My mind drifted back over the fantasies I had been entertaining over the past couple of weeks. They were embarrassing, mainly because I felt like they could never be true. I wanted to live in that house with the guys, fix it up and keep it nice for them, and do stuff like building a treehouse for our kids, and hanging lights outside at Christmas, and planting trees and watching them grow, all with Blake on one side of me and Casey on the other.
But when River asked me about it with such sincerity, I really did start to believe it could all be real. That somehow, three men could make a life together, just like that.
The door opened, pulling me from my thoughts. “We’ll talk later,” River said as Casey and Blake walked in.
The guys tossed their jackets aside, and after they each pulled me in for hugs, they quickly introduced themselves to River. They were each wearing thermal shirts, which wasn’t a thing that I thought I was turned on by, but seeing them both in the woodshop, dressed similarly like that, it was definitely a distraction.
A few minutes later, River’s husband Leo showed up. He was handsome, with a dirty blonde beard and sharp eyes, and he must have come straight from the office because he had to change out of his dress shirt while we were all getting to know each other.
I wanted to talk to everybody at once. I’d heard so much about Leo, and now I was finally getting to meet him, but also I felt like I was hanging on every word Casey and Blake said to River and the other way around. It made me feel flustered and funny and smiley, and the whole time I got everyone set up with their tools, there were butterflies in my stomach.
Leo held the drill out in front of him, then squeezed, making it whir. “My friend Cass tried to teach me carpentry a few times,” he said, “but I accidentally knocked a bucket of paint on his head.”
River laid his hand over Leo’s, guiding the drill down. “The ‘accidentally’ part is in dispute, if I remember.”
Casey laughed. “That’s funny. I knocked a bucket of paint on Blake’s head once, actually.”
Blake frowned. “Hey, I forgot about that.”
“No buckets of paint here,” I said with a glance up. “So we should be fine on that front. Everyone would call themselves inexperienced, is that right?”
“I can do a few things,” Leo said.
River shook his head behind his husband and mouthednot true.
I buried a grin, then glanced over at Casey and Blake. Blake already had his safety goggles on, and Casey’s eyes were drifting across all the biggest tools, which were stored in the back.
“Start from the beginning,” Blake said. “I’m sure we can use the refresher.”
And so, with everyone looking at me, that’s exactly what I did. Without even really thinking about it, I just jumped in from the top. I got everyone in their safety equipment and walked us through some of the basic ideas. My words came out easily, and I could practically hear my father’s voice, buried in the back of my head as he explained the same stuff to customers at the store, day after day.
And kind of like magic, they got it. Or at least, they mainly did. Leo could not cut a straight line for the life of him, and Blake tried to do everything with way too much force, and Casey got impatient and made some mistakes when he knew better. But by the end of the lesson, it was clear that all four of them had actually learned something, and I was left standing there, deeply satisfied by the experience.
“Look at you,” Casey said as we all cleaned up. He and Blake both stepped over to me, and I got another tingly feeling when I spotted the specks of sawdust in Casey’s beard. He lowered his voice, “I knew you were good with your hands, but…”
I laughed, caught by surprise that he was flirting with me, although I guess I shouldn’t have been. “You can teach me more with your hands later, if you want,” I flirted back.
Blake snorted, impressed. “You two,” he grunted, then shook his head as he shoved the drill back in its case.
“If you’re done whispering sweet nothings over there,” River teased, “should we all go out for a drink?”
I looked over to the guys, and my instinct was to step right between them and pull their bodies close together. I stopped myself at first, but then I realized I actually didn’t have anything to hide or anything to be ashamed of. And without another thought, I slid my arm around Casey’s side and turned to Blake. “What do you think?”
“Yeah,” Blake grunted, a funny smile on his face as he looked at us, then rubbed his thumb across my cheek. “Sounds good.”
My heart was singing as we walked out. Telling the guys I wanted more with them was an overwhelming idea, but hanging out with the group together sounded easy and fun. As we got to the front door, though, I was surprised to see Mr. Kooning, the cranky old man who taught my class, walking in and kicking snow off his boots.
“Mr. Young,” he said, addressing me like he did all the students. “What brings you in?”
“Just showing some of my friends around the woodshop,” I said, gesturing to everyone. I would normally introduce them, but Mr. Kooning’s attitude never suggested he was the chatty type.
“A how-to,” Casey added. “Russell was our expert.”
Mr. Kooning nodded brusquely. “I’m not surprised.” He looked straight at me. “You’re knowledgeable enough to teach half of my classes,” he said, then walked off without another word.
I stood there, kind of stunned by the compliment, especially in front of everyone. Then Blake stepped behind me and rested his hand on my shoulder with a squeeze.
“Come on, Teach,” he said, “we owe you a drink.”
