by Tia Fielding
“This was the song,” Makai nodded toward the phone in the bowl.
“Oh,” Emil said, then added, “Oh! It’s ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ by Arctic Monkeys!” He listened carefully to the lyrics, even though he knew them by heart. He bopped his head slightly and started to hum along to the lyrics.
It really was an excellent song, and he understood why it had grabbed Makai’s attention. Emil concentrated on Makai again and reached out a hand to him.
Makai let himself be pulled closer. They were both flushed, even more so when Emil pulled Makai to stand between his spread thighs in front of the workbench.
They looked at each other, held hands, and Emil slid his free hand around Makai’s waist. Makai lifted his to slide his fingers into Emil’s hair.
Emil felt dizzy with lack of oxygen as the song played in the background.
It felt like they both waited for the line about being constantly on the cusp of kissing, before they closed the distance and pressed their lips together.
Once, before meeting Makai, Emil had thought he’d never have this again. Then he’d thought he’d freak out and have a panic attack if he tried to kiss anyone, even Makai, ever again. Now that the moment was there, he found himself clutching Makai’s fingers and tilting his head, groaning against Makai’s lips until he got what he wanted, and Makai opened his lips.
The first touch of tongues sent fire into Emil’s body. He pulled Makai impossibly closer and felt overjoyed when Makai whined into the kiss.
Just like Emil didn’t know who initiated the kiss, he wasn’t sure who ended it, either. At one point they were kissing, another, pulling apart and breathing heavily to the ending of “Do I Wanna Know?” and Emil had no clue how the song could be ending already.
“Whoa,” he breathed and hated the feeling of Makai untangling his fingers from his curls but understood the need for space between them. He forced his fingers to let go of Makai’s shirt where he’d stretched it by his hip without realizing.
“Oh yes.” Makai took half a step back but didn’t let go of Emil’s hand. “That was….”
“Well, now you know the song, eh?”
“It’s a great song,” Makai clearly held back a smile.
Emil let go of his hand first. “Go fix the dresser. You need somewhere to put your clothes.”
“Agreed.” Makai turned to continue working, and Emil felt happy to his bones.
Chapter Eleven
THE NIGHT Emil slept in Makai’s bed and the kiss, or kissing as it may have been, changed everything.
They touched each other a lot more now, and after Emil’s family weekend, on the next Monday, Emil practically bounced into Makai’s arms straight from the car. Nora, who was dropping Emil off, looked amused and happy.
Makai felt the general contentment too. He hadn’t come to Acker to find someone, but life had thought he needed a person anyway. He wasn’t complaining. Not when Emil was starting to come out of his shell even more, and even people he didn’t know so well in town told Makai that he’d done something wonderful just by being in Emil’s life.
Everyone seemed to be more tolerant of Makai now, even the people who had looked at him weird at first were now nodding in greeting. It felt like more than he’d expected or hoped for, really. It made Acker feel like home.
On the Wednesday after the kiss, Emil had a therapist’s appointment with Evy, and they’d arranged to meet afterward at the diner for lunch.
Makai had worked on a table he’d promised to make for Mrs. Miller’s birthday next week. Mr. Miller had seen photos that Emil had taken of the things Makai had made himself and commissioned the table for his wife as a surprise.
Makai knew that if he succeeded making that table as perfect as possible, there would be more business to come. Doc Donovan had asked if he could fix some shelving in the vet’s clinic, and while Makai had been there on Tuesday, he’d talked about the other side of the building being available if Makai wanted to ever expand his furniture making into an actual shop in the future.
It was a nice idea, Makai could admit that much, but he wasn’t sure he would be comfortable with running a business like that. If someone wanted to sell pieces he made sometime, sure, he would be all for that. Maybe Doc needed to get a souvenir shop or something in the empty space. But he’d gotten the feeling that the vet wasn’t quite ready to let go of the memories clinging to the empty space. Even though he’d said he’d rent it out, something about the way he’d spoken had felt sad to Makai. That was part of the reason why he didn’t want to rush into anything. Doc seemed like such a good person, and Makai didn’t want to do anything to make him feel bad.
Makai sat down in a booth at the diner and ordered himself a coffee for now.
“Is Emil joining you?” Leah asked, smiling at him as she poured the coffee without even looking.
“Yeah, should be in a bit. He’s at Evy’s,” Makai said, and Leah nodded knowingly.
“You know, everyone here loves that boy. He’s been through hell and… thank you for being good to him.”
It wasn’t the sentiment that made Makai feel choked up; it was the way she looked at him, as if he was something special like Emil.
“Thanks,” he managed to say, and she patted his shoulder, then went to serve someone else.
There were people at the diner, and Makai looked around, realizing he knew most of these people by name.
“No, I don’t want to!” a female voice yelled somewhere toward the back where Makai couldn’t see.
He did notice that everyone else tried to ignore the noise and the angry male rumble accompanying it soon after. Some people tensed, their shoulders rising as if they were trying to pull their head into hiding like a turtle. Makai sighed, knowing that those people had been subjected to something loud and ugly at some point in their lives.
The noise level of the woman went down, but the man’s voice just got louder, until Makai heard another male yell, “Enough! Pay for your meal and get out, both of you. Frank, you’re barred from this building for two weeks.” Makai realized it was Stuart, Leah’s husband, taking charge of the situation.
Frank Matthews soon marched through the diner and sneered at Makai when he caught sight of him. A pretty, harried-looking blonde rushed after Matthews with makeup running down her face.
Makai turned his head slightly, just to see what the Matthewses did when they got out. He grimaced when he saw Frank grab his wife’s wrist and all but toss her into their vehicle. He understood now what Emil meant when he said everyone in town knew but nobody could prove it, and Mrs. Matthews never pressed charges.
Frank stomped on the gas pedal and the car peeled out of the parking lot, vanishing from Makai’s view. He could see Emil walking across the lot and thanked the universe he hadn’t been there twenty seconds earlier. Who knew what a man like Matthews would do when he’d see someone he obviously loathed walking across the parking lot like that.
Maybe it was far-fetched, but Makai felt there was something wrong with Frank Matthews, and he didn’t like what he’d seen in the man’s eyes, not at all.
Emil came in and greeted Leah who said something to him, probably that she’d be with them shortly, then smiled at a couple of people who acknowledged him, before coming to sit in the booth.
“Hey, how did it go?” Makai asked, as Emil reached out to touch his hand briefly.
“Just fine, although she still insists we should do a session together sometime.”
“I think that’s fine. You set it up, and I’ll be there?” Makai felt a bit fluttery at the thought of talking to Emil’s therapist now that she knew their relationship had taken a bit more of a physical form, but he wanted things to go well between Emil and himself, and this couldn’t hurt.
Leah bustled over. “Here you go.” She set a glass of what Makai thought was cranberry juice in front of Emil. “You ready to order?”
They got their lunch orders in and settled in for the wait.
“Do you wanna share a blue
berry shake for dessert?” Emil asked shyly.
“Only if we can use two straws at the same time,” Makai teased, making Emil kick his shin under the table.
“Asshole,” Emil grumbled, but his eyes showed his amusement. “Did you finish the carvings?”
“Almost. One more leg to go.”
“I really liked the whole underwater theme in them. Like instead of, say, a floral pattern or vines or something. It’ll be a nice table,” Emil mused.
“I’ve been thinking about adding a pattern to the edges too. Like sand it down afterwards so that it’s barely there but still visible. What do you think?” Makai tilted his head, enjoying the thoughtful expression on Emil’s face when he really did think about it instead of giving a glib answer like so many others might’ve.
They talked about the table until Leah came back with their food.
“Can we get a blueberry milkshake for dessert?” Makai asked, and Emil kicked him under the table.
Leah laughed. “I don’t even want to know. One shake, two glasses?”
Before Makai could ask for two straws, Emil nodded. “Yeah, sounds good.”
Smirking, Makai dug into his pastrami melt and fries. Emil seemed to enjoy the huge veggie wrap he’d ordered, and they ate in silence for a while.
“Hi, Makai.” He looked up to see Stuart standing by the booth. “Do you have a moment?”
Makai nodded, and Emil scooted over so Stuart could sit down. “What’s up?”
“Mr. Miller told me about the table you’re making for Mrs. M. Do you fix stuff too?” Stuart looked hopeful, so Makai felt glad to be able to give him a positive answer.
“Sure. Pretty much anything I know how to take apart or make from scratch, I can fix. Why?” He took another bite of his sandwich before it cooled, knowing Stuart wouldn’t mind. After all, the guy had come to talk while they were eating.
“I have a bunch of chairs and a few tables up in the bar that need fixing. We also have a group of the, ehm, older ladies who like to play cards twice a week. The problem is there’s not a good card table. They’ve been using an old dining table, but it’s really not ideal, and it’s battered to hell too.”
Makai thought about it for a moment, trying to picture a good card table in his mind. He’d seen some really nice ones, and the ladies probably deserved one. “Okay,” he finally said and took a sip of his now cool coffee.
“Okay?” Stuart’s eyebrows scrunched.
“I’ll fix your stuff and figure out a better table. I’ll need to come by and see what I’m working with. Take some measurements for the table, depending on where you want them to use it and how many people play around it, but sure. I’ll do it.”
“That’s great!” Stuart grinned. “I’ve been making a pile of stuff in the storage room in the back, so it should all be relatively easy to put in your truck whenever you want to work with it.”
“Yeah, I have space in the back of my work shed, so I can probably take it all home and figure out what to do with the pieces there. I think I need a few more days for Mrs. M’s table, but after that?”
“Right, I’m really in no rush with the repairs, but the card table would be nice, so if you want to start from there, that’d be great?” Stuart said it all so carefully, as if Makai was the one doing him a favor.
Makai snorted. “Hey, whatever you need. I’m not hurting for money right now, but I will need work in the future, and I like doing things with my hands. So the more jobs I get now, the longer the money lasts, you know?”
Stuart nodded. “Absolutely. You know when we’re open, so come by whenever you can?”
“Sure. See you early next week?”
“Yeah, thanks, man.” Stuart got up and gave room for his wife who came to deliver the milkshakes.
“Go back to the kitchen. There’s orders,” she scolded him playfully.
“Yes, ma’am, sorry, ma’am,” he snarked and ducked out of reach.
A middle-aged man in a booth nearby chuckled under his breath. Makai glanced at him and got a smile in return. He nodded to the guy and went back to finishing his lunch.
“That was nice,” Emil said quietly after Leah left them.
“Yeah, it really was. I mean, I want to make a home in this town, so having a job would be nice. Getting the word out there….”
Emil smiled at him beautifully, as if he’d said something significant.
When he was done with his food, he picked up his shake and raised a brow at Emil who almost snorted his own up his nose. Makai decided to go easy on him and looked out of the window instead of taunting his… whatever Emil was to him.
THE NEXT weekend, they went on an actual hike together. Makai packed them lunch and snacks, and Emil made sure they had enough water and even some Gatorade in their backpacks.
They drove to the Escanaba Lake Trail and picked the shortest trail to start with. Sure they’d been taking walks, but these were intermediate hikes, and 2.5 miles would be just fine to start with. Besides, the place was close enough they could drive there every weekend if they really wanted to.
Armed with bug spray and long pants to avoid getting attacked by ticks, they started the trek.
“So your mom told me your birthday is next week,” Makai said after they got onto the path proper. From the initial spot, the paths merged for the different trails that went around and in between Escanaba Lake and Pallette Lake.
“Uh-huh,” Emil grunted, watching his feet as he stepped through a muddy bit of trail. “Why?”
“Well, there’s this thing I have with me, let’s see….” Makai stopped and took off his backpack, then made a show of trying to find something inside the pack. Finally, he pulled out a bundle that was wrapped in a towel. “Here.” He handed it over to Emil, who looked confused.
When Emil opened the wrapped present—a Nikon something-or-other camera that had come in a kit with two objectives—the expression on his face made Makai wish he’d thought of taking some video with his cell phone.
“W-what?” Emil stuttered, turning the camera in his hands. Makai took the camera case and the extra objective from him and pointed at a button on the camera.
“There, I made sure it’s fully charged, and there’s a huge memory card in it.”
Emil looked lost. Completely and utterly lost. “You got me a camera?” he finally managed to ask.
“Yes. Well, to be fair, your parents paid half of it, so it’s much better than what we thought you’d be comfortable of them or me spending on you. Even on a birthday.”
Nora and the sheriff had told Makai they’d pay half, and the budget they had was around four hundred dollars. Makai had told them that their four hundred had been just enough. It hadn’t, really, but Makai understood they weren’t made of money, and he could certainly put in a couple of extra hundred to get Emil a camera that was a bit better.
“I don’t—” Emil said, then lunged to hug Makai tightly, clutching his precious camera in his hands. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” Makai said without thinking, and the endearment caught both of them at the same time.
Emil pulled back a little but didn’t let go. Instead, he pulled Makai into a kiss that left them both breathless. “There. Now let’s see….” And there he went, figuring out his new camera.
“I thought you’d want it here today, and I know it’s not the ideal place to learn it all, but at least you can take photos now, and then next time we come here, you’ll know some tricks and can take better ones?” He hiked his bag up his shoulders and kept the second objective on top of the bag, wrapped in the towel, so it would be easy to get if Emil wanted it.
There weren’t other hikers around, so their leisurely walk and the occasional pause when Emil stopped to take pictures seemed oddly intimate. When they got to the midway point, they went to the designated shelter spot that had a fire pit and some seating.
Not that they wanted a fire, after all it was summer and they had no use for a fire then. There were
bugs, though, which was annoying, but it could’ve been worse.
Makai was setting their lunch on a bench when he noticed Emil was taking his picture.
“What are you doing?” he asked, making his tone playful instead of annoyed.
“I don’t have any candid photos of you,” Emil replied, his wide smile barely visible from behind the camera. “I can stop if you want me to.”
“No, do whatever you want. You have a few minutes before the food is bugged to hell.” Makai waved his hand to shoo away some of the insects that weren’t deterred by the bug spray.
They ate sitting side by side and talked about their plans for the next week.
“Evy said you can come to the next session on Thursday if you want.”
“Well, I actually have a meeting with your dad on Thursday, but that’s at one. What time’s your thing?”
“Eleven, so we could still make it.” Emil frowned and reached for his water bottle. “I don’t understand why Dad insists on the meetings still.”
“To be fair, we haven’t had one scheduled meeting, because last week he had the training thing he had to go to,” Makai reminded. “I don’t think he wants to have the appointment set because he thinks I’ll go off the rails and start murdering people”—Emil made a face at him—“it’s more about integrity. About who we are as men.”
Emil ate and thought about it for a while. “I guess I can respect that. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.” Emil stretched his fingers a little. “I forgot my splints.”
“That you did,” Makai agreed. “They’re in the side pocket of my pack.” He’d thought about Emil’s hands and what the photographing might do to them and decided to take the splints with them anyway.
Emil gave him a look he couldn’t translate and reached for Makai’s backpack to get the silver pieces. Once they were on his fingers, supporting them as they should, he turned to look at Makai with tears in his eyes.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Makai reached a hand to touch Emil’s arm. “You okay?”