29
Ryan mopped sweat off his brow, questioning the wisdom of waiting until the middle of the day to climb a ladder and do manual labor in South Florida. Of course, it’d been his idea, so he had no one to blame but himself for the sticky feeling of sweat pouring down his back right now.
It’d all be worth it when it was done.
“You’ve got an audience,” Oscar said as he came out of the house, carrying a pitcher of iced tea. The mid-afternoon sun caught the ice cubes in it, bouncing off them in all directions, making the whole thing glitter like it was enchanted.
Oscar had never been more attractive than he was in this moment. Mostly because he was carrying a cold drink.
Ryan looked over his shoulder to see what Oscar was talking about, spotting a scaly nose sticking out of the grass at the side of the road.
The alligator babies had never strayed far from home, even when they’d been released into the wild weeks ago. Oscar insisted there was no way Ryan couldstilltell which was which, but he knew better. This one was Lucy, the one he’d been afraid was dead at first. He’d never forget her.
“She’s fine,” Ryan said, realizing that six months ago, his response would have beenverydifferent.
This place had changed him. For the better, though.
He climbed down the ladder, happy to take a break before getting back to work. The first coat needed to dry, anyway.
“You’re doing a great job up there,” Oscar nodded to the Wild at Heart sign that hung over the front entrance to the sanctuary. It’d needed a coat of paint for years.
Ten YouTube videos about removing rust, priming metal, and sign painting later, and Ryan was about halfway through the job.
And, honestly, pretty damned proud of his work.
“Thanks,” he grinned, taking the glass Oscar offered once he was firmly on the ground. The ice cubes clinked as he tipped it back, draining it in four desperate gulps and holding it out for a refill.
Oscar snorted, but obliged. “I remember you being a snob about this when you came here. All you ever drank was coffee and water.”
“And orange juice,” Ryan defended. “But you’re right, I’m a changed man. I’ve widened my beverage horizons.”
“You have changed,” Oscar said. “But for the better. I can’t tell you how proud I am of all the ways you’ve grown.”
Ryan smiled a tiny, shy smile into his glass of tea, scuffing the dry dirt under his feet with the edge of his extremely practical steel-toed boots. He’d been convinced to start wearing those the first time Finn had dropped a trestle table on his foot while they were rearranging the reptile shed.
Finn had apologized for days every time he’d seen Ryan limping around. Oscar had silently bought him work boots and managed to avoid sayingI told you soafter a month of insisting that if Ryan was going to take on some of the manual labor around the place, he needed protective equipment.
Things had been interesting, but Ryan wouldn’t have given any of it up for anything. Not the early starts or the late nights, not all the times he’d been bitten by other people’s pet cats, not even the time Buttercup had just appeared in the kitchen one morning after breaking free of her enclosure.
“Most of that’s on you. I’m still shocked you bothered with me. Not complaining, though,” Ryan said after a moment, looking up at his handiwork and squinting against the sun.
This sanctuary had changed his life. Oscar had changed his life. And Finn, and May. Hell, he was even excited to meet Ezra, who he’d heard all kinds of stories about, and for the sanctuary to start taking in birds again. He’d always wanted to meet a falcon.
Things weregood.
If he could summon the courage to ask what he’d been trying to for a month, they’d be even better. Waiting for the right moment only workedsowell.
What better moment was there than this? When things finally seemed like they were getting back on track.
“You still have no concept of how hot you are,” Oscar said. “One of the first thoughts I had about you was that I wanted to climb you like a tree.”
A blush heated Ryan’s cheeks, making the back of his neck prickle as blood rushed to his face and ears.Thathadn’t changed. Oscar still made him blush almost constantly.
“I wondered how your hair was so shiny,” Ryan said. “But now that I’ve seen the inside of your bathroom, I know it’s more of a process than I could ever stick to.”
Oscar chuckled. “Your hair is fine. And perfect grabbing length.” He grinned.
“So I was thinking,” Ryan said suddenly, afraid he’d lose his nerve yet again if he waited any longer. “You can say no, obviously, and it won’t make any difference, I mean, I’d understand if you didn’t want—”
