Ryden darted out of his room. “What—Shit. That’s not the guest room.” He hurried over just as Jay switched on the lights in the spare bedroom across from the guest room. “I can explain.” There was a reason he hadn’t told Jay about this room. The guy probably thought Ryden was nuts.
Before Ryden could utter another word, Jay ran into the room and straight across to the wall, his eyes huge. He spun to face Ryden, throwing an arm out, pointing at the wall.
“Where did you get those shelves?”
Ryden opened his mouth and then closed it. “Um, what?” Had Jay not seen the many cans of fruits and vegetables in the shelving unit? Not to mention the rest of the floor-to-ceiling shelves lining the room filled with food, water, and emergency supplies.
“The shelves. Where did you get them?”
“I made them.”
“Shut the front door! This is amazing! I’ve been trying to find the right storage system for my cans for ages, but anything remotely close to it is too big for my pantry.” Jay turned back to the wall and sighed longingly. “It’s so beautiful.”
“Really?” Ryden wasn’t sure what to think, so he said it. “You don’t think it’s weird that I turned my spare bedroom into a prepper’s pantry?”
Jay blinked at him. “We live in a state with an entire season dedicated to hurricanes. Not to mention the laughable storage space in most places. It took me months to find an apartmentwith a decent-sized pantry. Plus, you’re talking to a guy who organizes his clothes by color.”
“I can make you one if you like,” Ryden said, leaning against the doorframe. He chuckled at Jay’s gasp.
“Are you serious? Don’t play with a boy’s heart like that.”
Ryden shrugged. “All I need are the measurements. I have a small workshop out back. I can even paint it any color you like.”
Jay let out a little squeal and did a happy dance that made Ryden laugh. He was so fucking cute.
“Hell, if I’d known all it took to make you that happy was a shelf for your cans, I would’ve offered to make you one years ago.”
“If I had known you possessed such skills, I would have let you,” Jay purred, sending a shiver through Ryden.
Uh-oh, Ryden might be in trouble.
Jay headed toward him when something caught his eye. He backed up, reached up, and moved one of the fruit preserve jars over one. “You had a raspberry in with your strawberry.”
Who was this guy? He knew Jay was meticulous and took organizing to another level, but Ryden would have never expected them to have pantry prep in common. Jay smiled at him, and it almost knocked him off his feet. It wasn’t the first time Jay had smiled at him, but this was different. His guard was down; he looked relaxed and…happy. It was a genuinely sweet smile.
“Are those for me?”
Jay’s words snapped Ryden out of it, and he pushed away from the doorframe. He held the clothes out.
“Yeah. You might have to roll the pants up.”
“Thanks.” Jay took the clothes from him, their fingers brushing and sending a jolt of awareness through Ryden. The startled look on Jay’s face told Ryden that he’d felt it, too. A shiver seemed to go through Jay, his cheeks turning pink again.With a quick nod, he spun around and crossed the hall to the guest room. He opened the door and slipped inside before closing it behind him.
Ryden stood there for a heartbeat, wondering if he’d imagined what happened. He was about to head to his room when Jay opened the door.
“Goodnight.”
Then he disappeared.
Um, okay? “Goodnight,” Ryden called out. Shaking his head, he went to his room and changed into his pajamas. Okay, this was fine. He was good. It was all good. Maybe they were on their way to becoming friends. That was a good thing, right? Yep. Friends. Friendly friends. Friends who, um, friended. That was a thing. So they’d made out earlier today, and now Jay was in his house, sleeping in his guest bed. No big deal.
Tomorrow, everything would go back to normal. He just needed to relax, forget about what happened with Jay at the wedding, and get some sleep. If Jay had successfully avoided talking to him about their first kiss, no way he was about to talk about them making out.
It took Ryden forever to drift off to sleep, thanks to his brain supplying all kinds of unhelpful fantasies about the gorgeous, pouty-lipped man wearing his clothes just down the hall. When he finally fell asleep, a soft knock on his bedroom door woke him up.
“Huh?” Ryden said, his voice rough from sleep.
Jay opened the door and stood there, the moonlight coming in from the window enough for Ryden to see him fidget. He rubbed one foot with the other but didn’t say anything. He needed something but couldn’t bring himself to say it. Whatever it was, it had Jay coming to his room in the middle of the night.
