Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Rhodes
My knight in shining armor was going to drive me insane.
“I know I’m not supposed to touch it but I have to touch it.” Why couldn’t I poke the meat? “It’ll be fine.”
“Touch that meat and there will be consequences.”
Did he understand how that sounded?
“Don’t touch your own meat either.” Okay, Knightly had to know how that one sounded. “We’re pretending to be family-ready… judgmental dickhead family-ready.”
Ignoring the mumbled dickhead comment was second nature because even they didn’t like each other.
“I didn’t touch anything.” My back was to him. There was no way he could be positive about where my hand had been going. “I’m staying very still.”
“Bullshit.” My frustratingly sexy neighbor barked out his opinion, making me even harder. “You’re not subtle at all.”
I couldn’t lie about that, so I changed the subject. “Are they ready for me to flip now?”
I could almost hear him rolling his eyes but I wasn’t sure how that was possible. I was going to chalk it up to him being very strange and leave it at that, but it didn’t tell me how to respond correctly to anything he said.
“Let me check.” He came over from where he’d been moving my patio furniture around, but instead of standing beside me, he stepped behind me, making it even harder to think.
He was so hot he made me stupid and didn’t even seem to realize it.
“Yes, now you can flip it over, but I want you to remember that we put it on the grill and leave it alone.” He was polite and I had to admit it was a nicer way to say it than telling me it wasn’t Play-Doh.
“It’ll come out prettier and juicier that way and it’ll impress everyone to see you calm and in charge. ”
Calm.
In charge.
“That’s what they’re looking to see. Calm.
Confident. In charge.” As I nodded and reminded myself of it again, Knightly took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
I knew he wanted me to mimic him, but it was also ridiculously hot too.
“They have a stupid image of what manly means but we can’t fix stupid. ”
“Calm. Confident. In charge.” Repeating it, I took another deep breath and carefully flipped the burgers before setting the spatula down. “You’re good at that.”
He chuckled, sending a shiver through me. “You have things you’re good at too. I saw the art when you showed me your kitchen.”
Oh.
“It’s just stuff I play around with.” How had he known it was mine? “But thank you.”
His scoff made me want to laugh. “We’ll come back to that one, Bouncy, but for now we’re going to finish making lunch. Then I’ll let you give me more bullshit on it just being you goofing off.”
I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to answer that.
“Then we’ll walk through the rest of the meal?” I’d been honest when I said I had stuff besides meat, but I’d never been the one to do the family barbecues. “You said you wanted to check on that.”
I was really glad he was the take-charge type.
“Yes.” He sounded glad I appreciated how take-charge he was too. “And we can go over how to set everything up if you’d like.”
“Yes. I’d like.” There was a lot more to hosting stuff than I’d realized. “How did you get so good at this?”
He was so close I could feel his breath on my neck, but I managed not to moan, so I was amazing. “I attract high-maintenance women who like to throw parties and I dated an event planner for a while. He was one walking, talking red flag, but I learned a lot about planning stuff like this.”
He?
He was a red flag?
Knightly’s low chuckle said I’d given away my shock. “Is there something you’d like to say? To ask, maybe?”
Shoot.
I’d gone too still.
“No?” Ugh. “No. I’m just appreciating your help.”
He was bi?
How?
Maybe he’d dated the guy without realizing it? I’d seen it happen before to straight guys who were on the more clueless side of dating. They thought they were just being nice and hanging out on a regular basis and didn’t realize it was a date until something went pear-shaped… well… eggplant-shaped.
“I’m glad you’re feeling very appreciative.” He nearly purred out the words but I still wasn’t sure what was going on. My dick was completely ignoring any and all questions, though. It was just happy to perk up and try to say hello to Knightly. “It’s nice to be appreciated.”
That was deliberate, right?
“I do.” Oh yes. “You… you’ve been very helpful.”
So appreciating him at some point would just be polite.
My dick and I both liked that logic, but my brain was waving around rainbow flags. It wasn’t going to be talked into ignoring the issue like my dick had been. Brains always complicated things, which was why I turned it off as much as possible when it came to dating.
But Knightly was my neighbor.
He wasn’t just an impulsively bad decision that I could write off later. He lived next door and I’d have to see him on a regular basis.
Ugh.
“I… I think there might be something I need to talk to you about before we get to that whole appreciation thing.” Reminding myself again that he was my neighbor and I didn’t want to have to avoid him until one of us moved or died, I sighed and focused on my meat.
“Just to make sure I don’t surprise you with something that might be important later. ”
It might be.
Maybe?
Most guys were nice even if they were confused, but Knightly was nice and really confusing.
“I can’t think of anything that would be too much of a surprise unless there are bodies or a boyfriend locked in a closet somewhere.” I managed not to laugh at the closet joke, but that was only because I was worried about how he’d take the actual issue.
He had straight-guy levels of confidence and it was throwing me off.
Most gay men had enough radar for squirrely shit that they’d have backed off and asked me what I was into. Knightly just took it in stride and was confident he’d be able to handle it. I wasn’t going to feel bad for not realizing he liked men too.
“Nothing like that.” I was actually safe to date and not dangerous…
I was just more interesting than average and I didn’t want to surprise him with that part.
“I’m just going to make sure you help me first before you make excuses to leave and I have to pretend not to see you when we’re checking the mail at the same time. ”
It’d really suck to have to find a new routine, though.
Making sure I got to see him at the mailbox on a regular basis was the only reason I checked it.
“I think that’s fair.” And funny based on how he was trying not to laugh. “But I think we need to add checking the house to make sure nothing interesting stands out to our to-do list.”
Oh.
Okay, so it was good he was actually going to be nosy and figure shit out, but I hadn’t thought about that part. “Um, I kind of want them to stay out of the second floor, but I don’t know how to do that.”
I could almost hear the wheels in his head turning as he considered the new item on his list. “Are we looking to be subtle or obvious that they don’t need to snoop around your house?”
“Obvious.” Subtle wouldn’t help. “The important spaces upstairs have locks on the doors but my uncle taught himself how to pick locks as a kid and he’s a menace.”
To the family and society in general… and I still hadn’t figured out which of the kids he’d taught to pick locks.
It couldn’t have been just me.
Knightly’s shoulders jerked but managed to let out a slow breath instead of laughter. “I’ve got you covered.”
He was amazing… and much stranger than I’d realized if he thought any of this was reasonable.
“But meat first and protecting you from your family second.” He somehow wrapped himself around me without actually touching me, which was an amazing feat and really erotic.
He played it off as studying the food we’d been practicing with, but I was starting to think he really wasn’t straight. “Then we’ll talk about appreciation.”
Reminding my dick one more time that he had to behave, I managed not to moan as he took my hand, but it was hard and difficult and distracting. “Let me show you something.”
Anything.
He could show me anything.
Turning my hand over, he positioned my thumb and index finger together. “Press here.”
Pointing to the squishy part of my palm near my thumb, he waited until I obeyed then gestured toward the steak we were going to practice on next. “Rare.”
Barely caressing my fingers, he shifted them until my middle finger and thumb were touching. “Medium-rare.”
Continuing to gently position my fingers, he ran through the rest of the scale all while melting my brain just a bit more each time.
It was so hot I couldn’t help imagining that scene in Ghost with the clay.
Clay had nothing on meat.
When he’d gone through it twice, my knees were weak and the burgers were done.
He just seemed to be getting started, though, because he ran his thumb over my palm where he’d been teaching me all about how to handle meat, and made a pleased sound.
“I know you’re going to be very good at handling my meat. ”
That should’ve been the most ridiculous line I’d ever heard, but I was just hoping I was reading it right and it was a pickup line.
He could still be clueless, right?
“I… I try my best.” Swallowing hard, I tried to sound relaxed but the words came out as a squeak. “Especially when it’s someone helpful and… and take-charge like you.”
If he was actually bi, maybe he didn’t realize the take-charge, Dom kind of vibes he was giving off?
“Sometimes my… take-charge nature frustrates people, but it’s easy to see you appreciate those qualities.” Knightly’s tone said he was smiling even if I was afraid to turn around and make eye contact with him. “I’m glad I’ve finally realized that.”
How was he finally just realizing I was a sub?
Okay, sure. We hadn’t been single at the same time since I’d moved in but I was about as subtle as a dump truck.
“Me too.”
I could fake boring when I needed to. I did a good job of it at work but at home was another story. This was my happy place and I’d never felt the need to be someone else here. However, that was coming back to bite me in the ass now that my family was descending.
Maybe his offer to check out the house for weird shit had been smarter than I’d realized at first.
“Meat. Planning. Then appreciation.” He was so close his breath was caressing my neck and I could almost feel his mouth on me, but he had much better control than I did because he moved away.
Fuck.
It turned out he was actually serious about the plan.
Finishing practice on the burgers and steaks before cleaning the grill took longer than I liked but I had to admit he was a good teacher. He managed to get me comfortable with the grill and the fire by the time everything was done, and his nice words aside, it felt like I’d done a good job.
Showing him the sides and what else I’d gotten ready went smoothly as well. “I made the stuff like the potato salad last night so it had a chance to meld the flavors together.”
Knightly was nodding as he studied the food. “You’ve done a good job getting all of this together. What do you think about borrowing a folding table from me so that you can bring most of this outside? It’ll keep everyone from finding excuses to come into the house.”
That was perfect.
“That sounds great.” I really didn’t understand why he seemed to think taking charge in a stressful situation was bad. Every time I pointed out something I actually had a handle on he immediately backed off and thought about it.
He was not as much of a pain in the ass as someone had told him he was.
“Alright.” Nodding to himself as he looked around, he was back to giving off straight guy with a plan vibes and I could see how I’d been so confused.
“We’re going to do the walk-through of the house and then we’ll go get the rest of the stuff from my house.
I’ve got a few bowls and some yard games that the kids can play if your brother’s stepkids come. ”
He was really good at remembering details too.
“Yes. Okay.” I’d thought it would take longer to get to this point but somehow the day was passing faster than I’d expected. “That’s a good idea. Yes.”
Getting my brain and feet to work at the same time wasn’t as easy as it should’ve been. Knightly was more patient than I’d ever be, but eventually he started wandering around the kitchen. “Mail needs to go upstairs for the moment so no one gets curious.”
Picking up the small pile, he nodded toward my e-reader and a small pile of books I’d forgotten about. “Those will get noticed too.”
Oops.
Had he looked at those covers very closely?
Well, if he hadn’t before, he had once he picked them up.
Ugh.
How had I forgotten those?
Frowning, he looked like he was playing the role of the thoughtful professor. “There was something else I noticed… what was it?”
Something obvious evidently.
His thinking sounds were a bit over-the-top, but went with the vibe of his character. “It was something… oh…”
Face lighting up like he was proud of himself, he looked over to the cabinets. “The sippy cups and cute plates in your cabinet. Unless those are for the stepkids?”
Oh.
Shoot.
I really wasn’t meant to have company.