Chapter 7
I arrived at Leith’s early Saturday morning. We’d said nine, but I rolled into his driveway by eight-thirty. What can I say? I was excited to get going on the work, getting rid of that ugly-ass vanity and replacing it with something much more functional and better looking. I was really looking forward to when the work was done and Leith and I could spend time together. We had plenty to discuss and there was much filthy fun to be had.
Grabbing both duffle bags from the back of the extended cab, I softly shut the truck door, aware that it was quiet on the street. A scent drifted on the breeze and I paused, inhaling deeply, wondering why it smelled like a wood fire. Someone must have a fire pit going, which struck me as odd this early on a Saturday morning. But perhaps someone was celebrating early. I pushed it from my mind as I bounded up the front steps and knocked on Leith’s door.
It took him a minute to answer, and I smiled just hearing the clomp of his crutches on the floor. He pulled the door open a second later.
“Hey, angel, I know I’m early…what’s wrong?” My train of thought derailed the instant I looked at him. He was pale and drawn, dark circles under his fascinating eyes.
He blinked owlishly. “Hello. What? No. Nothing’s wrong.”
I gently pushed my way inside, giving him time to back up safely. I set the bags on the floor and then cupped his face in my hands. “Not buying it. What’s the matter?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” He smiled for me, and it seemed genuine, but I couldn’t stop studying his face. He looked sick, and I wasn’t going to allow anything but complete honesty.
“You look exhausted.”
“Oh!” Leith’s face lit up, and that helped somewhat, but not enough. “Perhaps I’m a bit tired. I was up at four.”
I squinted at him. “Why? That’s awfully early. Are you okay?”
“I assure you, I’m quite well. I woke because I needed to put the brisket in.”
I cocked my head. “In where?”
“The smoker.” He didn’t say duh. He never would. But it was implied in his tone that I was being dense. Normally, that would amuse me. But right now, I was too concerned. I took a deep breath.
“Okay, that explains the wood fire smell. But back up a sec. Explain.” It was not a question.
Leith reached out, gaze soft and fixed on me, and he petted my cheek for a moment. I very much liked the expression on his face.
“You’re so pretty, Sir.” He shook his head and grinned sheepishly. “The brisket needs about twelve hours in the smoker in order to be done and ready. If I’m to serve it to you for dinner, that meant it needed to be in by four this morning. That will give it ample time to cook and have an adequate rest period before slicing. I’ll serve it with salt potatoes, corn on the cob, and fresh dinner rolls.”
Leith was incredibly proud of himself, and honestly, just hearing about it made my mouth water. But I was stuck on the up at ass o’clock part of the story. Gently I ran my thumbs over the dark circles under his eyes.
“That sounds outstanding and I can’t wait.” I needed to make sure he knew I appreciated his effort. “But why didn’t you go back to sleep after you got it going?”
“Oh, well, I tried.” Leith shrugged. “I found I was unable to rest, worried that something would go wrong, or that it would catch fire, or stop working, and then all my effort, and the meat, would go to waste. Previously, I’ve always smoked during the day, and either served late or the next day, reheating the brisket.”
It all sounded so logical, the matter-of-fact way he spoke making perfect sense. But I wasn’t going to allow my boy to go without sleep. And even if we didn’t last, he was my boy today. Which meant I needed to step up. I was happy to do it.
“Kiss me.” I leaned down, not waiting for his response, but he was already swaying into my space, face lifted. The instant our lips met, he let out a soft sigh, and though I kept the kiss easy and light, I let it linger. One of his crutches clanged to the ground as he wrapped an arm around me, holding on.
Eventually, I pulled back, slow and easy, giving him a few more pecks just for good measure. I was basically holding him up at this point. I loved the way he gave me all his weight.
“Okay,” I said, keeping my voice firm but quiet. “To bed with you.”
“Pardon?”
“I can’t have a tired boy. You need a few more hours of sleep at least. And I’m here now. I can keep an eye on the smoker. I’ll check it often. You can rest knowing I’ve got it under control.”
A beat of silence, and then he absolutely sagged against me. I hugged him close and let him breathe for a minute or two. Eventually he spoke, his voice kinda muffled against my shoulder. “You need to spray it every hour or so. The cider is in a spray bottle in the refrigerator.”
“Got it.”
“And the smoker might need more woodchips. If the smoke is low, you add a handful to the reservoir on the side and turn it to drop it into the hopper. The bucket of chips is right next to the smoker.”
I untangled us long enough to bend down to pick up his dropped crutch. I handed it back to him and, with a hand on his back, began leading him down the hall, past the stairs, to where I knew the main bedroom was. “I’ll figure it out.”
He hummed. “I’ve set it up in the backyard, but of course, you need to go around from the front. But it’s turned toward the kitchen window, so you can glance out and see how it’s doing.”
That was smart. Immediately, my mind started whirling, envisioning building him a back deck instead of just steps and including a concrete pad for him to set up said smoker. Maybe big enough for a grill or a Blackstone, too. Leith liked cooking, and I had a feeling that meant all sorts of gadgets and methods.
“I’ve got it covered. You don’t need to worry.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Leith’s bedroom was pretty much exactly as I expected. The walls were a neutral beige, the comforter and sheets a rich navy. The bed was an impressive wrought iron thing, sturdy and solid. But also artistic, the whorls in the headboard had an intricate pattern. Since bondage wasn’t his thing, I was sure he hadn’t intended to be secured to the thing. But it would provide a decent handhold if I, say, told him to grab on and not let go.
I led Leith over to said bed and he all but collapsed onto it. It was as though now that he had permission, the exhaustion overwhelmed him. He fell backward and then made to turn on his side, ready, I was sure, to snuggle in and sleep. I stopped him with a hand on his hip.
“Do you need the brace on while you sleep?”
Several slow blinks, as though he was processing. “No. In fact, at this juncture, my physician encourages me to sleep without it.”
“Great.” I immediately went to work, unfastening the multiple Velcro straps. He let out a happy sigh when I got it removed, turning onto his side and pressing his face into the pillow. “Want the blankets?”
“Too hot,” he mumbled.
“Yeah, but I’m going to turn up the AC while I work.” I flipped the sheet over him, making sure the edge of the comforter was in reach so he could pull that over himself if he needed it later. Then I stood there and watched as, within three minutes, his breathing evened out and his body relaxed fully.
He must have been incredibly tired to drop off that easily. I continued to stand there longer than was probably appropriate, just reveling in the affection swamping through me. In sleep, he was even more angelic than awake. Kyle’s voice in my head calling Leith an absolute angel baby had me smirking. Kyle didn’t know how right he was. But it didn’t matter, because, for the moment, this angel was mine.
I kissed his cheek and pulled back in time to see a tiny smile playing at the corners of his lips. Smoothing his hair away from his face had him letting out a soft sigh. There was a part of me that wanted to stand there and see what other kinds of sounds and reactions I could coax out of him in his sleep. But I stepped back, albeit reluctantly, and left him to rest.
My first order of business was to check out the smoker, realizing how smart Leith had been in the way he’d set it up. I could look out the window next to the back door and see everything clearly, including the digital thermometer on top that told me what the temp inside the smoker was. Hopefully, the reading was correct for what he was trying to do. But there was plenty of smoke filling the box, so I didn’t worry about it for now. I set a reminder on my phone to check it in an hour, and to give it a spritz with the cider, and then moved on.
The vanity was in the same sad state as I saw it last, which was of course what I expected. I squeezed my wide shoulders into the space underneath to first turn off the water to the supply lines, then disconnect them from the faucet. Some left over water escaped but I wasn’t worried about that since the whole thing was getting tossed. When I gave the vanity a shake, I realized it wasn’t fixed to either the floor or the wall. Even more disturbingly, the sink and counter combo hadn’t been glued down to the vanity itself. I was happier than ever to get this piece of shit out of Leith’s house, and it would make it easier for me to move it myself.
It wasn’t heavy, exactly, but enough that I had to use all of my strength. It was unwieldy though. I carried the sink down the stairs first, and, being careful of Franziska, out the front door. Not wanting to make too much noise, I set it gently in the bed of my truck. Then I headed back inside for the vanity itself. Since it was mostly particle board, that was even easier to lift and carry. When I shoved it into the bed of the truck, it broke apart.
That was going to be satisfying to drop off at the dump.
When I was managing a crew, a lot of the grunt work I could assign to other people. If we had an apprentice, they were the ones that did the really crappy jobs. Like cleaning the floor after removal to get the space ready for the new installation. But sadly, I didn’t have a crew today, which meant I was the one who had to get on my hands and knees to clean the tile and grout before installing the new vanity.
Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t in great shape and if it were up to me, I’d replace the floor—either with new tile or some sort of laminate, and maybe install radiant heating—before moving on to the next phase. But Leith hadn’t said anything about the floor, and we were on a time crunch anyway. With his brother and niblings set to arrive in just eleven days, and other projects to get done, I’d have to leave the floor for now. I cleaned it as good as I was able, and then decided not to anchor the new vanity. Leith had bought a nice one, and it was heavy enough to stay put. But that way, it could easily be removed when I convinced him to redo the floor in here.
Dammit, there I went imagining the future again. I had to rein that in. Until I was sure we had a future, I needed to stop thinking about it. But it was nearly impossible. I couldn’t stop my mind from picturing future projects in this house—like the floor and the back deck—and I couldn’t stop thinking about what Leith and I could do together, both in and out of the bedroom.
It hit me suddenly, as I was wiping up the last of the water from the floor, that even if I stopped daydreaming, I was still going to be disappointed if things between Leith and me went south. And if I was going to be disappointed anyway, then I might as well dream a little.