Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
“So, let me know if y’all need me, and I’ll just let you wander.”
Bax smiled and nodded at the real estate lady, glad she was fixing to leave them alone. Jason was tense next to him, jaw set, because she’d just gone on and on about all the features of the house, and they were still standing in the big front room.
It was big and empty, all tile and wood everywhere. The kitchen was decent-sized enough, with one of them island deals to sit at, along with room for a kitchen table, which was good.
“Where do you want to start, Mini?” he asked.
“Show me what’s what?”
“Well, this is the front room.” He glanced at Monica, who had stepped outside to the decking and was on her phone. “It’s got just a few pieces of stuff in it right now. What do they call it? Staged? But you could have a dance in here.” Hell, their voices echoed.
“Is it nice?”
“Normal, not fancy like a hotel lobby. It looks like a house, somewhere you could live.” Bax liked it. It was a place where there’d been water and sand and wind. “The whole damn downstairs has this wraparound decking with these huge windows and screens and fans. That’s nice as hell.”
“Oh, that’s cool. We’ll use that.”
“Hell, yeah.” He took Jason by the arm. “Kitchen is open concept at the end of this room. There’s a big island then a U-shape.
” He led Jason down there, let him feel his way around, starting at a huge pantry cupboard, then the stove, a big double sink, counter space and ending on the other side with the fridge.
“Oh, this is nice. Easy to figure out.” Jason explored the island. “So, can you see outside from everywhere?”
“Yeah. Even the lower level. The floor down there is stone. Up here it’s wood, and the deck is that composite stuff. Looks redone. There’s some stuff to do, but the appliances are stainless.” He watched Jason feel the countertops and the cabinet doors.
“Rock on. So the little bedrooms are down here, and then the two masters are up?”
Good memory. “That’s right.”
He led Jason down the hall. “There’s a powder room by the kitchen and a laundry, but the big bathroom is to your left.”
“Cool. Is it decent?”
“Yeah. The bathroom will need an overhaul. I want a walk-in shower for it, but there’s room.
” They kept on, the two smaller bedrooms just so-so.
They headed upstairs, finding a great sitting room loft deal.
This was cozy as fuck, somewhere to sit if he couldn’t sleep.
The first master was…plain. That was okay.
They could make it theirs. “This is huge. Not much to it, but it’s a nice blank canvas. ”
“That’s all we need. That and a big bathroom.”
This bath had been redone, with a walk-in shower, a big old Jacuzzi tub, everything. “This is nice.”
“Shit, you do echo in there. Shower?” Jason asked, and he whistled.
“Big one. And a fancy tub. I can bubble.”
“That’s good for your knees.” Jason reached out, just touching anything within his grasp.
“Nice and clean. Let’s check out the mother-in-law suite, huh?”
Jason grinned. “Our official company space.”
“That’s it.” Bax took Jason down the long hall to the addition, which he had to admit, they’d worked in seamlessly. “Wow. This is nice, babe. There’s even an apartment-size stove and fridge and sink.”
“Shit, really? We’ll never get the folks out. AJ might move in.”
“Missy would kill him.” Bax looked around. “It’s all set up with two twins, but there’s room for a queen, and we’d put in a fold-out sofa for the kids.”
“Yeah, and we could put something like that in one of the rooms downstairs too.” Jase looked happy. “Can we go outside up here too?”
“Yeah, although up here is just open to the weather. There’s balconies.
” He headed outside to examine them, finding them solid.
He’d want to triple-check each slat, because if Jason miscalculated and fell, shit, that might kill him.
There were some single-level houses in Corpus, but nothing like this, with water access and room for the animals they wanted to keep.
“Come on out.” He reached back through the slider, taking Jason’s outstretched hand.
He led Mini out, noticing how Jase turned right toward the sun, face up, like he was soaking in the light. He could smell the ocean, the salt and humidity hitting him, and he could just imagine the maintenance it would take to keep tractors and trucks running and not rusted.
Good. He needed to keep busy. So did Jason—at first he’d have schooling, then? Who knew?
The only guarantee was that Jase would blow the doors wide open, no matter what he chose to do. His man was a brilliant fuck.
“You’re squeezing my hand. What’s got you all worked up?”
“I really like it, Jase. We could be comfy here. The land will need a little work. There’s some good fencing, but we’ll need to level out the horse areas with some good fill dirt to keep them from getting hoof problems.”
“We could do that. We got time after October. Spend the winter fixing things up, then get some livestock.” Jase bumped shoulders with him. “You want it?”
“I do.” Bax would need an inspection report to know what all really needed to be done, but he wanted it. They had the money to sink into repairs, especially if he did those commercials.
“Then let’s do it. The beach is close? We can get in the water?”
“We can walk to a couple of inlets, babe. Or we have a stretch of beach that would probably be better to four wheel to, but you can get back and forth even on your own if need be. It’s just a hike.
” He’d read up on why these houses out here by the coastal islands couldn’t be right on the beach, but if Jason had a dog?
Yeah. Bax would rather go with, but he knew his stubborn lover.
They’d come up with a system. Hell, he could run a rope fence all the way down to the water.
“That works. I just want to be close enough to get in the water.”
“Me too. There’s a garage, but it’s a ways away from the house. I bet we work that as a shed for tractors and build a carport for the truck.” He was getting starry-eyed. They needed to talk turkey to Monica first.
“We’ll figure it all out, right? Let’s go make an offer.” That was his Mini. Pull off the Band-Aid. Just do it.
“You got it.” They headed back in, hand in hand, and he got Jason set up at a stool at the kitchen island. “Let me get her.”
“Hey.” Jason’s voice stopped him in his tracks. “I love you.”
“I love you too, babe.” He did. So much.
God knew they could do an awful lot with that.