by Trina Solet
The day before, Mitch had been by and dropped off some extra tools they could borrow. He also measured the window and put in an order for a new one, promising Theo to find the cheapest possible option.
Today, Theo and Seth planned to take off the rotten boards from the porch. Mitch had marked them off so there would be no guesswork. Theo hated to admit it, but he was looking forward to working side by side with Seth. It was only because he was easy to hang out with and hot, and not because Theo was hung up on him.
In the middle of breakfast, Seth got a text. He looked at his phone then stood up. "Hannah is dropping by," he said and went outside to meet her.
Theo's good mood evaporated and he wondered if Seth would go off with her now. He knew better than to think that the blowjob in the kitchen meant anything, so that wouldn't keep Seth around.
"Is Shawn with her?" Ace wondered and went to the window to watch as she parked.
Hannah was the only one who got out though. She spoke to Seth for a while then she hugged him for way too long. Seth then walked her to her car with an arm around her shoulders while she had her arm around his waist. Theo seethed.
His mood didn't improve even after she drove off and Seth came back in. While he was hiding his reaction, he almost missed how gloomy Seth looked. But then Ace was asking him if he was going to finish his spaceship pancake, and that was when Theo noticed that Seth was sitting at the table but not eating.
Ace was done first and ran off to see what Butter was up to. That left him and Seth at the table, and Theo asked. "Why do you look like that?"
"The reason Hannah came by. She wanted to give me a heads up that the waitress I was covering for was coming back in three days. Rico was going to talk to me when I went into work, but Hannah took it on herself to break the news."
"That was good of her," Theo said, mostly meaning it. Of course this upended their plans for the day. "Forget the porch. You need to spend the day looking for work."
"Yes, sir," Seth said and gave him a lopsided grin.
"Sorry, but getting a job is a priority."
"They still need me at the cafe for the next few days," Seth said.
"You know I did research on potential employers in the area. You can use that." Theo got his laptop, setting it up on the table and pulling up the file he put together. "I'm doing the breakfast dishes. No arguments," he said because he knew Seth was going to insist on doing them.
After that, he had to keep Seth from getting to work on the porch. The best way was to drag him to Ashbury. Plenty of places didn't advertise, just stuck a sign in the window, so they drove there then went past every storefront and even asked around.
Ace got into the hunt for Help Wanted signs, treating it like it was a game. It wasn't a game though. Theo was worried that Seth might not be able to find work in the area, and who knew where the search for a job might take him.
***
Knowing full well that his job wasn't going to last, Seth still got settled in and too comfortable with Theo and Ace. Then there was what he and Theo did. Seth was still figuring out what it meant, and now he didn't even know if he could stay around.
He had no luck finding another job since he stopped waiting tables at the café. That left him time to fix some things around the house. He wanted to work on fixing the porch next. After dropping off Ace at school and Theo at the inn, Seth went to get some supplies.
Coming out from the hardware store in Peach Tree, he ran into Mitch and told him what he was doing. "I was thinking of tackling the porch. Theo and me watched a ton of videos on how it's done."
"Videos are all well and good, but I would like to help you guys with that. First I have a fence to put up north of here. If you come and help me with that, it will go faster and I can help you with the porch," Mitch said. Mitch wanted to pay him, but Seth wanted to do a straight exchange.
First he had to run it by Theo. He didn't jump to say yes but agreed when Seth pointed out Mitch could be one more reference for him.
Theo sure didn't like taking free help. Seth liked his pride, his taste, his hands all over him. Damn he couldn't think about him like that, not when he didn't know how long he could stick around.
In the end, it was a full day's work, but it made Seth happy that Theo got to come home to a fixed up porch.
"It looks good, and it feels solid," Theo said but Ace was the one giving it a real test.
"Mitch helped with it, so you know it is," Seth said.
"Thanks so much for doing this."
"It was a good learning experience and all that. And Mitch mentioned that he has a lead on a window that's a good price. He said it won't match the others, but he can frame it out so it won't be noticeable. He'll text you when he has the deal nailed down."
"That sounds good," Theo said as the two of them headed inside and left Ace to mess around on the porch with Butter.
"There was another thing Mitch mentioned. They're having people over for a barbeque at his place tomorrow and he invited you, me and Ace." Seth was expecting Theo to be reluctant and he was.
"I don't know..."
"He said Rico wouldn't take no for an answer and Sammy wouldn't either."
"All right, but I'm not going empty-handed," Theo said.
Seth had an idea for that. "I can make some fried apple pies."
"I was going to make something after I came from work," Theo said.
"You got ideas or..."
"No," Theo admitted. "Everything I want to make requires an oven."
"We can make the fried apple pies together, if you want." Seth tried not to sound too hopeful like he was dying to cook with Theo, but he was.
"Sounds good," Theo said.
"I'll get the apples while I'm out job hunting."
Seth got to do some cooking with Theo that very evening. He started dinner and Theo came over to help. Seth was making green beans with bacon.
"Smells good," Theo told him once everything was simmering in the pot.
"The smell is making my stomach hungry," Ace said poking his head into the kitchen. "Can I have a snack?"
"You can't have a snack before dinner," Theo told him. "You can have something later."
"I'm not hungry later. I'm hungry now," Ace said.
"What are you hungry for? I was thinking of making sandwiches to go with this stew," Seth said. "What kind do you want?
"Ice cream sandwiches?" Ace said hopefully.
"Ice cream sandwiches will definitely have to wait for later," Theo told him. "Much later since we don't have any."
"I'll put ice cream sandwiches on the shopping list. I like 'em too," Seth said.
Ace pouted at his big brother. "Me and Seth like stuff and you're a grouch, a grouchy, grouchy grouch."
"Is that right?" Theo grabbed him and started tickling him until he had him squirming on the floor. "Ticklish kids shouldn't mess with their big brothers," Theo told him.
From the floor, Ace gave him a defiant look, but then Theo threatened to keep tickling him, and he scrunched up into a ball and started giggling again.
Watching them together, Seth couldn't believe the warmth that filled him. How the hell was he ever going to be able to leave them?
Chapter 15
Next day at the inn, Theo asked again about possible job openings, but there was nothing. He had already asked only a few days before, but he was getting anxious. The longer Seth went without finding a job, the more Theo worried. What would be his next step? To go somewhere else to find work?
Theo didn't want that, and not because he was hot for him. He hated to think of Seth out there alone with no friends or family.
Despite that, Seth might have moved on already if the work around the house hadn't kept him busy. Now that the porch was fixed, Seth didn't have as much to do and Theo was afraid that he might decide to leave.
That afternoon, before going to Mitch and Rico's barbeque, Theo helped Seth make the fried apple pies. As Seth was setting them aside to let them cool, Theo told him. "
You know you can stay with us as long as you need to, and you don't need to spend your money on so many things."
Seth frowned at that. "Our deal is..."
"Things are different now. Once you have a job..."
Theo was cut off by Ace running in. The kitchen was filled with a delicious smell of fried apple pies, so he couldn't stay away. He got to have one that came apart, but after he finished it, he told Seth, "You have to mess up more."
Seth laughed as he arranged the rest on a big plate. "I thought I'd put some cinnamon sugar over them. Never did that before, but they use it at the café."
"Yes. Do it!" That was Ace's vote.
"Yeah, they need more sugar," Theo said and Seth stared at him like he was trying to figure out if he was serious. He wasn't but he still told him, "It's a good idea."
Theo didn't like how they left their conversation unfinished, but they had to get going. The whole way Ace tried to convince him that he should be holding the plate with the dessert they were bringing.
When they arrived in front of an older, two story house, Rico met them in front and welcomed them. Ace told him what they had on the plate and vouched for how good they were.
"I bet they are going to be a hit," Rico said as he took the plate. "Now come around to the back, meet the cats."
They went into a sizable, fenced yard shaded by trees. A grill was set up, but no one else was there yet.
"Are we early?" Theo asked.
"Or everyone else is late. Mitch and Sammy are still busy in the kitchen, I guess," Rico said and he went inside through a back door. He came back out with two orange cats, one cat draped over each shoulder. "You get a cat, and you get a cat." He handed out the cats to Theo and Seth just as Sammy ran out and introduced the cats as Natalie and Veronica.
Instead of trying to climb him like a tree the way Butter did most of the time, Veronica curled up in Theo's arms.
"You're holding her like a baby," Sammy said approvingly.
Ace reached up for the cat. "Me now."
"Remember what Sammy showed you," Theo told him.
"Oh yeah." Ace got close to the cat and just looked at her, reminding Theo of how he and Butter met. This cat sniffed at him but didn't go over to him even as he petted her.
Sammy looked up at Theo. "She likes you."
"How can she resist that sweet face?" Rico said and Theo heard echoes of his grandmother, Mrs. Del Rio.
"Theo, is he hitting on you?" Ace asked as he moved on to the cat Seth was holding.
"What? I'm a married guy," Rico told him.
"Really?" Ace said looking at him like he didn't believe it.
"I guess you don't look like a married guy," Seth said.
"He doesn't," Ace agreed.
"He's married to my dad," Sammy informed them. "We had a Valentine's wedding. That's the best kind."
"I'll show them," Rico said and he whipped out his phone. Then he started showing them wedding pictures, lots of them. There didn't seem to be an end to them.
Ace finally accepted defeat. "OK, OK. I believe you," he huffed, making a face.
"I commandeered every picture anyone took at our wedding. All of them," Rico said. It sounded like a threat to show them more.
"No more!" Ace said then he kind of changed his mind. "Maybe just the ones with the cake."
Sammy asked to see pictures of "the sticky tower," whatever that was. Rico showed the kids more pictures, and Theo and Seth said hi to Mitch as he came out with a tray of burger toppings.
"Thanks for coming, guys. And I just spotted Wyatt's car out in front," he told them.
He had only just set down the tray when Rico latched onto him. "Do I look more married now?" Rico asked as he and Mitch had their arms around each other.
"A little bit," Seth said.
Sam and Wyatt arrived with the boys running ahead of them and heading straight for Sammy and Ace.
"Too bad they didn't bring those two little dogs," Seth said and Theo shook his head at him.
"Are those the home baked buns you promised us?" Rico asked as Wyatt took something to Mitch at the grill. "You should see what these guys brought. I think Seth here is trying to challenge you to a cooking competition."
Seth denied it. "I'm not. Theo and I just made some fried apple pies."
"Our oven doesn't work, and Seth has been amazing at making things on the range," Theo said.
"See, he is trying to challenge you," Rico insisted to Sam.
Sam ignored him, and turned to Seth. "We miss you at the café."
"We do," Rico agreed, getting serious but only for a moment. "But the silver lining is that now I can harass Seth as much as I want."
Seth looked like he didn't know what to make of that, and Theo glared at Rico. That only made him smirk.
"Did I hear someone say, 'Keep your hands off my man?'" Rico asked as he stared right back at Theo. "Was that you defending your turf?"
"I didn't say a thing," Theo told him.
"No, but that dirty look you're giving me is speaking to me loud and clear," Rico said and looked from Theo to Seth, who had his eyes on the ground and kicking at some twigs.
"Could you just for a change of pace not hound people?" Sam said to Rico.
So Rico turned his attentions on him. "Oh, you want some?" He pulled Sam into a bear hug and reassured him. "Don't you worry. You're still the favorite. But that doesn't mean I don't have room for more." He then narrowed his eyes at Seth who barely met his evil gaze. "You better watch it, or I'm going to take Theo for myself."
"What's he up to now?" Wyatt asked, coming over.
"I was telling everyone that I was Sam's biggest fan, but I let you borrow him out of pity," Rico told him.
Hearing this Wyatt nudged Rico out of the way and pulled Sam to him. "I am and always will be Sam's biggest fan." Wyatt kissed his husband then looked deep into his eyes and declared. "You know I am. And when I'm the king, I'm the king."
Caught between them, all Sam could do was shake his head.
Good thing Lara arrived with her daughter and Noreen, giving Theo and Seth a chance to escape in the commotion of greetings and kids screaming.
"Everyone here is insane," Theo said and watched Seth to see how much all the insanity was bothering him.
"It's all in good fun, I guess," Seth said, but Theo could tell Rico's teasing about the two of them made him uncomfortable.
Theo was going to talk to him about it, but Ace ran over and pointed out who just arrived. It was Danny and his little dog with Rob and a hot, dark haired, bearded guy who must have been his fiancé.
"Theo, that might be his big bro," Ace told him. "Big bro like you."
Theo smiled down at him and Rob introduced them to Danny's brother, Julian Brenner, who was also his fiancé. Next he introduced Seth to Julian, but Seth couldn't wait to get down to Lenny's level and pet him.
Pulling on Theo's arm, Ace jumped in. "This is my big brother, Theo."
"The big brothers should arm wrestle," Rico said, coming over to make trouble.
Ace was all for it. "Yeah! Do it!"
"We'll just leave it at a handshake," Theo told him.
Now Ace turned to Danny, "You want to arm wrestle?"
"Can Lenny wrestle too?" Danny asked though Lenny was busy getting some love and affection from Seth.
"Sure, you and Lenny can team up," Ace told him.
Danny loved that idea and they ran off to start some kind of arm wrestling tournament that turned into rolling around on the ground.
"So you two are getting married soon. Congratulations," Theo said to Julian and Rob.
"Yes, and the peach trees should be in bloom right in time," Rob said putting his arm around Julian and smiling at him. At that Julian looked kind of embarrassed, but also like a happy, soon to be married guy.
Theo could tell that Rob was a lot more outgoing than his fiancé. Then Rico threw his arm over Julian's shoulders and both guys glared at him. That didn't stop Rico from putting his arms around both of
them as he told Theo and Seth, "These guys went all out when Mitch and I got married. A thousand origami cranes made by their very own hands, plus Danny's. And Lenny helped."
"Danny is making our boutonnieres," Julian said.
"So construction paper flowers in your buttonholes?" Rico said.
"No, Lara will be helping him," Julian said.
Rico went to help Mitch at the grill, but then he saw Theo and Seth talking to Wyatt and Rob. Rico waved the spatula at them in warning, "Don't you dare join the ranks of my enemies."
"Actually he's a lot more chill since he and Mitch got hitched," Rob said.
Theo found that hard to believe. "This is chill?"
"Rico is a handful whichever way you slice it," Wyatt said.
"I know you're dissing me!" Rico called out and Sammy heard him.
"Are the guys being mean to you, Rico?" she asked.
First leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek, Rico didn't hesitate to complain to her. "They're teaming up against me."
Sammy came over to look at each one of them sternly. "Be nice to Rico," she told them and walked away while shaking her head. "Boys."
"You just got us scolded by a little kid," Rob told Rico just as Sammy started yelling excitedly.
It turned out Mr. Copeland and Andy were coming over with baby Lucy and that black and white collie they saw them walking when they first met.
"Looks like my bosses are here," Theo said to Seth, but Sammy saw it differently.
"The baby is here!" she screamed and ran over, reaching up to her as Mr. Copeland held her.
"And I thought she was crazy about cats," Seth said though now all the kids were clustered around the new arrivals.
"Like you're not going to be all over that dog," Theo told him.
"I might pet him a little," Seth said, but he wasn't fooling anyone.
He was all over Huey, the dog, but he had some competition from the kids as they were introducing Ace to Lucy and the dog, though Ace recognized him.