“Notbadbad, honey, not at all. It just got a tiny bit obnoxious at one point. I think it became a joke once you let it go, but it would seem that Alfie has taken a liking to Gray and feels a bit protective.”
He reached over and put his hand on Denny’s thigh and squeezed. Denny took the hand and they drove the rest of the way home hand-in-hand.
On Sunday, Josiah left the pub for the kids to run and took the day off. Mostly because Denny kept pestering him about never taking days off unless they were going to the cabin or someone’s burning house. Point taken.
They slept in and Josiah got up around ten when he heard weights clanking around. The home gym was next to the guestroom, and the sounds of Denny exercising made him smile.
He respected the hell out of Denny for keeping up with his regime if he was anywhere near a gym. It had all started for a not-so-good reason and Josiah wasn’t sure if Denny had realized that himself. Back when things had started to go south with wife number two, Stacey, about seven years ago—Josiah wasn’t sure about the timeline and didn’t care enough to think about that woman too closely—Denny had gotten it into his head that he needed to stay fit for her.
She was in her mid-twenties to Denny’s mid-thirties, and she had… expectations. Josiah frowned when he couldn’t help but to think about the person who had changed Denny the most. Stacey had been great at first. She’d been good at hiding her true intentions, but she went from a nice, bubbly girl to a gold digger who wanted her claws deep in Denny’s whole life pretty fucking fast.
The marriage had lasted less than a year and a half, which was a blessing in Josiah’s books. He knew that Sammie had gone to Stacey towards the end and made some threats he was glad he still didn’t know much about. Denny had no idea, of course, he’d just thought it was weird that Stacey had agreed to the divorce faster than he’d expected her to. At that point he’d also been happy to get out as soon as possible so he’d not questioned it.
Josiah showered, got dressed, and then went to the kitchen to find coffee. He should eat something, but didn’t feel like making anything yet, so he leaned on the counter with his eyes closed as he listened to Denny’s movements upstairs. The coffee gurgled and he smiled a little. He could get behind this taking-a-day-off business. Hell, he knew he should’ve done it from the start, but somehow, especially when he was single, it was much easier to work every day.
It didn’t feel as though he was a workaholic. He wasn’t hell bent on working every waking hour. It was more that he loved his job, his bar, and it was as much of a hobby as it was work. Which… might not have been such a great thing, considering?
“Why are you frowning with your eyes closed?”
Josiah opened his eyes to see Denny there, wiping his neck with a towel. He was sweaty, wearing a tank top and shorts, and he looked… edible.
Josiah averted his gaze and cleared his throat. “Just thought that it might not be healthy to use the bar as a hobby instead of taking regular days off.”
Denny hummed. “I’m choosing not to comment on that.” He continued to wipe himself down as he said, “If you’re making breakfast, can you make some for me too? I’ll go shower and be right back. We can also make it together if you don’t want to cook alone. I was thinking pancakes and bacon?”
Josiah smiled. “I’ll get my first cup of coffee and we can work on the rest together.”
“Deal.” Denny grinned and left to go back upstairs.
Josiah watched him go. The shorts clung to his ass and the top didn’t do anything to hide how his well-defined muscles moved.
Ungh.
They had breakfast at the table by the kitchen window and Josiah gazed out onto the little front yard. He liked this house, even though the location was a bit busy in a way he wasn’t completely comfortable with.
“Jo?”
“Yeah?”
“When I go to therapy tomorrow, would you come with me?” Denny seemed troubled, hesitant in a way he hadn’t been yet.
Josiah frowned. “Of course, you know that. All you needed to do was ask.”
“Uh… it’s just… I want to talk about… us.” He touched the back of his neck in that nervous way. “I mean, the possibility of… you know.”
“Of us being something more than friends eventually?” Josiah asked, his heart doing its best to punch through his sternum.
“Yes, that.” Denny blushed and ducked his head, poking at his last pancake with his fork. “I don’t… I mean I’m not sure how to get there, if we want to, and I think talking with Dr. Jarvis might help us in the long run? No matter which way we end up going with… that.”
Josiah tilted his head and watched Denny for a few beats. “Sounds good to me. I’ll let the kids know I won’t come in tomorrow, either.”
The corner of Denny’s mouth twitched. “I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic.”
“Oh yes….”
They both chuckled, and the tension vanished as they finished their breakfast together.
Josiah exercised next, taking his turn on the treadmill and skipping the weights because fuck that. He listened to an audiobook as he jogged and managed to keep his mind off the therapy session. Part of it was cowardice, sure, but he approved of Denny needing to talk about it all, and having someone there in a professional capacity would definitely help. That meant not thinking about it all too much beforehand, because if he knew anything about himself it was his tendency to twist things in his mind while he overthought every single thing and—shit, he’d missed about a page’s worth of narration.
