“Hey, it’s your weekend off too. How handy is that? It’s like a sign.” Laird hopped out with a bag full of something that smelled amazing. “I got sausage biscuits from the truck stop.”
His stomach growled. “Yum.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I don’t suppose you have coffee?”
Devon rolled his eyes. “I always have coffee and tea and hot cocoa and hot cider—whatever you need. Come on in.”
Laird shook his head, surprising him. “No, if we go in, then we’re never going to get this done.”
They both started to laugh, and Laird put the sausage biscuits on the little table that sat on his front porch. “Grab me a cup of coffee, I’ll get this set out, and then we can start work. You can point me and shoot me.”
Okay, that was the sweetest thing that anybody had done for him in an eon. Honestly.
Because none of this was any fun, and he hadn’t asked Laird to help, but it was amazing to have him show up, to be honest.
Devon loved that now he knew exactly how Laird took his coffee and what kind of pizza he liked. He also knew where a good number of his lover’s hot spots were.
Devon hadn’t found them all yet, obviously, but he was working his way through the map.
Devon grabbed a mug out of the cabinet and fixed Laird a cup of coffee, putting in two creamers, no sugar, and brought it back out.
Laird had wiped off the table from the salt and schmutz winter had left behind, and everything was laid out. It was actually kind of pretty—these two sausage biscuits and a little paper bowl of hash browns, just waiting for him.
“This looks great.”
Laird blushed. “Thanks.”
“Not just for breakfast; I was kind of just standing out here trying to convince myself not to just go back inside and hide.”
“Oh well, it doesn’t get done otherwise, right? Everything goes faster and is more fun with two.”
“True that.” Devon was just a little in trouble with this one.
Laird was thoughtful, liked spending time with him. They had breakfast together a lot as he was going into the office, and Laird was coming off a shift.
But there were lots of times when it happened the opposite way. He had his fair share of late nights at the birthing center.
“How’d the last couple of days go?” Laird asked, and he smiled.
“It’s been very peaceful. I expect an emergency any day, but no, seriously. It’s been incredibly easy the last few days. Just regular appointments. Everyone’s progressing as they’re supposed to. No one’s had any emergencies.” He rapped on the house so he was knocking on wood.
“Yeah. It’s been nice and quiet for us since we’re in between icy season and summer drunkenness.” Laird gave him a wink while he sucked down some coffee. “Oh that’s good, babe.”
“Thanks.” Devon beamed, digging into his hash browns. Oh, he loved potatoes. But this was all the better because Laird had been so thoughtful.
“So, give me what the plan is.” Laird picked up a sausage biscuit and started munching.
“Like I said, I was kind of standing there frozen with my rose clippers in my hands. I can tell you what I need to do, and maybe we can go from there?” He hoped Laird would help organize things a little bit. He knew that was a ridiculous cliche, saying, “Oh, the alpha needed to help him figure stuff out.” But really, he was good at the interior part, not the exterior part.
That was why his house needed painting so badly.
“Sure, shoot.” Laird pulled out his phone and opened some sort of note-taking app.
Devon ran down the list and tried to include everything from painting to the front step to just the roses and everything else. “The yard they mowed for me, and it’ll be good for a little while, but so much of it is just wildly overgrown.”
Laird looked up at the front porch, studying the woodwork and everything. “Well, I think first we need to address your wonky step because that’s dangerous, and we don’t want you falling. Then I think we can work on the roses and some of the other stuff out in the yard while I arrange for us to get help to come paint.”
“Oh, I don’t want you to put anybody out. I don’t want to put you out.” They had been dating enough, probably, for Laird to come help him, but he really didn’t know if he needed Laird to coerce his friends into it. That might be a bridge too far.
