James led me down the stairs, then out the entryway to the sidewalk in front of the building. It was a beautiful day outside for early February. On the Gulf Coast, it could be an ice storm or mild and sunny this time of year. Luckily for us, it was a cool, clear day with blue skies and a soft breeze.
“I decided you probably haven’t had the opportunity to see much of the town since you’ve been here, so I thought we could walk around town today, grab a bite to eat down by the water, and see what we can see. What do you think?”
“I love it. I’ve been meaning to get out and check out some of the places around here, but I’m either working, sleeping, or settling in since I moved.”
“Yeah, about that.” James rubbed the back of his neck and avoided my eyes as we strolled down the sidewalk, still hand in hand. “I’m so sorry about leaving you like that. You didn’t need to move out. I never wanted you to feel so uncomfortable that you felt you needed to get away. I know I messed up.”
“Jay, it’s okay. I didn’t leave because you left. I didn’t feel uncomfortable in your home. I loved it there. It felt like home.”
“Then why did you leave? I thought you were done with me, and I was so worried I had fucked up the entire thing.”
“Jay, you can’t get rid of me. Not now that I know you want me, too. I’ll be honest with you, honey. You have an issue with taking care of people. I wanted to get out on my own and start this relationship on an equal playing field. I have my own place. I’m making my own decisions, and I’m safe. You helped me when I needed it, and I’ll always be thankful for that, but you need to know I’m not a wounded bird.”
“I know you’re not. I don’t know what I was thinking when I said all those things that night.”
“I know what you were thinking. You were thinking you had to protect me, even from you. You have things to work through, and that’s fine. Now that I know most of what happened, I can help you. I want to help you, Jay. Honestly, I just want you. I want all of you, and I’ll do anything I can do to have you be mine.”
James didn’t respond, and I wasn’t expecting him to. We were in new territory, and it might take him a while to come around. But he surprised me when he suddenly stopped in front of a cute book store and turned to me.
“I want that, too, Ethan. You’re the first light I’ve had in my life in such a long time. The kids were my life for so long, but now, they’re moving on and starting their own lives. It’s time I lived my own, too. And I would love to live my life with you.”
The fluttering in my chest threatened to choke me, but I swallowed down the nervousness. The wetness in my eye must have been because of the breeze.
“I would love to live my life with you, too, my Jay.”
We leaned into each other to seal our intentions with a kiss, but we were interrupted by a loud bang coming from the store window. Turning our heads, we saw a small man surrounded by paperback books in the display window with a stepladder on top of him. We both ran through the front door, causing the tiny bell above to wildly jangle as we rushed to see if he was okay. As I went through, I noticed the name of the store,The Page Boy,painted in an old English script on the glass.Cute.
“Prescott, are you all right? What were you doing?”
The man up in the window display had already extracted himself from under the ladder but was still sitting in the middle of a mountain of used paperback novels. His dirty blond hair was all over the place in disheveled curls. When he looked up at James, I noticed his gray eyes behind thick, round-rimmed glasses. He was all kinds of adorable, and I was mildly jealous that James was on a first-name basis with him.
“James, hey. I was trying to stack these books up like high rises since they’re all urban fantasy books, but I got distracted and then lost my balance.”
James helped him stand up, and I noticed he was shorter than me, probably only five-feet-five-inches, but as he got closer, I saw he was older than I first thought. He was probably the same age as James if not older. From the longing looks he was giving James, I had a feeling I knew what had distracted him. It made me want to mark my territory. Placing my arm around James’s waist, I sidled up to him, pleased he immediately put his arm around me and pulled me close to his side.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked Prescott, then turning to James, “We can postpone our date and take him to the hospital if you want, honey.”
Prescott looked between us for a few seconds in shock, then pulled himself together. “No, I’m fine, really. I’m a klutz on a good day, so this is nothing. I’ll just leave it for now. Come to think of it. Maybe I can change out some of the books to zombie and end-of-the-world novels and make it a post-apocalyptic window.”
I had to give it to the man. He could think on his feet. He seemed to forget we were there in seconds as he looked at the window and started to mumble his plans to himselffor a new display.
“If you’re sure, but we could take you just in case.” James was such a sweetheart. I could tell he wanted to take care of this guy, but he was obviously fine, and we had a date to finish.
“Jay, he said he’s fine and already has an idea for his new display. Let’s leave him to it.”
James seemed reluctant, but since Prescott was still totally absorbed with his plan, he finally relented. We turned to leave just as a customer came in, causing the bell to jingle. It was Billy. The new guy Connor had hired at the bar. I refused to call him Billy Wayne.
“Hey, Billy, didn’t I just see you last night?” I teased.
He let out a deep rumbling laugh and shook my outstretched hand.
“Yeah, it’s a small town, isn’t it, Ethan.” He nodded his head. “James, good to see ya.” Then he finally noticed the mess in the window, and his expression became serious. “Prescott, what happened?”
Prescott, who had turned at the sound of the bell, blushed a bit, then knelt down next to the pile of books, stacking them, and pointedlynotmaking eye contact with Billy.
“I fell off the stepladder, and all the books fell down around me, but I’m fine. Just have to clean up the mess. What did you need today, Mr. Lyle?”
Billy dropped a mask over his concerned expression so fast I almost missed the hurt in his eyes. “I came in to see if you’d gotten that book I ordered yet. My phone died, and I haven’t been able to check my texts in the last few days.”
