Dare nodded. “Exactly. Remember back when we were kids and you used to make shit out of LEGOs?”
“Obviously.” I rolled my eyes. He and I both knew just how many perfectly constructed LEGO sets my mom still had in her basement.
“Remember how pissed you used to get when I’d put evenonepiece in the wrong spot?” He made it sound like this was unreasonable.
“Because if you mess up one piece, you’ve messed up the whole thing, Dare!”
“Right. But that’s not how relationships work. You can’t just build the perfect castleforhim and then slot him in it, especially when you don’t know if he wants a castle or an RV or a condo in a subdivision. How can Mark be your happily ever after when you don’t know if he goes around picking his toes or sending his money to hate-mongering politicians? What if…” he paused dramatically “… he trashes Lin-Manuel Miranda all over the internet?”
I gasped. “You take that back! Mark wouldnevertroll the greatest human being alive today.”
“It was just an example—”
“It was a terrible example! When I think of how deftly Lin-Manuel wove Angelica’s—”
Dare clapped a large, warm hand over my mouth. “Do not break into ‘Satisfied,’ Brian. Not again. My point is,youaren’t gonna be satisfied unless you figure out what a guy is likefirstandthenfigure out if he ticks your boxes.”
“Shush,” I said tiredly, pushing his hand away. “Stop assaulting me with your logic when I’m busy doing your newfangledsitting.”
“Pretty sure you’relying.”
“Pretty sure it’sadvancedsitting.”
“Pretty sure it’s not.”
“Pretty sure you should feed me some more burger,” I commanded, poking him in the side again. “The heart pain is coming back.”
Dare shook his head, rolled his eyes, and complied.
“So, enough about my bullshit. How’s the renovation going over at the park?” I asked after I finished chewing.
Dare was a state conservation officer—kind of a cross between a park ranger and a police officer. For the past five or six years, he’d been the head bitch in charge at Herriman-Sizemore State Park, which was kinda perfect for him since it was located right on the border of Camden, where Dare lived, and O’Leary, where his family lived.
It was also kinda not-at-all perfect for him, since being in charge meant dealing with endless administrative headaches, when I knew all Dare wanted was to be outside, checking trails and communing with woodland creatures or whatever.
Dare leaned back more heavily against my legs, clearly frustrated. “It’s going. I wasn’t aware I was signing up to be a construction supervisor when I got promoted, you know? I’m tired of people lying to my face about when shit’s gonna get done. I have mountains of supplies sitting inside the world’s ugliest shipping container in the parking lot, but at this point, a couple contractors have delayed so long, it’s pushed back onothercontractors who’ve gotothercommitments, and… Well. I guess I don’t need to explain the ins and outs of construction delays to you, do I? You’ve been doing it a lot longer than I have.”
I nodded sympathetically. “Thirteen years now. And let me tell you, the delays are just as annoying to the guys working the job as they are to the client.” I unbent my legs slightly and pulled Dare down to rest his head on my stomach. “Come on. Try advanced sitting with me. You might like it.”
Dare snorted, but went along with it. He groaned as I threaded my hand through his hair and raked my short fingernails over his scalp.
“Some things don’t change,” I sing-songed. “You’ve loved this since you were ten.”
“You know all my weaknesses,” he agreed with a soft sigh.
“Only fair, really, since you seem to be around for all my most mortifying moments.”
For a few minutes, we lay there like that. I watched wispy white clouds morph into puffy elephants and then into… slightly fatter elephants. Dare seemed fascinated by the inside of his eyelids.
I nudged his arm with my knee. “So, what’s stressing you out most about the construction? What do you need donefirst?”
“Mmm.” Dare sounded relaxed bordering on drunk. “So many things stress me out, but the thing bugging me most is the trail signage. You remember how the state created that scenic overlook area just off the parking lot?”
“Yep.”
“There’s a cleared trail, maybe half a mile long, that winds from the overlook down to the office and from there to all the other trails in the vicinity. But for that half-mile stretch, there are supposed to be informational signs to help visitors understand the flora and fauna in the area. It’s gonna be a great teaching tool.” He sighed and shifted his head so I could reach the back of his neck, which I obediently rubbed. “We’ve got a bunch of field trips from schools and day camps starting next week and it’s not gonna be ready in time.” He shrugged.
“So, you just need signs put up?”
