“Perfect. Living with you will be just like having a sixteen-year-old kid in the house again.”
He grins wickedly. “You gonna make me call you Daddy?”
I wince, flinching as if I’d just been cut by an invisible dagger.
“Oh shit!” he gasps. “Sorry, sorry! We discussed this, no bringing up your old man. Though, that’s not—yougottaknow that’s not what I meant.”
I puff out a breath through my nose as my molars gnash together. “Marlin is not my old man. He isn’tanything.”
“Fuck, I know, I know. I’m a dumbass. I take full ownership of that. I won’t do it again.” He mimes zipping his lips. Then, out of the corner of his mouth, he peeps, “See? All done.”
I snort. He admittedly does make it hard to stay irritated at his goofy ass.
“Uhh, so I got you coffee too, but, again, no clue how you take it. Since there’s only so much I could carry back, I went with black.” With a grin, he adds, “Fairly certain you like your coffee as bitter as your soul.”
Oh, Wee-Waters, if you only knew just how dark it is. As for my coffee, however? “I usually do a splash of oat milk and eight sugars.”
Gannett’s eyes go wide. “Eight?Ho-ly fuckin’ diabeetus!”
I chuckle. “Sugar is my only weakness. Shut the fuck up.”
“So, what do you wanna do today?” he asks, his stupidly blue eyes blinking at me like an expectant puppy waiting for a crumb to fall.
Shit, he reallyisthat lonely.
“I do just about the same thing every day. Head to the gym and get a workout in. Come home, shower, and change before running errands. If there’s any time left, I watch some baseball recaps before I head downstairs and work the closing shift. Wash, rinse, and repeat. All very riveting stuff, really.”
He snorts. “Clearly. Don’t you have any hobbies or anything? No fishing, no hiking, no… I don’t know?”
I cock an eyebrow at him. “Doyou? I mean, I know you fish, but that’s your line of work. But other than that, I’m pretty sure you haunt Portside like it’s your second job.”
His expression falls. “You know? You pretty much hit the nail on the head. I suppose if I’m going to stay dry, I need to start picking up some new hobbies.”
“Have you given any thought to attending AA meetings?” I ask. Maybe with that support, he could find motivation there as well.
“Yeah, I have. But you know Ternbay.Nothingever remains anonymous here,” he mumbles, his cheeks flushing. “I, um, I’m already embarrassed enough about living up to all the assumptions made about me being a fuck up. For once, I’d just like to feel like I’d had the smarts to haul myself up by my own boot straps. It’s, uh, probably dumb, and maybe a little prideful, but I kind of want this win for myself, if I can manage it, you know?”
I nod. Not because I particularly agree with that. It could be good for him to accept help from others. But I also know he’s a Waters. Wagner, Evan, and even Gannett are all hardheaded enough to think they need to do everything on their own. Besides, it’d be prettyhypocritical of me to keep pressing Gannett to not fly solo when all I want is to be left the fuck alone.
“Anyway, the gym sounds like a good enough place to start making some healthier changes. Mind if we stop somewhere before the gym so I can pick up some new clothes? Not that I mind borrowing yours, because this Forge hoodie is comfy as fuck, but… people may start asking questions,” he notes, pausing to take a sniff of my shirt he apparently helped himself to.
When he nuzzles it a bit more, giving it a bigger whiff, his eyes roll back, and he hums contentedly. A sudden surge of blood runs straight to my groin at the sight of it.No. Nope. I’m not even going to fuckin’entertainwhat other things could elicit that response from him.
Refocus.
Of course he’s tagging along with me to the gym. Shit, he’ll probably yak my ear off, pressing me for more tidbits of my past, the entire timethere, too. “Sure,” I concede, oddly concerned that if I tell him that I prefer to work out alone, he’ll break down right here and his lower lip will start to wobble.
“Fantastic. Fair warning, I am no gym-bro. Not a single clue about how to use any of that equipment, so you’ll have to show me the ropes. Don’t take it easy on me either, coach.” He pinches his belly. “Got a beer belly I need to start working off. I’ve noticed it’s been getting harder and harder to keep an eye on old Blackbeard without looking in a mirror.”
Wonderful. Can’t wait.
At that, an idea hits me. If I work him hard enough today, maybe he won’t want to come back. If I can somehow manage to power through seeing him get all hot and sweaty for a few unrelenting sessions, I bet he’ll cave and lose interest in continuing to come.
I see it around the start of every new year. Resolutioners will come, give it their all for a few sessions, and then fizzle out—spending more time lounging on the water massagers than on the ellipticals. Before long, Gannett will join their ranks, and then after that, he will be out of my house too.
I just have to suffer through all the on-display, off-limits torture of trying to keep my wandering eyes off of him first.
I take a deep breath as Gannett and I enter the gym. There’s just something about taking in everything at Forge Fitness that does it for me. Thevibesas Taryn would call it. Would I wantsweaty gym ratmade into a scented candle? No, but if there were a way to bottle up the energy that you get as soon as you walk through the door, I’d take it. Unlike the bar, the local gym is a place where the regulars—albeit there aren’t as many here—come to better themselves, as opposed to drowning out their problems.
