Two
Tig
I’d heard every wordIsaac had said. The guy did not know how to whisper, and he wasn’t great at keeping secrets. Not that I was much better. We had an honest relationship, and I wanted it to stay that way. “We’ll go online tomorrow and check out all the sales, and you can get some ideas,” I said.
“What about the sale that’s occurring right fucking here tomorrow?” Jack said and this time I ignored the grin Hudson tried to hide behind his coffee cup. That guy was so in love Jack could say he was painting everything inside black and Hudson would tell him it was a great idea, and offer to do it for him. It was disgusting, and also sweet as hell. Jack deserved to be treated as well as Hudson treated him, and Hudson deserved to be in love. So disgustingly in love.
My expression softened as I reached out and squeezed Jack’s shoulder. “We’ll be here, and if you need us to work, we can do that too. Right, Isaac?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t expect me to be happy about it,” he said.
“No one does, literally no one does,” Jack said. “But seriously, thank you, both of you. You two have helped us so many times and we appreciate it.”
“What else needs to be done?” Isaac said, and Jack immediately put us to work. Even Hudson had a job.
After two hours of nonstop moving various items from one place to another, Jack was finally happy. He’d printed signs for every item that was on sale, and I had to admit it looked pretty good. “What time are you opening tomorrow?” I asked and hoped it wasn’t at sunrise like Black Friday sales could be, and noticing it was already close to midnight, I held out even more hope it wasn’t until later.
“Five,” Jack said without even sparing me a glance.
“In the morning?” Isaac yelled.
“Well yeah, I mean most of the town is up that early anyway,” Jack said.
“Not the day after Thanksgiving,” Isaac said, and for once I was happy to hear him push back. “Do you have any idea how much I ate today? I’m going to need to sleep late tomorrow.”
“Hey, I never said you had to be here that early. You asked what time we’re opening,” Jack said, and Hudson groaned.
“Do we really need to be here that early?”
“Yes, we want to make sure we’re open early for the people that like to get the best deals. We’re having specials every hour until noon so the earlier they’re here the better the deals,” Jack explained.
“Okay, well we’re out of here,” Isaac said and headed straight for the door without even asking if we were done.
“Thanks, guys, see you tomorrow,” Hudson said and winked when he caught my eye.
“We’ll be here, just not at the ass crack of dawn,” Isaac said as he walked outside. He stood on the porch as I walked out behind him and both of us braced against the cold. There had been a cold snap the past week that held the promise of snow.
“I hope we get snow for Christmas,” I said and my eyes turned skyward at the clear night.
“Nah, last year was a fluke. No way we’d be that lucky two years in a row,” he said and looped his arm through mine. We stood on the porch of Nuts and Bolts, neither of us in a hurry now the work was done. He was a little shorter than me and a lot more muscular, but somehow, we fit together just right.
“I think we will get that lucky. I mean look at us. Did you think we’d end up together after last Christmas?” I asked and knew his answer before he said it. We spent last Christmas together at Jack’s family party, which was wonderful. But after we left the party, things had gone bad. He was looking for a quick hookup while I wanted more.
He turned to face me and wiggled into the front of my jacket seeking more warmth. “I knew we’d be together eventually, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself,” he said and I knew if I could see his face, he’d have a completely serious and believably sincere expression.
“You are such a liar,” I said and wrapped my arms around him while he chuckled.
“I love you,” he whispered into my chest and my heart fluttered like it did every time he said it.
“I love you too. Let’s get out of here before Jack decides he’ll open up now and we’ll be working the first shift,” I said making him laugh again.
“You have no idea how accurate that is.” He stretched his fingers before he took my hand, and we walked to his house.
“Did you want some leftovers?” he asked and immediately went to the refrigerator while I took a seat on the couch and turned on the TV.
“Nope, I ate enough to last at least three days.” We spent most of the day with Isaac’s family. It was a full house with lots of chaos and so loud you couldn’t hear yourself think and I loved every second of it.
“Well, we have enough food for about three weeks, so I expect you to eat some of the leftovers,” he said and handed me a plate.
