I had been silent for most of the exchange and looked at Micah, my chest a little tight. Had I just caused a fight?
“Don’t worry,” Micah assured me. “That was all for show.”
I raised one eyebrow. “It was?”
He laughed softly. “Kieran was looking for a reason to get out of studying. I’m sure of it.” He turned so his back was against the arm of the couch and his feet were tucked under him. “Want towatch something else? You’re not obligated to study with me, if you don’t want to.”
“No, I don’t mind. Whatever is fine. I don’t watch a lot of TV, to be honest.”
“No?”
I shrugged. “I’m boring. I watch a lot of sports.”
“Everyone likes what they like,” he said softly. Somehow, the words felt heavier than they sounded. My stomach did a strange little twist.
“That they do.”
We held each other’s gazes for a few moments before Micah inhaled sharply and turned away. “Let’s watch another one then.” He pressed play on the remote and a second episode came on. “Tell me about what you do.”
I shrugged. “You already know what I do.”
“Yeah, but… like, tell me about a day on the job site with you.”
“It’s really not interesting. But… I get to the job and check in with the foreman.”
“Jake, right?”
“Yeah. He’ll probably have a list of things he wants to accomplish each day. Or at least a running list of to-dos. He’s a great project manager. Anything that involves wood, I’ll handle it.”
Micah snorted.
“Don’t start,” I said dryly. My body heated at the joke once again. “So top to bottom that includes framing, installation and repair, detail work, and finishing. Trusses to cabinets to flooring.”
“Flooring too? I would’ve thought someone else did that.”
“Sometimes. But if it’s wood flooring, it’s usually me. Tile or something, that’s a different story. I’m definitely not a tile guy. Those guys have to have a delicate touch so they don’t break expensive tile pieces. Two by fours aren’t nearly as fragile.”
Micah took a sip of his beer just then, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. “Right. Noted.”
Desperate to change the subject to anything other thanwood, I glanced at Micah and blurted out the first thing I could think of. “How are your parents?”
“My parents?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Just curious.”
“They’re… fine. We don’t really keep in contact much anymore.”
“Because they shipped you to Vermont?”
“No… well, not entirely. I guess that’s part of it, even though I do believe it was the best thing for me. They don’t love my choice to work in set design. They don’t understand my sexuality. There’s a lot about me that still causes them headaches.”
“They’re not okay with you being pan?”
He half shrugged and sipped his drink again. “I don’t think it’s that they have aproblemwith it. I think they just think it’s… I don’t know, me being wild again. They keep expecting me to settle down with ‘a nice girl’ someday.” He made air quotes around “a nice girl.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. It’s not my favorite thing about them, that’s for sure.”
