And not just because of the sex—although he definitely missed that. It was the simple pleasure of having someone there beside him, someone to hold in his arms. The other morning, he rolled over thinking she was there and fell out of the bed.
Sighing loudly, he shook his head.
Something had to give.
Soon.
He couldn’t keep living like this.
Maybe he needed to just go out and stop thinking about her. He’d spent plenty of nights going to the pub in town since moving back here and never had a problem meeting a woman. It wasn’t about getting laid. Right now, he just wanted someone to spend some time with.
Although…he wouldn’t say no to getting laid…
“Hey, there you are.”
Turning, Axel spotted Walker coming his way. He stood and stretched. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you had any plans for dinner. Harlow’s out with Connor and Annabeth, and it’s taking longer than any of them thought it would. I was going to head out and grab something for myself, but I saw your truck and figured I’d see if you wanted to join me. We haven’t hung out just the two of us in a while.”
It was true. Ever since Walker and Harlow got together, they were rarely apart.
And maybe it would be better to hang out with a friend tonight instead of trying to hook up with someone.
“Yeah,” he said, raking a hand through his hair. “That sounds good. I just finished up in here and was considering going into town for a bite.”
“Perfect!” Clapping his hands together, Walker paused and looked around. “It’s really coming together, isn’t it?”
“Yup. That was the last of the drywall. Tomorrow the finishers can start mudding.”
“You know everyone left like three hours ago, right?”
“Yeah. I just knew I could get this done. Everything’s finally coming together, and I hated the thought of walking out when it was so close to being finished.”
Walker nodded. “Come on. We’ll talk about it more over dinner.”
Scooping up his water bottle, he gave the place one more look before walking out the door with Walker. “I’m gonna need about thirty minutes to shower and change. Is that alright?”
“Absolutely. I’ve got a few calls to make to the West Coast, so the timing’s perfect. I’ll meet you up in the parking lot in thirty.”
“Sounds like a plan. Thanks.”
Back at his cabin, Axel quickly stripped out of his work clothes and stepped under the steaming hot shower. The water was almost too hot, but he didn’t care. It felt good, and he simply stood there for a few minutes before bothering to use any soap and shampoo.
Then he remembered that he didn’t have a lot of time and got himself clean.
Stepping out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and finished getting ready. By the time he walked out of his cabin, he spotted Walker doing the same at the other end of their row. He didn’t jog or even pick up his pace; he simply strolled down to meet him.
“You get your calls made?”
Walker nodded as they made their way up to their trucks. “Sure did. And everything’s good. Now I can relax and enjoy dinner.”
They made small talk as they walked and as they got to their trucks, they opted to take Walker’s into town. It wasn’t until they were halfway to town that his friend dropped a bombshell.
“We’re all worried about you, you know.”
“Um…what?”
“Yeah. You’ve been working like a beast for the last few weeks. You’re short-tempered with the crew even as you’re doing the work of three guys.” He paused. “Do you want to talk about it?”
