Chapter 4 #2
I blinked. I’d somehow managed to drive to my next appointment without even noticing, and given Claudia’s questions and her tone, I’d missed what she’d said, too. “Yeah, sorry. I got in my head.”
I could hear the smile in her voice. “You are prone to that.” She chuckled. “So are you going to do it or not?”
I turned into the parking lot of Jeb’s Landscaping, pulled into a spot, and shifted my truck into park. “Sorry, Cloudy. Can you repeat what you said?”
“I’ll text you the details, but Gomillion High’s assistant principal, Vanessa, said they could use some help setting up for the reunion. I told her I’d ask if you would help.”
I sighed loudly, not at all worried about hiding my disdain. Claudia knew I hated this kind of shit. “Aw, Cloudy, you know I don’t want to do that!”
She didn’t answer right away, and my gut clenched. She was working up to something I wasn’t going to like. “Miles, you are lonely. I can see it. Hell, Ophelia can see it. And we don’t want that for you. This could be a way to get into town life.”
“I like my life the way it is, Cloudy,” I shot back instantly, but it didn’t feel true, not anymore. Not after meeting Atlas in January, despite never seeing him since.
Somehow, my meager, largely solitary existence had lost its appeal. I’d been clinging to it, but if I was honest with myself, I felt like I was wearing a jacket that no longer fit. I was lonely.
Claudia might’ve been right.
“Fuck.” I scrubbed a hand down my face. “Okay, I’ll give her a call, see what she needs. But no promises.”
She shrieked on the other end of the line. “Gah, thank you, Miley! This will be good for you, I know it.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I gazed up at the low, one-story building before me and blinked a few times.
Seeing the name of the business on the lighted sign on the roof pricked something in the back of my mind, but I wasn’t sure why.
“Listen, I’ve got another appointment. Send me her number, and I’ll connect with her. ”
“Will do, Miley.”
“Love you, Cloudy.”
“Love you, too. Later, big brother.”
She hung up, and I took a deep breath. Could I do this? Did I want to do this? Surely reaching out for more information couldn’t hurt.
But that would wait. Because right now—I double-checked the request on the app—I had a wall to repair inside. Time to get back to work.
***
All too often, I got suspicious calls to fix something.
Wall repairs could be some of the oddest, and I never really knew what I was walking into, even if they’d attached a picture to their request. In this case, the photo they’d sent made it appear to be a simple hole in the drywall, which I should be able to repair quite easily.
I hoped it was that easy, anyway. It had already been a long day, and I was ready to go home, have a cool shower, and chill with a cold beer while bingeing my favorite TV show. As per usual.
Shit, Claudia was right, wasn’t she? At thirty-eight, my life had gotten boring as fuck.
I climbed out of my truck, sliding on sunglasses as I squinted against the bright sun. I’d chosen a simple navy-blue T-shirt that stretched across my pecs nicely if I said so myself and a pair of dark-wash jeans that were easy to wash should they get dirty—and they always did. It was inevitable.
On every job, before grabbing any supplies, I went inside to talk to the person who’d submitted the ticket to get the lay of the land.
I’d assess the damage, determine what I needed to fix it, then go back to my truck to get the necessary equipment.
Nine times out of ten, I had the right tools on hand, but I had a great relationship with Joe, the middle-aged—fuck, he was my age—man who ran the hardware store downtown, and I could grab anything I was missing fairly quickly.
No offense to Joe, but with a bit of luck, I wouldn’t have to do that today.
The bell chimed as I strode through the glass door into a small waiting room with a low ceiling.
What I could see of the room was pleasantly decorated, with hallways opening in several directions to other parts of the building—offices, showrooms, maybe a warehouse?
The spaces to my left were hidden behind some large panels beautifully advertising their services.
I didn’t see anyone right away, but in no time at all, I heard the telltale click-clack of heels hurrying toward me from the hallway directly across from the front door, and I cleared my throat as I prepared to speak with whomever came from the back.
When they appeared, my heart got stuck in my throat.
Atlas.
“Miles?”
I blinked, trying to get my legs, arms, throat—anything, really—to work again. I was going to need more than my eyelids to be able to function like a normal human, thank you very much.
“A-Atlas.” I tripped on the word, so I cleared my throat before trying again.
“You look . . .” Truthfully, no word in the English dictionary could adequately describe the beautiful vision in front of me.
Atlas had floated into the room in a royal-blue wrap dress that hit mid-calf with a flowing skirt that crinkled and swayed as he moved.
He’d paired the dress with black heeled boots that put him closer to eye-level with me, and his eyeshadow was bright and bold in oranges and yellows that complemented his outfit perfectly.
I swallowed hard, trying to remember why I was here.
“Miles?” he asked again.
I blinked, clearing my throat. “Sorry. I’m here for a wall repair?”
Atlas smirked at me, and my dick twitched inconveniently in my jeans. “Yes. It’s right over here.”
He led me through the open lobby toward a water cooler and small snack station that had been hidden from view by not-quite-to-scale landscaping displays that took up most of the middle of the large room.
And sure enough, to the right of the countertop, at chest height, a fist-sized hole was punched through the drywall.
I turned to Atlas, my eyebrow lifting. “What the hell happened here? Did you not serve the name-brand snacks?”
Atlas cracked up, his entire body shaking, and I couldn’t help but chuckle with him.
The sound of his laugh lit me up from the inside, filling me with his sunshine.
Warmth I hadn’t felt anywhere but in his presence coursed through me until his laughter naturally trailed off.
“Oh my god, Miles, I forgot about your sense of humor.” He snickered, holding his sides as he tried to catch his breath. “Damn, you’re hilarious.”
My face heated—no one besides him had ever thought I was funny before. I kinda liked it.
“But sadly, no. Disgruntled customer didn’t like the way we’d trimmed their hedges.”
I gaped at him, and his hand shot into the air.
“Scout’s honor! That was their legitimate complaint.”
I smiled. “I believe you, Atlas. And by the way, what are your pronouns right now?”
Atlas beamed at me. “It’s a they/them sort of day.”
I nodded. “Thanks. You look incredible, by the way.”
I could’ve sworn they blushed. “Thanks.” Atlas straightened, clearing their throat. “I mean, of course I do. I’m fabulous.” They flipped the long hair atop their head out of their eyes, and I chuckled.
“So is this your job? I thought you were in Marketing—wouldn’t an admin normally do this?”
Atlas nodded. “Typically, yes. But Janie had a family emergency come up after she put the ticket in this morning, so I’m filling in.”
“Everything okay?” I asked. I’d met Janie a few times, and she’d seemed cool.
“I think so. She had to take her cat to the vet. I got a text from her about ten minutes ago saying Sniffles will be just fine.”
I stared at them a little longer than was probably normal, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. “Um. Sniffles?”
Atlas’s eyes twinkled as their lips twitched. “That’s what she said. Er—typed.” Their smile widened. “But you’re not here for the Sniffles saga.”
I smiled. Despite my usual need to duck out of conversations at the earliest possible moment, I found myself not wanting to leave.
That was weird. The smile was weird, too.
“Not really—all due respect to Sniffles, of course.” I chuckled, and I was grateful they did the same.
“But this should be a simple fix. I can have it patched up in an hour or two, then I’ll have to come back tomorrow and the next day to get it looking like new. ”
At my words, they literally batted their eyelashes at me. So over the top. I loved it. “Lucky me.”
I laughed again, something I suspected I should come to expect in Atlas’s presence. “I’m sure I’m the lucky one.”
They sighed, their hand fluttering to their chest. “You flatter me.”
“Is it flattery if it’s true?” I asked, not expecting an answer. “Besides, you deserve it.”
Their grin sent sparks dancing in my chest.
“Okay, I’ll get to work. But before I do, do you know if you have any of this paint lying around?”
Their smile turned professional but no less beautiful. “I’ll ask. Will it be a problem if we don’t?”
I shook my head. “Not at all. I should be able to replicate the color fairly easily. Joe’s good at that.”
Atlas cocked their head to one side. “Joe?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry. He runs Stanley’s Hardware downtown.”
“Um, shouldn’t that be, uh, Stanley?”
I snickered. “That’s Joe’s last name.”
“Oh!” Atlas laughed again then let out a happy-sounding sigh. “Okay, I’ll let you get to it. Enjoy.”
I nodded. “I’ll give you a heads up when I’m heading out.”
Atlas sashayed away, their ass swaying so deliciously I wanted to drop to my knees and feast on it. But then they regrettably stepped out of sight, and my mood fell at the loss of their presence.
After I allowed myself a moment’s musing, I literally shook the feeling off. Then I squared my shoulders, headed outside to grab my supplies from my truck—I did, in fact, have everything I needed to get started—and got to work.