Kevinleaned against the fence, head cocked to the side, and his eyes narrowed. “Whoare you, and what have you done withAnson?”
“Whatare you talking about?”Ifeigned ignorance.Mybrothers were the only ones who knewIwasn’t a complete stickler for order.Oneof the few joys in my life was annoying the shit out of them, butIsaw that more as my job as the oldest brother.Thoselittle punks had always ganged up on me when we were younger, trying to distract me whileIwas studying.Now, it was my turn, and unfortunately for them,Ihad deep pockets and few obligations in life.
“Oh, come on.You’resitting here talking about buying livestock just to annoy your brother.That’sa far cry fromMr.Serious.”Hegave my shoulder a playful shove, his eyes widening whenIdidn’t even sway from the contact. “Damn, lift your shirt.”
“What?”Ibarked out, surprised by the sudden shift in our conversation.
“Iwant to see the six-pack.Youhave to have literal abs of steel to not move an inch.Youwere the one who said you wanted your body appreciated, so let me appreciate.”IswattedKevin’shand away when he reached for the hem of my shirt. “You’reno fun.”
“That’sme,CaptainBuzzkill,”Ideadpanned. “Ithought we’d already established that fact.”
Morebanter.MaybeKevinwas right, andI’dbeen a victim of body snatchers overnight.Wewere just about done with the fence, andIwas conflicted about whetherIwas ready to retreat into the house for a bit of solitude.Foronce, that didn’t sound like just whatIneeded.BeforeIcould conjure a reason to spend more time withKevin, he spoke up.Because, of course, he did. “Ifyou don’t already have plans for tonight,Ihave a shepherd’s pie in the fridge thatIneed to heat up.There’smore than enough for both of us.”
DidIwant to have dinner with him?Wasthis simply a friendly offer to share a meal, or was there more to it?Mybrothers liked giving me shit about being clueless to people flirting with me, and they weren’t wrong.I’dnever understood subtle nuance.Theconcept of beating around the bush when you could simply tell someone you were interested in them seemed pointless.
“Justtwo guys sharing a meal,Anson.Ipromise that’s all it is.”Kevin’stone was measured, andIcould picture him using that same soothing cadence with a stray animal he was trying to coax into his cruiser. “Ifyou’d rather not,Icompletely understand.”
Hewas giving me an out.Thatwas nice of him.
“CanIthink about it?”God, that sounded pathetic.Hangingout with my brothers,Waylon,Teddy, and hell, evenRodneywhen he showed up withCarsonafter a day at the garage, was easy.Theyunderstood me, andIdidn’t have to spend time questioning everything they said or did.Alump formed in my throat, choking off whatever feeble explanationImight have been about to offer.
Kevinstarted screwing the final plank into the support boards, leaving me alone with my thoughts.Heglanced at me out of the corner of his eye a few times as he hummed a tuneIwas pretty sure was from the early nineties.Bartstarted whimpering from the other side of the fence just asKevinfinished fastening the final screw. “Youmissed your chance, buddy.Now, you’ll have to hang out over there until your daddy comes to get you.”
“Areyou trying to trap me into dinner?”Thatwas still hours away.Iconsidered asking if he’d meant to invite me over for lunch, but he’d very clearly said dinner.Whichmeant evening unless he came from a family where dinner was the mid-day meal and supper was the evening meal.Therewas only one way to find out, even if asking made me seem oblivious in his mind. “Tobe clear, what time is dinner?”
Kevinshrugged, then glanced at his watch.Therewas something endearing about a person his age wearing a watch rather than relying on his phone for everything. “Ineed to go home and shower, andIfigured you’d want to as well.IfiguredI’djust have a sandwich or something whenIgo inside, and then you could come over around four or so.Wecan hang out on the deck if it’s still nice out, then we’ll eat around five or so.Thatway, you can still turn into a pumpkin before the sun goes down.Iknow how you older guys like your sleep.”
“I’mnot that old, you big jerk.”Itossed a handkerchief in his general direction, and he laughed as we both watched it float toward the ground.Icrouched to start picking up the tools and bag of garbage filled with packaging and our empty water bottles.Kevinfollowed suit, and whenIlooked up, his face was just inches from mine.Hereached up to brush a stray lock of hair away from my face.Iwas startled and fell onto my ass. “Whatwas that for?”
“Youkept trying to blow the hair out of your face, soIdecided to help you.”Thatwas weird.Iwas fairly confident it wasn’t something friends did, and definitely not people who’d only really been talking for a few days other than quick waves hello as they passed in the yard. “Andtrust me,Iknow you’re not old.I’mjust giving you a hard time.Butyou have to admit, you’re rarely seen outside your house after dark unless you’re lettingBartout.”
“Haveyou been spying on me?”Again, weird.
Heshrugged again.Ifhe did that too many more times,IsworeIwas going to plant my hands on his shoulders to keep them in place. “Hazardof the job,Isuppose.Idon’t go out of my way to keep tabs on you, but your truck isn’t exactly quiet.Andyou should probably get some lubricant for the tracks on your sliding door.”
I’dmeant to do just that because the screech every timeIopened the door grated on me.Now,Ihad even more motivation to remember to put a can of spray on my shopping list so my nosy-as-hell neighbor wouldn’t hear every timeIopened the door to letBartout. “Ifyou hadn’t already gotten the seal of approval from my menace of a mutt,I’dbe more than just a bit creeped out right about now.Youdo realize you sound like a creeper, right?”
Ijerked my head toward the broken panel of fence we’d removed earlier.Kevingot the hint and lifted one end whileItook the other.Itwas cumbersome, andIwas pretty sureIwas about to spend my afternoon picking splinters out of my hand, but we managed to get it into the bed of the truck. “Doyou want to take down any branches that look like they could come down and load those up before you head to the dump?”
WhatIwanted more than anything was to get away.Thiswas the most timeI’dspent around anyone other than my brothers and closest friends in a while, and asDannywould say, my social battery was running on empty.ButKevin’ssuggestion made sense.Therewas no point in leaving the dead branches to come down in another storm.Ifthey managed to last through the fall, some would come crashing down with the slightest ice accumulation this winter.Andif they didn’t hit the fence, they’d wind up inKevin’syard.Ididn’t even want to think about what it would cost to replace that hoop garden thing he was talking about building.Therewas just one problem… “Doyou happen to have a chainsaw or something?AnytimeIneed one,Iusually run out toMomandDad’splace.Nopoint buying thingsI’monly going to use every once in a while.”
Kevin’sshoulders drooped as the corners of his mouth fell. “Crap,Ididn’t think about that.I’mnot sureIdo.Wecould leave the big stuff until next weekend if you want.”
“Don’tyou have to work?”Iknew he worked the third shift, but it was rare to see him actually going to or from work.Hewas always puttering around outside.
“I’mon mid-weeks right now.IworkTuesdaythroughThursday, andI’moff the rest of the week.Onweeks when there’s a home football game or something else happening in town, they’ll call me in for a short shift onFridays.”Thatmade sense.Still, he had to have something better to do with his weekends than help me with yard work. “Wecan take care of the smaller branches that look dead using my pole saw.Thatwill allow us to see what else needs to be done.”
Heturned to walk through the gap in the fence as if he’d forgotten we had just finished fixing it.Istifled a laugh when he turned back to me, cheeks flushed pink.Hemotioned toward the garage. “I’lljust run home quick.Beright back.Doyou want me to grab you a water or anything whileI’mthere?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”Itwasn’t until he was out of sight thatIrealizedIprobably should have offered him a drink a while ago.Afterall, he was the helper, andIwas the one benefiting from his manual labor.Iheard the clicking of dog nails on concrete seconds beforeBartbolted through the back door of the garage and headed straight for me, followed byKevin.Ibraced myself as he jumped, front paws resting on my chest and tail wagging a hundred miles a minute as he licked my face. “Dammit,Bart!Youact like you haven’t seen me in months.Andit’s your own damn fault for hiding inKevin’syard.”
“Heseemed pretty upset thatIdared to wake him up, butIfigured this way, you aren’t obligated to come over later if you don’t want to.”Kevinwas giving me an out, butIwasn’t sure if that was because he sensed my reluctance to join him or just him trying to make sureIdidn’t feel likeIhad no choice but to join him for dinner.
Shepherd’spie would be a welcome change from the steady rotation of pizza, spaghetti, or chicken and broccoliIlive on.Andthe company hadn’t been torturous so far.Icould put up with it a bit longer as soon asIcaught a quick nap to recharge.Anda shower because even though the day was cool, we’d both worked up a sweat. “Ifthe invitation is still open,I’dlove to join you for dinner.”
“Wouldn’thave offered ifIdidn’t mean it.”
“Doyou want me to bring anything?”Ioffered.Momhad drilled it into our heads that you never showed up to a house empty-handed, butIwasn’t certain if that included simple dinners together or if it only applied to larger gatherings. “Icould run to the store and pick up some beer and ingredients for a salad.”
