provided me with an address, and I drove by it after I left work for the day. The house was perfect, and I couldn’t wait for my tour. If the interior was as nice as the exterior, I’d make on offer Monday night. I was too exc
ited to go straight home and decided to drive to the salon to see Chaz. I hoped to steal a few minutes of his time before he switched jobs.
I drove around to the back of the salon and parked since he was due to leave shortly. I started looking through my emails on my phone to pass the time and was startled when someone knocked on my window. Meredith stood on the other side grinning mischievously at me. I rolled down my window and said, “Good evening, Mere.”
“Have you taken to creeping around here at twilight?” she asked.
“Nah, I just wanted to tell Chaz some exciting news before I went home. Do you think that will be okay?”
“I think it’s just what the doctor ordered after the kind of day he had,” Mere told me. “He won’t be much longer.”
“Okay,” I replied. I would wait as long as it took, especially if there was any chance that I could make his day better.
I saw him before Chaz saw me. He looked down at his feet as he walked down the back porch steps. I didn’t need to see his face to know he was stressed; his body was rigid with tension. “Hey, handsome,” I said through the open window.
Chaz stopped suddenly and jerked his head in my direction. A smile spread slowly across his face, and I was happy to see some of his stress fade. “How long have you been sitting out here? You could’ve come inside.”
“I’ve only been here a few minutes,” I answered. “I don’t want to keep you long because I know you have a writing deadline, but I have some exciting news that I wanted to share with you.”
“Yeah?”
“I decided to move forward with buying a house instead of staying in the rental in town. I got preapproved for a loan and talked to a realtor tonight. He found the perfect home for me, and I’ll get to tour it before it’s listed on the market. I drove by the house before I came over here. I can’t wait to see the interior.”
Chaz tipped his head to the side. “Does it have your pond?”
“It does, and it’s the perfect size—not too small and not too big,” I replied.
“Good to know that you’re not a size queen,” Chaz teased. “Tell me about the rest of it.”
“How about I show you in person?” I asked.
“Now?”
“Monday,” I answered. “I’d like for you to come with me.”
“Me?” Chaz sounded surprised that I would want him to tour the house.
Apparently, I needed to step up my game if he couldn’t see how much I wanted to be with him. “Who else?”
“Your mom or sisters,” Chaz suggested.
“I prefer that you go with me,” I told him.
“Okay then,” Chaz said. “The salon will be closed, so I’m available anytime.”
“I’ll pick you up at six thirty,” I told him. “Mere said you had a rough day. Is there anything I can do to make it better?”
“You already did,” Chaz answered shyly then stood on his tiptoes to lean in the window. “Maybe a kiss.”
I cupped the back of his neck, pressed my lips to his, and kissed him tenderly until someone whistled and startled us. Josi and Dee giggled and waved as they walked to their cars.
“Better?” I asked.
“Mmm hmm,” Chaz said. “That will tide me over.”
“Until?” I asked. I was eager to spend time with him.
“Saturday,” he hesitantly said like he was afraid I would be mad at him.
“That’s only two days from now,” I said, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I told him. “I’m proud of you.”
“You don’t even know what I’ve written,” Chaz replied.
“Doesn’t matter; I’m still proud of you.”
Chaz kissed me once more before he headed to his car. I waited to make sure it started before I headed home. I debated on whether I should tell my mom about the house Becker found then decided to hold off until after I saw the inside. Thinking about my mom reminded me about her little stunt. I called my best ally in the world to plead for her help.
“What’s up, bro?” Jenn said into the phone.
“I need your help,” I told her. “Mom is meddling in my love life.”
“And where do you see me playing into this?” Jenn asked.
“Tell her about the baby, Jenna. She’ll forget all about me and my pitiful love life.”
“Is your love life that pitiful?” Jenna asked.
“It’s not where I want it to be, but I think it’s heading in the right direction.”
“Good,” Jenn said. “You’ve been an amazing brother to me my entire life and I want you to be happy.”
“Does that mean you’re going to tell Mom that you’re pregnant?” I asked hopefully.
“Not a snowball’s chance in hell,” she replied then laughed at my misery.
“Fine,” I said. “I hope I don’t accidentally let that cat out of the bag.”
“You wouldn’t!” Jenn exclaimed. She was right; I would never do that to her.
“Your secret is safe with me, Jenn.”
She let out a thankful sigh. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but that means you owe me one.”
“Or a hundred,” Jenn replied.
“I stopped keeping score when we were nine and six.”
“I probably owe you a thousand favors for taking the blame that time I knocked out the window over the kitchen sink with a softball,” Jenn said then laughed at the memory.
“Or that time you snuck out for a concert and ran out of gas,” I added. “Sis, you better hope the little dumpling takes after Brett, or you both are screwed.”
“I probably deserve to have a brat like me,” she admitted. “Love you, Ky.”
“Love you too.”
As much as I enjoyed the conversation, it had been a long time since I’d had lunch. Rule number one in weight management is never let blood sugar get too low or risk eating the wrong foods. I told Jenn I’d check in to see how she was doing in a few days and fixed myself a frozen, diet dinner.
The spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli looked like rubber and didn’t taste much better than it appeared. “I need to learn how to cook.”
I spent the rest of the night trying to get into playing WoW and failing miserably. I didn’t feel like watching Friends because I would spend the night moping and missing Chaz. I decided to watch Queer as Folk instead. It was the distraction I needed to get me through the night.
I received a text from Chaz right before I fell asleep. Maybe I can sneak away from the salon for lunch tomorrow. What time works for you?
I replied immediately. I go to lunch at 12:30. Meet me at the diner?
See you then.
My outlook was suddenly a lot brighter. It was the second time Chaz sought me out that week. We weren’t blazing a trail toward happily ever after by any stretch of the imagination, but we seemed to be inching closer every day. I considered myself a patient man, but no one had tested me the way Chaz did. I was certain if I could just hang on that it would work out in my favor.
No longer tired, I lay in the darkness thinking of nice gestures I could do for Chaz so he couldn’t mistake my interest. What did perfect book boyfriends do to show someone how much they cared? An idea came to me, but I wasn’t sure how Chaz would respond. Still, it was worth a shot.
“Go big or go home, Dr. D,” I said into the darkness.
The weather was stunningly perfect on Josh and Gabe’s wedding day, but that didn’t surprise me one bit. Not even Mother Nature was going to fuck with Josh Roman on his big day. I knew that one of Josh’s famous looks or a raised fist would be enough to bust up any rogue rain cloud that was ballsy enough to form. It wasn’t just the amazing weather or the love drifting on the breeze that had my spirits soaring with the birds. Ugh, I was starting to think in purple prose.
I had finished the rough draft of my manuscript the night before the wedding. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment because writing the seco
nd book was much harder than writing the first. I had zero expectations when I published my first book and no readers to please. I didn’t want to be some one-hit wonder or make fans of my first book scratch their head and wonder why they wasted their time, energy, and money on my second attempt. As scary as it was, I knew my second book was better than the first. Not only did I improve technical skills and fine tune my processes, but I also put pieces of myself into the characters which made them feel more real to me. If they felt more real to me, there was a good chance my readers would form a stronger connection to them also.
Kyle was the first person I told about finishing my book. Well, technically I sent a text before I crashed hard, but he was still the first person to know. I’d been running on fumes for so long that I slept like the dead; in fact, I slept so long I nearly was late getting to the salon. Curl Up and Dye wasn’t open to the public, but Josh planned a day of pampering for the mothers of the grooms. Josh was calm and relaxed the previous night during the rehearsal and dinner that followed, but I wanted to be on hand early just in case his mellow mood had evaporated.
The first thing I noticed when I entered the salon, were the stunning Tropicana roses that Kyle had sent me the previous day. No one had ever sent me flowers before, and I stood staring at the delivery woman like she’d made a mistake. Mere finally came over and took the roses from her and set them on my desk.
“Blink, baby. It’s going to be all right,” Mere had said on her way back to her station.
I had so many things on my to-do list that day, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the vibrant orange roses. I knew they were from Kyle without looking at the card nestled in the foliage. Who else would send me roses? I was dying to know what he wrote in his message, but I didn’t want to read it with everyone looking at me. I waited until it was time to meet Kyle for lunch and took the card with me. My hands trembled with nerves when I pulled the message out but then my body shook with laughter when I read it.
Orange you glad we met? I find you very a-peeling. I’m looking forward to lunch.
Kyle
Unscripted Love (Road to Blissville, #1) Page 13