“You know Leo,” Shawn said, rolling his eyes.
“I’ll probably work five or six hours a day and take a day or two off every week. I’ll know more about the workload once I inspect the site, but Leo had some pretty ambitious plans.” I lifted a slice, then took a deep inhale, the scent of baked bread and savory spices filling my nose. “Don’t worry, though,” I added with a glance to Shawn. “I won’t be in your hair the rest of the time or anything. I dragged my drums along to keep myself busy.”
I caught Shawn’s expression as I took a big bite from the slice. His eyes popped wide open, and anxiety creeped across his face.
Fuck, that’s right. Not everyone really loves hearing a drummer every day. But with a mouth full of pizza, I couldn’t get a word out.
“Drums?” Shawn asked carefully, his voice strained and higher than usual.
It was cute, actually.
I swallowed. “I can set them up at the art studio,” I said quickly, “Won’t be any louder than the construction, don’t worry.”
Shawn turned to look at the countertop. “Sure,” he answered with a voice that had popped up an octave.
“You and Leo used to come visit your grandma in the summer here, is that right?” I wanted to get him talking so I could concentrate on filling my stomach. “It’s a pretty sweet house.”
“Every summer, yeah. Leo stopped coming when he was a teenager, but we still spent family Christmas here.”
I looked around, glancing at all the pictures on the walls, photographs in old metallic frames mainly. “Is that your grandpa?” I asked, gesturing to a framed photograph of a slim, silver-haired man, sitting atop a small pile of books on the side table.
Shawn blushed. “No, actually, that’s, um… Carl Sagan.”
“Who’s Carl Sagan?”
“He’s an astronomer.” Shawn pursed his lips, then stood and turned to the cupboards. My eyes caught on the curve of his butt as he reached up to grab a glass “He made a television show in the eighties,” he added, filling the glass from the big metal sink.
“Do you know him? Is he your grandma’s friend or something?”
Shawn sipped nervously. “No, he’s not a friend. Just someone...” He winced, then gulped from the water. “Just Carl Sagan,” he added, a weak smile on his face.
Suddenly, I got a flash back to those high school hallways again, when Shawn had been as tightlipped as they came. The only way to get him to open up about anything was to start talking about myself first. And just like back then, I felt a weird urge from deep inside myself, like I needed to know what he was thinking before my brain would move on.
“Hey, no shade about it, Shawn,” I said. “I had a Halle Berry poster on my wall for years. Why not keep a picture of your celebrity crushes around, right?”
His silver eyes popping out, Shawn stared right at me. “No, no,” he finally said, speaking fast. “I don’t have that picture because I think he’s hot. I mean, Carl Sagan is handsome, but that’s not why I have his picture framed.” His shoulders deflated as his cheeks turned pink. “I swear,” he added weakly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought I remembered Leo saying that you came out of the closet, so I was just assuming.” I shook my head as I set the pizza slice down. “I’m sorry, Shawn. That was probably ignorant of me.”
He held his hands straight up, flicking them at the wrist. “It’s fine, really,” he said, although he was still blushing. “He’s just someone I look up to, though. Not a crush. Just an astronomer.”
I had to bury a smile. There was just something about the way he freaked out that was endearing. I was so used to the guys I played music with, men who had the emotional range of a bad action flick. But with Shawn, it was like I was right there with him, riding his highs and lows as expressions danced across his face. He couldn’t help but to act like himself, and that was something I understood.
“Right,” I said. “Astronomy, got it. So that’s what you’re working on, I take it? You got a telescope around here or something?”
He nodded toward the back of the house. “I do. I’ll make sure to keep it clear of your area.”
I held the remaining pizza, bent in half at the crust. “Cool. Want to show me?” I asked, then shoved it in my mouth.
“You want to see the telescope?”
I nodded, my mouth too stuffed to talk.
“Sure, I guess we can do that,” Shawn answered, then paused. “Will you just wash your hands first?” he asked, almost apologetic.
“Pizza grease,” I said, wiggling my fingers. “Be right back.”
I smiled to myself as I washed up in the bathroom, then paused to push a few strands of hair back in place behind my ear. I’d never played around with a telescope before, but looking at something so far away seemed pretty cool, and I was grateful for any distraction from Nashville and the train wreck I’d left behind with Monica.
