“That’smean,” Joe said, but he was giggling too.He blamed the coffee.“I don’t think Austin’s noticed, which makes it funnier.I feel bad for Will, though.”
Starling nodded sagely.“Where are the age-appropriate queers when you need ’em.”
“Right?”He shook his head.He got it, though.It wasn’t like Will could date anyway, with his fundamentalist parents.It was safer to crush on someone he couldn’t have.
Nowthatwas depressing.He pulled his mind back to more cheerful matters.“Anyway, now that we’ve got the place more or less ready to go—we’re thinking Christmas Eve dinner.You, us, the kids, probably my mom.I’ll invite Linda.Bring a friend if you want.”
Starling had this unique ability—she could give you the side eye right to your face.“So this thing where you need to draw a line between your personal life, your sex life, and your partner in temporary homeownership—how’s that going for you?”
Joe flipped her off again.“Shut up.You want another biscotti?”
Chapter Thirteen
TUESDAY, THEshop was dead, which was not a great sign.Austin spent most of the day taking inventory—oil filters, windshield fluid—and tidying up, just to have something to kill time and an excuse to keep the sign lit up.He got one college kid who came in to get a quote on her 2004 Malibu, which needed the exhaust replaced—not a worthwhile repair on a car that was old enough to vote, but Austin knew a scrap yard where he might be able to get a used one for cheap, so he took her number and said he’d call her back.
As if to make up for it, Wednesday was brutal.Austin fixed a heated seat, a fan belt, a tire puncture, and a chipped windshield before he got a break long enough to hit up the bakery next door for lunch.He spent the afternoon under the Malibu, replacing the entire exhaust system.
God, he needed a shower.
That evening, he found Joe in the kitchen with an unfamiliar woman, who stood cradling a glass of bubbly water while she watched Joe cook.
She was dressed casually in jeans but wore them with the primness and authority of a well-tailored pantsuit.Austin immediately felt grubby in her presence and felt the urge to apologise for not having showered.
He wondered if he could sneak away unseen.He doubted very much that this stranger admired mechanics for their skilled labor.
Of course, she lived up to the expectations set by her first impression and immediately caught Austin in her calculating gaze.
“Hello.You must be the mechanical half of the DIY dream team.”She arched an eyebrow and looked at him with Joe’s eyes.
Yeah, definitely Joe’s mom.
“Uh, hi.Austin.”Smooth.
“Austin,” Joe echoed, “you’re home.Obviously.Meet my mom, Maria Romano.Mom, meet Austin Taylor, co-owner, mechanic, finder of valuable vinyls.”
“A Renaissance man,” Maria said, and Austin couldn’t tell if she was impressed or mocking him.Or maybe she was just neutral.
Before Austin could figure out what to say in response, Joe jumped to his rescue.
“Dinner will be another twenty or so.Plenty of time for a shower.”
Austin gave a thumbs-up—what was it about this lady that turned him into a dumbass—and backed out of the kitchen.
As much as Austin didn’t want to return to Maria’s company to be judged, he couldn’t deny his stomach or his nose.He needed to investigate the source of those delicious smells.He was getting spoiled living with Joe, he thought ruefully, and definitely did not think about no longer living with someone who moonlighted as a gourmet chef.
He was too busy not thinking in general, apparently, because after a five-minute shower that blasted the grime off and abated the muscle stiffness from a day spent in the cold garage, he realized he had his towel but no actual clean clothes, because—well, who cared if he walked upstairs in a towel if Joe was the only other person home?It wasn’t anything Joe hadn’t seen before.
Joe’s mom, on the other hand….
Fuck.
He could put his work coveralls back on, but they were filthy to the point he’d need another shower.And there was no way he could get upstairs to his room without Joe’s mom noticing.But Joe’s bedroom—that was only a few steps away.
Nothing for it.Austin scrunched up his curls in the terry cloth to dry them as best he could in a minute, then scrubbed the towel over the rest of his body and wrapped it around his waist.
He opened the door a crack and peered out.He could see Maria’s back in the kitchen doorway.
Good enough.He made a break for it.
