“And I want to bring a world class bike park to Katah Vista. Seems like a win, win. Right, boss?” Blake gives me a playful wink, and I say a silent prayer, hoping my face isn’t on fire from the wandering direction of my thoughts.I need to check on the fraternization rules.
“It does.” I smile so big my cheeks might crack, but I can’t help it. My dream job and dream guy in one place? That’s gotta be a sign or something. How did I get this lucky?
“Come on.” He jerks his head toward a row of shops adjacent to the administrative building. “Let’s grab a coffee and get started.”
Coffees in hand, we pick a corner booth, and I spread out some of the drawings I made to show Blake my ideas. Filling him in on the plan to build the park in stages, I point to a section on the rendering. “Do you think if we’re merely cutting trail instead of building features we can crank these runs out before the season’s over?”
“Are you hoping to make them ridable this summer?” His eyebrows disappear behind the hair hanging over his forehead as those hazel eyes glint with excitement.
“Not for the general public, but we’ll make sure everyone who helps build it gets a few runs in.”
“A perk for a job well done?” A sly smile spreads across his lips.
“We can call it that.” His boyish enthusiasm is catching. “Although, it’s also a way for us to get feedback so we go into next summer knowing if we need to make any changes.”
“Sounds like a plan. When do we start?”
“I still need to walk the terrain and verify that the routes I have mapped out will work, so… next week?” I bite my lip, wondering how feasible that schedule will be.
“Great. I’ll line up the crew,” he says without any hesitation, lifting another weight off my shoulders in the process. Unfortunately, the weight regarding oursituationis still there, and aside from joking about the odds earlier he doesn’t seem like he’s going to address it.I had to make the move the first time, guess I’ll have to do it again.
“So, what are you up to this evening?” I swirl my coffee cup in my hand to keep it busy.
“Uh.” He looks everywhere but at me. “I’ll uh, probably grab a bite then head home.”
“Can I tag along?”
Blake ducks his head as he runs a hand over the back of his neck. “Sure. Yeah. We can talk some more about the bike park. Meet me at Murphy’s on Main at seven.” He collects our empty cups and tosses them in the trash, and with a tight-lipped smile and a nod he heads out the door.
Okay, that is not at all the reaction I expected.
The Blake I slept with is sensitive, gentle, and considerate. The Blake who just left is…stiff. I’m sure having me as his boss is a shock, but he seemed normal during that meeting, so why the hesitation about grabbing a bite? And why turn it into a work session? Does he not want a repeat of our night together? Obviously, we both expected that to be a one-time thing, though I got the impression it could be more if he wasn’t just passing through. Did I misread him? Or worse, does he have someone here and I’m an unwanted complication?
Normally, I wouldn’t overanalyze like this, but Blake made me feel things I want to feel again. I didn’t realize I missed the connection another person offers until I saw him face-to-face and recalled the sense of belonging I felt when I was with him. If he isn’t thinking along those same lines, maybe the whole dream guy thing was premature? I guess I’ll find out at dinner.
Chapter eleven
Blake
Shit.Shit.
My conscience wouldn’t let me leave Kane alone on his first night in town, especially given our history. But our history means I know he’s going to think dinner is just the start of the evening, and that’s not good. Not now, when I’ve got a…boyfriend? Unofficially of course.
The word is strange inside my head, and I’m not sure if it’s because we haven’t referred to each other that way out loud or because it’s the first time I’ve ever dated someone. Hell, it might be both. Either way, Kane’s presence just got a lot more complicated.
Jace and I didn’t talk about exclusivity, but I assume that’s the expectation since he’s moving in. And I would’ve been perfectly happy with that—am happy with it—considering I’ve only ever wanted a person to call my own, and right from the start it felt like Jace could be that person. What we shared that first night, not just the sex but the conversation, the intimacy… Everything about it screamedmeant to be.
It’s just that, for a fleeting moment the man who will sit down next to me any minute gave me that same feeling.
What are the fucking odds?
I want to give things with Jace a serious chance, which means I shouldn’t be thinking about the fledgling bond I felt with Kane. Except that fledgling bond is exactly what I first felt around Jace, which makes me wonder, if Kane had moved here first, would I be exploring things with him?
That’s a sobering thought. I hate to think something as trivial as timing is the deciding factor, especially when I know in my bones Jace is meant to be in my life. But it’s the connection we had early on, the exact type of connection I felt with Kane, that resulted in us coming together so seamlessly.
I’m just supposed to ignore that with Kane because of timing? That seems cruel. But it’s equally cruel to be having these thoughts when I’m committed to Jace, especially given how important he is to me.
It’s only happened a few times, but already it seems natural to fall asleep and wake up next to Jace, to the point my bed feels wrong without him in it. And talking to him comes so easily, which is a huge relief after years of guarding what I say. Not only that, he’s also encouraging me to think—really think—about why I’ve never come out, and what would happen if I do. He doesn’t judge my answers, but he doesn’t let me make excuses either, and because of him I’m warming up to the idea of telling everyone who I really am. I truly feel like he’s in my corner, I don’t want to give that up.
