8. Chapter 8
Chapter eight
Evander
He knew it wasn’t the most diplomatic choice, but putting everything out in the open was Evander’s best bet. The patio space was so important. This was the right call for Melanie’s mom and dad, giving them a nice, usable space. Which was true, but if he had to take some truth serum or something, he’d also have to admit that he wanted one up on Ozzy. Especially after catching him with that goofy, cum-brained look on his face. It was the one he’d always given Evander when they were about to have the best sex of the entire month. Which was saying something. Ozzy was good in the sack.
Plus I’ve never had any complaints.
That wasn’t a fruitful path, so he refocused totally on Melanie instead of his memories of Ozzy. “I was thinking about that patio. It’s perfect for your mom’s entertaining space that she would want, at least when it’s not the dead of winter. Looks like it’s set up like that at their place now?”
Melanie nodded. “Yeah. Even before they downsized. We were the neighborhood barbecue family.”
Evander nodded, smiling wider. “And I know your dad is going to take amazing care of the yard and all the plants out there. I was wondering what you thought about basically…including that patio as another room. Totally decorate it out, make it an extension of the house instead of an outdoor little spit of nothing.”
“It’s not going to be a spit of nothing.” Ozzy stood up, hands on the table. “Evander. I think we need to have a little talk about this.”
“I don’t see why we can’t talk about this now. I just want what’s best for this house.”
“So do I. But I don’t appreciate the implication that I would somehow neglect the patio space.”
“I hope I didn’t make that implication. I just figure, since designing living spaces is my specialty, I should probably take a pretty large role in that patio. As long as Melanie thinks that’s the kind of space her parents would actually use.”
Melanie nodded. “Absolutely. If you think you can integrate it that well.”
“I definitely can.” Evander smiled at her, pointedly not looking at Ozzy as he spoke. “It’ll be like the house is just flowing right outside. Ozzy will be a great help.”
“I don’t mean to nitpick, but I don’t know that you have all the experience necessary to totally kit out an outdoor space.” Ozzy still hadn’t sat back down, and the tension in his voice gave away his frustration. At least to Evander, who knew him that well.
Evander sighed, putting on his best airs of innocence. “That’s why you’re going to be such a valuable resource in helping me out, Oswald. Couldn’t even attempt to do this without your advice.”
Ozzy’s face tightened. “We’ll talk later. To hash out the details.”
“Of course. Once we get through all this, see the final results of the design app.”
Ozzy said nothing else, finally sitting back down, but he was still staring at Evander. No more slack-jawed horny expression, either. Glaring may have been a more accurate word, but Evander stopped giving him any attention. He had everyone else on board, in public, on camera. Ozzy couldn’t do anything about that.
In the end, it didn’t look like Melanie had made too many changes when the final mood board generated. It was only the second time they’d gotten to use the all new, redesigned app, and it functioned mostly the same way as Mason’s original from all those years ago, taking all the design choices a client made and compiling them together, but he had to admit it was a step up in polish. Melanie had kept the style maximalist instead of trying to conform it to her own design sensibilities, which led to the template throwing her other choices into windows of all different shapes and sizes. Stars, hearts, squares, triangles. The colors it showed were a bit more saturated than Evander had in mind, but not outside the realm of reasonability.
The furniture designs were simple, which Jake would probably be happy for. The lighting and plumbing fixtures were just what they’d seen in her parents’ house. Or at least, as close as could be spat out by the app. The landscaping as well. The only real changes that stood out as Evander craned to see the screen were in the finishes. The house they’d toured was mostly wood and fake stone, with some very basic fabrics in the mix, save for that quilt Evander had snapped pictures of.
What Melanie picked was all across the board. Exciting, to be sure, but all different finishes of metal in all different colors, mostly dark woods, but with a couple toward the paler end. Stone and laminate and tile. Ribbed fabrics and fake leather and silk. It was a mishmash if ever Evander had seen one, and while it was definitely going to provide enough options…he had to speak up. A little. “I like the direction this is going, but is there anything in the various finishes that really stands out?” He gestured…sort of all over the screen, but tried to keep it where clusters of wood or metal were displayed. “Just one or two to hang the rest of the design on so we know which of these should really get the most focus.”
“I’m sure you can figure it out.” Ozzy came up behind him, somehow unnoticed, and clapped a hand down on Evander’s shoulder. Hard. “You’re great at this. If Melanie thinks of anything, she’ll let us know.” He gave another hard clap, then took his hand away. “I mean, if I can see a perfectly reasonable design, I’m sure you have a ton going on. Of course, if you’re not able to—”
“Oh, it’s not about my ability Oswald.” He smiled, but didn’t actually turn full-on to face Ozzy, instead offering most of his attention to Melanie as his shoulder throbbed. “When it comes to the kind of design work I do versus what you do, it’s just better to give people some more choice in the matter. I know your landscaping doesn’t need as much knowledge.” That had been a snipe if he’d ever uttered one, but that hit on the shoulder stung . Plus, it was true. At least in this case. Evander was at a bit of a loss with how to actually structure the design. Freedom was good, but creativity needed borders to really thrive.
“Well, if we’re all finished for now?” Mason inserted himself between the two of them, turning the laptop back to face his now empty chair. He smiled at Melanie. “If you don’t mind, I think we’re going to head back to the hotel. Have to work on some of these designs in private so we have something to surprise you with when we start kicking ass tomorrow.”
“All right.” She darted her eyes back and forth between Ozzy and Evander a couple times, then nodded to Mason. “Are you sure you have to go all the way back out there? I know it’s probably a hassle.”
They continued to hash it out, but new pressure appeared on Evander’s sore shoulder. He looked behind him and saw Ozzy, no hint of a smile. He jerked his head toward the back door, sending his bangs flying for a second. “Let’s go have that talk.”
The growl in his voice was clearly frustration, but it hearkened back through Evander’s memories. All of Ozzy’s frustration sounded the same, whether it was with some annoying client or with the job…or because he had blue balls and needed a hardcore bang session. It was the growl that he had when they would come back home after a tough job and just needed to unload.
And in spite of himself, it thrummed through Evander and quaked his knees. He straightened up immediately, but wasn’t sure he got quite the same level of condescending sweetness in his voice as he intended. “I think we should talk back at the hotel, don’t you? I know you and your temper. Melanie will hear when you can’t face a reasonable argument.”
He snorted, but nodded, then moved clear to the other side of the room. And once more, in spite of himself, Evander caught his gaze wandering down to Ozzy’s ass. Even in grungy old work jeans, he had a good ass.
Not an ass I need. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, like he could make the unbidden thoughts fly out of his ears. They broke up for a good reason, after all. A dozen good reasons.
Even if none of them presented themselves as Evander checked him out.