Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
“ L ooks like Randy Ford is a big fan of Theo’s now,” Dewey said, blinking at the parking lot as Randy high-fived and hugged Theo. “Is Randy crying?”
“He’s gonna make a mint,” Keith predicted as he peered around Dewey’s arm. A big square had already been torn out of the middle of the parking lot so that seemed like a safe assumption.
“Go play your game and mind your own business.”
“Can’t. Ball’s stuck.”
“Probably too much oil on that belt again. I’ll have to switch it out after you’re done with this game.”
Dewey retrieved Keith’s ball and returned to the front just as Theo came in from the parking lot. “Must have been good news. For Randy,” Dewey added.
“Very good news!” Theo said, then cleared his throat. “And good news for us because Randy says that we were moments away from something catastrophic happening, and we wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t flushed a few paper towels.”
“Is all of this going to cost a mint?” Dewey asked, gesturing at the parking lot.
“Depends really,” Theo said with a dismissive swat. “I thought it sounded like a bargain and Randy says he can finally get a new van. Apparently, it’s been touch and go for him lately when he gets a call. He said he almost couldn’t get to us today.”
“Didn’t realize Randy was having a tough time,” Dewey said and pushed out a hard sigh. “What’s the damage gonna be on my end?”
“The damage?” Theo asked, shaking his head cluelessly.
“How much is this going to cost me?”
“Not a thing! Consider it a gift,” Theo said and headed for the front desk but Dewey danced back and blocked him.
“A gift? For what? And plumbing isn’t something you give as a gift.” Even though Dewey's heart did skip a beat and he had felt a touch giddy at the thought.
“A gift can be whatever you wish it to be and whatever brings the recipient joy. New plumbing will bring you—and Randy—a great deal of joy,” Theo argued. “You’ve been very kind and you gave me a job when I know you didn’t want to.”
“You’re giving me plumbing to thank me for letting you work here?” Dewey verified flatly.
“Genau!”
There was a loud hoot from lane 6. “Sounds romantic to me, Doobie. Don’t know why you’re lookin’ a gift horse in the mouth when you should be kissing it.”
Theo’s face pinched. “Not sure if I like being called a horse, but he’s right: don’t overthink this. I almost caused a minor problem that saved us from a very big problem.”
“But…how are you paying for—?” Dewey started, only to receive another dismissive splutter from Theo.
“Why are you still hung up on that? Let’s focus on the crisis we’ve averted and Randy’s joy. He’s getting a new truck and we’re getting new plumbing! We’re all winning today.”
“Winning?” Dewey snorted, tossing a hand at Theo as he headed around the counter and back to a broken sensor. “I don’t know what the hell is going on around here, but I doubt I’m winning.”
If anything, Theo was setting Dewey up to be the Loser of The Year, when he left Oslo. All that would be left would be the reminders of how Dewey had fooled himself into thinking he had a chance with Theo. You couldn’t give away plumbing or a parking lot or hide them until everyone moved on and forgot. Theo’s gift would be the first thing that greeted people, when they pulled into Brooks Family Bowling and saw the darker patch of asphalt in the middle of the parking lot. It would be a monument to Dewey’s stupidity and everyone would laugh about it whenever him being single or “supposedly” queer came up.
“Congratulations, Doobie! Couldn’t be happier for you and Theo,” Keith said when he was done playing and left his shoes on the counter. His dry, wheezing laugh followed him out and Dewey glared at Keith’s back when he paused in the parking lot to light a cigarette.
“I hope you’re happy,” Dewey grumbled and shook his head at Theo. He was currently reclining against the jukebox, giggling at the newspaper.
“You can’t deny it, Brooks, we’d make a striking pair,” he said with a wiggle of his brows.
“Shut up.” Dewey glared at Theo on his way to the workshop. “Watch the front,” he added as he shoved his hands into his pockets and sulked past lane 1.
He knew that Cassie and Theo meant well, but the entire town was laughing at Dewey. And it didn’t help that Theo was playing along and encouraging them. He kept getting down on one knee whenever someone mentioned one of them proposing. Dewey must have told him to knock it off a dozen times.
“Why? I’m having fun and it’s flattering. You’re a catch, Brooks, and I could do a lot worse.”
That had to be a joke too. What would a man like Theo possibly see in Dewey? Although, Dewey had caught Theo staring several times. And he was almost certain Theo had enjoyed their kiss as much as Dewey had and was about to kiss him in the workshop, the week before.
Dewey had been dreaming about Theo then, too. He stopped to rest for a moment after inspecting all the pins and filling the oil in the lane machine so it was ready for later. He nodded off and dreamed that Theo had joined him in the workshop and they were dancing again.
“Sing to me, Brooks,” he said as he pushed Dewey against the bench. Theo grabbed hold of Dewey’s beard and kissed him until they were both dizzy and breathless.
“I can’t. I’m too nervous now,” Dewey admitted, then blushed and pretended to protest as Theo attacked his belt buckle and the fly of his jeans.
“Oh, you’re about to sing,” Theo purred as he lowered to his knees.
Dewey woke up just as Theo’s tongue stretched past his lips. It had nearly touched the tip of Dewey’s cock and he would have cried if he hadn’t found himself face-to-face with the real Theo. His lips had grazed Dewey’s right before he panicked and shouted that he was awake. Theo had laughed it off and claimed he was there about the jukebox remote, but Dewey would bet his better arm that they had nearly kissed.
Dewey spent the next week kicking himself over it. Why couldn’t he have remained unconscious for just a few seconds longer? What would have happened next, if Dewey had woken up to an actual kiss from Theo? Why hadn’t Dewey done more after their actual kiss? Would Theo have come to his senses or would he have kept going, like he had in the dream?
Instead of breaking a spell with a kiss, Theo had cast one and had claimed all of Dewey’s dreams. Every time Dewey closed his eyes, he heard their song and Theo’s laughter and felt Theo’s hands on his body. Theo’s ass had become the center of the universe when Dewey was awake. He stared and his eyes followed it around the alley as Theo chatted and laughed with Keith and their other patrons. Whenever they were close, Dewey found himself leaning in and silently begging for another kiss from Theo, to end his suffering.
He wasn’t safe for long in the workshop, unfortunately. “Hey, Brooks,” Theo said as he came around the corner with the paper and Walter trailing after him. “This says there’s a donkey basketball game at the high school tomorrow night.”
“Right,” Dewey nodded. “I haven’t been in years. I’m always here when they do it.”
Theo’s neck swiveled and his brows knitted together. “But there aren’t actual donkeys are there?”
“Yup. The donkeys are real. They don’t play basketball, though. The kids ride the donkeys and try to play a game. It’s just chaos, but it’s a good fundraiser for the basketball program.”
“I…” Theo’s eyelashes fluttered as his jaw flapped. “I have to see that,” he said and turned to leave, but paused and spun back around. “Is it really bothering you, this business about us getting married? I’ll put an end to it this instant if you tell me it is,” he said sincerely.
“Maybe a little,” Dewey mumbled at his boots. It was harder for him to lift his head when he was tired. “I know they’re laughing at me because they know it’ll never happen. Like they used to laugh at me for being bi, because they knew I’d never find an actual man who’d want a big oaf like me.”
“That’s not—! Das ist Blodsinn, Brooks,” Theo stated angrily, then held up a hand. He pinched the bridge of his nose and whispered something else in German and Dewey thought there might have been a little Italian mixed in there as well. “If we had met under any other circumstances and if I wasn’t so sure that I was meant to do something good here…” Theo’s eyes were large and hard as he wagged a finger at Dewey.
“What?” he asked in a hoarse rasp. He was afraid to say anything else or move as Theo prowled toward him.
“I would fuck you in every conceivable position known to man and then I would invent a thousand more. I would put my tongue and my dick in places you have yet to imagine and I would suck every ounce of moisture from your body. I would fuck you right now and I would not stop until our souls were slivers. Do you understand me?”
Theo gave him a fiercely threatening look, causing a weak “Erp!” to slip from Dewey as he nodded.
“Wunderbar. Now, please stop with this Quatsch about no man wanting you,” he said with a hard jab to Dewey’s chest. Dewey stumbled back and dropped onto his stool. “Do you understand?” Theo snapped again and Dewey nodded quickly.
“I… Yes?” he attempted, then nodded again when Theo’s nostrils flared. “Yes!”
“Ausgezeichnet,” Theo said sarcastically, giving Dewey a threatening scowl as he turned and stormed out of the workshop with Walter on his heels. “Cassie is at the dentist so I ordered pizza for lunch. Or whatever it is you Americans call pizza. It should be here soon,” he shouted before disappearing around the first pinsetter.
“Okay... Thank you,” Dewey called after him cautiously.
He was afraid to come out after that. It took Dewey twenty minutes to drag himself out of the workshop and back to his office.
“Can I come in?” he asked as he peeked around the door jamb.
Theo pulled a face and gestured at Dewey’s chair. A large pepperoni and an order of wings were waiting on the desk. Theo held out a paper plate, giving it an impatient wave. “Our ‘pizza’ is getting cold. My ancestors would weep if they saw this.”
“Sorry,” Dewey said as he took his plate and obediently hurried to his seat.
There was a satisfied humph from Theo as he sat across from Dewey. “No need to apologize,” he said. “Here is your blue cheese.” Theo smiled pleasantly as he passed Dewey the cup. “I took the liberty of posting a sign at the front desk informing everyone that the wedding is off and that anyone who mentions it will be banished from the bowling alley.”
Dewey nodded slowly as he took the lid off the cup and dunked one of the drumsticks. “That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” he said, then ducked and laughed when Theo swatted him with an empty plate.
“I am sorry if I went too far,” Theo said as he helped himself to a slice. He took a large bite, then wiped his lips with a paper towel.“With the marriage joke. I meant what I said in the workshop and about this greasy abomination,” he continued. “I thought I was reminding everyone that you were a desirable queer bachelor and that you could marry a charming, funny, and incredibly handsome man. Like myself,” he added with one of his mischievous winks. “I never intended to mock you and I would never encourage that.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” Dewey said with a dismissive shrug. “It’s fine.”
“But I think you’re wrong, Brooks. I don’t think that people like Keith were mocking you because they don’t think I’d want you. I think they were just enjoying how flustered you get. I honestly think Keith would be delighted if he thought it was true.”
Dewey covered as much of his face as he could with one hand. “I don’t get flustered,” he said, shaking his head.
“You do too!” Theo smirked and pointed. “You’re doing it now. Your ears are turning red and it’s adorable.”
“I’m going back to my workshop,” Dewey said as he stood.
Theo caught his wrist and gave it a good tug. “No, you don’t. Sit down and find a game for us to watch, you gorgeous tree of a man.”
“I’m a what?” Dewey choked out, aiming the remote at the TV mounted over the office window.
“You heard me,” Theo said and nodded at the television. “Find a game unless you want me to start climbing.”
Dewey’s eyes swung to the door and he wished he had the nerve to close it and pull down the blinds. “Here? Someone could find out.”
There was an amused snort from Theo. “I guess I’d have to marry you, then,” he said with a casual shrug before taking another bite.
Dewey didn’t know if the joke was wearing off or if Theo had rewired something in his brain with the “souls to slivers” speech. But instead of rolling his eyes, Dewey pushed out a tired snort. “Who said I’m the marrying type?”