25. Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
Ozzy
The yard was actually starting to take shape after all this time. The sod and the mulch were all basically in place and rooted down, and most of the plants had been delivered. It still rankled Ozzy a little bit to be doing this work for the rich family when they were supposed to be putting together a house for Melanie’s parents, but he could mostly push past that as long as he kept working and moving.
Which was a problem with how many contractors were there in the yard with him. Several more had peeled away to work in the actual in-law suite, but he still had more than enough hands to get all the outdoor work done, which meant he had to muscle his way into any of the actual gardening he wanted to do, just to feel like he wasn’t standing around supervising .
“Ozzy!”
He turned to see Jake jogging over to him, his shirt clinging to his chest with sweat, smiling broad. “Hey. Ev wanted final approval from both of you on the fence cutouts before I fire up the circular saw and start taking apart the fence.”
“Wow. I get final say.” Maybe blowing such a massive load had really improved Evander’s mood. He looked around to see that he really wasn’t needed as the rest of the crew dug holes and started hauling in bushes and potted flowers, so he gestured over Jake’s shoulder. “Let’s get going, then.”
He followed Jake toward the house and around the back. There were a couple sawhorses set up with a plywood sheet laid across them, and the now-stained trellis sections stacked up. They’d gone with a deep, reddish brown stain that would help warm up the general palette without clashing. Or something. It looked nice, and that was what mattered.
Evander also looked nice, but Ozzy wasn’t going to say anything about that. He was smiling and looked relaxed, wearing a black tank top that showed off his arms and his pits and a little flash of his chest when he moved just right…
“Well, what do you think?” Jake pointed to a white, penciled-in rectangle on the fence, then to a series of similar rectangles spaced down the length of the back fence. “This is them equally spaced, but there’s still a chance for adjustments. Or we could strip the finish off of these if that’s what you all decide.”
“I’m okay with the look, and I think the spacing’s good.” Evander raised an eyebrow to Ozzy. “Thoughts? I don’t know if this is going to do some weird shit with the sunlight or whatever. Plants need stuff.”
It was a damn sight more consideration for the landscaping needs than Ozzy would have expected. He didn’t linger on that, just looked at the spacing and considered, all the while pointedly not looking at Evander in case that consideration tried to bloom into something new. Or something old, more concerningly. “I don’t think it should cause any trouble.” Which he knew, of course. Little cutouts in the fence weren’t going to expose anything to too much sunlight, but it was a good idea to stall a bit and play along. “I think we’re good to go. I like the colors.”
Jake clapped loud. “All right, then I think we should get a move on.” Jake went to the other side of the makeshift table and came back out with a teal circular saw. He slipped some safety goggles on, then grabbed another pair and offered them around. “Anyone want the first cut?”
Evander took a big step back, hands up. “I had plenty of power tool time for the rest of my life.”
Ozzy snorted a laugh. “You have another hangover you need to worry about?”
“I was traumatized. If you want to get your hands dirty with it, be my guest.”
Ozzy just held up his hands, nails to the front. “They’re already dirty. Going to get back in there and dig up some more soil.” He’d finagle a spot in one of the flower beds. He needed to keep busy then more than before, presented with all those inviting muscles Ev had on display.
Jake shrugged. “I like power tools. Let’s get to cutting.”
The couple of other contractors there clamped some scrap wood around the top edge of the fence, holding it in place so it wouldn’t fall out of alignment when Jake made the cut. Ozzy walked away before the buzzing could start, but not fast enough.
“Hey.” Evander grabbed onto his upper arm and turned him around. Up close and personal, there was no way to ignore the expanse of hot skin and ripples down Evander’s arms. And the smell. God, his cologne was heady and wonderful.
Ozzy forced himself to focus, and not on the memories of the previous night. He forced his attention toward the buzzing of the saw, since it was firmly in the present and was not Evander. “Something wrong?”
“No. Nothing wrong. Just was hoping to chat with you for a second.”
Ozzy nodded. “Walk and talk. And if you stick around too long, I’m putting your pretty ass to work.”
“Keep talking like that, I might get the wrong idea. Unless that was the right idea.”
Ozzy almost tripped over his own feet, did in fact stumble partway into the middle of the yard where he barely missed catching his toe on one of the hoses and face-planting. He glanced over his shoulder at Evander. “Why would that be right?” Shouldn’t have done it at all. Should have hated him forever and never talked again. Danger Will Fucking Robinson.
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“Ev, what’s going on?”
He chewed on his bottom lip a second or two, then stood up taller, shoulders pinned back, and spilled out whatever it was he had to say without making eye contact. “I don’t know if this makes any sense, but I’m wondering if we shouldn’t try again, and this isn’t just about that whole thing yesterday, I just am starting to have some questions and maybe we should talk about them.”
It was only once he finished up that Evander finally looked at him. No sign of that little glint like he was screwing with Ozzy. Not that he really would. Honest to a god damn fault.
Fuck .