Chapter Nine #2
Another flash and boom and Austin winced. He huddled down in his nest of blankets and wished they were enough to keep warm.
He was thoroughly regretting all his life choices and was convinced his trailer was going to fall apart around him when a bang rattled the door.
For a second, Austin thought this was it—the trailer was going to give way with a shudder. Then common sense prevailed and he realized someone was at the door.
“Austin! Open up!”
Austin stumbled to the door and let a grumpy Joe inside.
“Why is the door locked?”
And okay, sure, mostly Austin didn’t tend to lock it, but—
“So no ax murderers find me in my sleep?” Austin snarked, which was bullshit, but his toes were cold, so he thought he could be forgiven.
Joe gave him a look that was 100 percent Dad, and Austin relented. “It’s windy. I didn’t want it to blow open,” he finished saying as a gust of wind did just that.
Joe pulled it shut and huffed. “Pack your bags, you’re moving in.”
“What?”
“Austin, you cannot stay out here. It’s freezing and storming and the house is actually, finally, semilivable. So put on your coat and boots and let’s go.”
“Uh.” Austin didn’t move—couldn’t move—because his brain was stuck on one crucial fact. The house only had one bed. Joe’s bed. Joe’s very comfy, luxurious, cozy-looking bed.
“Austin.” Another Dad look. “I can’t let you stay here. I also don’t want to stay here. Please put us both out of our misery and come sleep in the house. You can share my bed,” he added, like that was an enticement, not a caution. “I promise not to bite.”
Why did that also feel like a con?
“Pepa misses you,” Joe added hopefully.
“That is dirty fighting,” Austin said, pointing a finger Joe’s way. But he relented. He gathered his boots and coat.
Then they braved the elements. The trek from the trailer to the house had never felt longer.
Inside, Pepa greeted them at the door, especially excited to see Austin, proving Joe’s cheap shot might have had some truth to it. Damn.
As much as Austin was not looking forward to climbing into bed with Joe—seriously, what a bad idea—he couldn’t deny that it was warm and cozy and inviting.
And when a particularly loud clap of thunder and its accompanying blue flash split the night, then plunged the house into darkness, that sealed the deal.
“See?” Joe said.
“No,” Austin pointed out dryly. “I can’t see shit, man. The lights just went out.” This wasn’t quite true. The warm glow of the embers in the fireplace provided plenty to see by.
“No power, no space heater. No freezing to death.” Joe waved him toward the clearly unused side of the bed. “Just get in.”
Austin had never shared a bed for sleeping before. In his mind, that was something reserved for couples and, occasionally, parents with kids.
He would’ve been nervous about it, but actually the parents with kids thing made it easier. Joe would’ve let any of the kids crash in his bed with him, probably. Well, maybe not Meg or Alex, but only because of how that would look to outsiders. He’d probably shared with Starling too.
It only meant he didn’t want Austin to freeze to death.
“Is this a bad time to tell you I sleep in the nude?” he joked as he pulled off his sweatshirt.
He had a T-shirt underneath, but still, if Joe was going to give him shit, Austin was going to hand it right back.
Joe apparently shared the philosophy, because he said, “No, that’s cool, me too,” as though he’d expected this, and then dropped his sweatpants.
In the dim light of the fire, Austin could just make out that his boxer briefs had flamingos on them. The flamingos wore little Santa hats.
Austin gave up. It’d be easier to deal with that when he didn’t have to look at it. Besides, his feet were icicles. He crawled into the bed and pulled the covers over himself while Joe flung his sweatshirt over the ladder.
“Where’s—okay, good, they didn’t get up.”
Austin squinted and just made out the forms of three tiny kittens curled up at the foot of the bed. “I dunno, not sure there’s gonna be room for you. Is Pepa getting up here too?”
“I don’t want her up here yet in case she hurts herself getting down when I’m asleep. I put her bed by the fireplace. C’mon, Pepa, there’s a good girl. Go back to sleep, sweetheart.”
Austin couldn’t see from his vantage point, but he could hear her turning in her habitual circles, getting comfortable. Then the mattress dipped just perceptibly as Joe got in.
The bed was everything he’d hoped for—warm, soft, cozy. The pillows, Austin was pretty sure, had actual feathers in them. It was hands down the most comfortable bed he’d ever been in.
But how the fuck was he supposed to sleep with Joe six inches away?
The mattress shifted underneath them as Joe rolled onto his side to face Austin. “You can relax. I told you I don’t bite.”
“You did say that,” Austin agreed. “I just don’t believe you.”
Joe cackled. “Wow, okay, I see how it is. You invite someone into your bed out of the goodness of your heart—”
“Is that what this is? I thought you were just a control freak.”
“—and they impugn your honor and malign your character—”
Austin pressed his toes to Joe’s bare leg.
“—Jesus Christ, and then they try to give you a heart attack with their ice-cube feet, what the fuck, Austin? You wanna put some socks on, maybe?”
Ew. “I can’t sleep with socks on. That’s gross.”
“Well, you can’t sleep with your feet on my leg either.”
“What kind of host are you?”
“I’m not your host. This is your house too, dumbass.” Under the covers, Joe poked Austin’s stomach. “Now go to sleep. You’re disturbing the kittens, and they need their beauty rest.”