Devious With a Hug
Simon: Bears. Dinner. Who’s in?
Tyler: I have a late night at the library.
Jon: I’m helping him.
Charlie: I’m teaching gremlins how to purify water.
Bobby: Working on the house.
Mike: I’ll be there. Rose made pies.
Tyler: Be there.
Jon: I’m in.
Charlie: Nick and I are in.
Bobby: Chris just squealed. We’re in.
Patrick: Seamus said, touch those pies and there’s a fight.
Seamus: Damn straight.
Simon: I feel slighted.
Amanda: Did I hear that right?
Lacie: BLUEBERRIES!
“Be a dear and answer the door.”
Rose asked me to part ways with my blueberry muffins, which amounted to a crime.
She had been in and out of the kitchen all morning with her watering can, ensuring every houseplant had been nurtured, complete with an encouraging pep talk.
In protest, I crammed the blueberry muffin into my mouth and got up.
I could hear her in the dining room. “Are you going to be good tulips for Rose?”
She used the same voice when she asked me to do chores around the house. I wouldn’t be shocked if next time she gave me a couple of squeezes of the spray bottle. Down the hallway, I watched a face appear in the sidelight. Behind the thin white fabric, I spotted Sammy.
Another quick knock.
I opened the door, and there he stood, smiling. I shut the door and opened it again, just to make sure. He wore a brown shirt with a white outline of a moose’s head. He had taken his first step toward becoming a native, and yet all I could think about was where the shirt ended.
“What are you doing here?”
“Hello,” he said in a slow, deliberate voice. “It’s nice to see you.”
Rose would have smacked me with the watering can for not minding my manners. “Let’s start that again.” I waved. “I’m so happy to see you.” Leaning in close, I whispered, “Now, why are you here?”
“He’s here to help with the cupboard door.” Rose smacked my leg with the watering can. “Stop being rude and invite your little friend in.”
“Little friend?” he mouthed.
I rolled my eyes and stepped to the side. “Why don’t you come in. Rose just baked fresh muffins.”
“Blueberry,” she added as she walked into the kitchen. “Hand-picked.”
“Always hand-picked,” I said.
I shut the door and let him follow Rose toward the kitchen.
The butterflies were alive and kicking. I had tried to figure out an excuse to call Evelyn and get his cell phone number.
Having him show up solved that problem. However, his proximity to Rose made me nervous.
What baggage would she drop on the floor as if it were no big deal?
“Rose,” I called over Sammy’s shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“Oh. Well, I called Bobby to see if he could come over and do the glue thing. He said he was busy and to call Logan. I called the hardware store, and Seamus was working.”
I could already see the web being woven.
“He said he couldn’t come over.” She spun about, opening the broken cupboard door. “He recommended that I call Evelyn and ask about the guy who fixed her door.”
Sammy glanced at me, a smile forming on his face. He had gone from Firefly victim to understanding their diabolical machinations. Now that he understood the phone tree, he’d see it in action everywhere he went. There was no escaping once Firefly rescued one of their own.
“I can probably help,” he said.
“Good, that’s why I called you first.” Rose didn’t miss a beat. She grabbed the brown paper bag and dumped out the contents. “When you’re done, help yourself to a muffin. I’ll be outside watering the rose bushes.”
Rose all but skipped to the front door. Both Sammy and I watched as she let herself out, humming the entire time.
“They’re all in on it?” he asked.
“Every. Single. One.”
“Does that mean the door handle wasn’t broken?”
“Oh,” I laughed. “That was broken. It’s the same trick Patrick used when he needed an excuse to see Seamus.” His eyes went wide. He thought he understood, but flatlanders didn’t fathom the extent of their shenanigans. “I’m glad to see the classics still work.”
“Firefly.” He let out a low whistle. “You’re devious.”
“Devious with a hug.”
He turned his attention to the cupboard. With a few swings of the door, he shot me a look. “You know she ripped this out herself, right?”
I nodded. “She’s the sweetest terror you’ll ever meet.”
“Must run in the family.”
My cheeks burned. Thankfully, he turned his attention to the door.
He hemmed and hawed as I shook off the blush.
It was one thing to meet him in Firefly and wander the town, but having him inside the house felt intimate.
I’m sure that’s why Rose excused herself to water her roses for the second time today.
“Screwdriver?”
“Junk drawer.” I pointed in front of him. He pulled, and it resisted. “She can bake up a storm, but between you and me, her organization is a disaster.”
“Hush your mouth,” he chuckled. “Rose is a keepsake.”
His face hid behind the cupboard door. It gave me a magnificent view of his ass.
I reached for my wrists, almost feeling his hands pinning them to the wall.
I shifted uncomfortably, trying to hide the bulge in my jeans.
As his shirt rode up, I glimpsed his underwear elastic. I needed a distraction fast.
“Think you can fix it?”
He leaned back, revealing a sour expression. “Rose could have fixed this.”
“Better her than me. I’d have burned the house down.”
“Glue.” His hand reached out. I handed it to him as if we were performing surgery. “At the risk of sounding ignorant, why is the town trying to push us together?”
I’m sure the bears were concerned with me having mind-altering sex. They’d want stories, and when I refused, they’d give me a wink and a nudge. The rest of Firefly? I had a feeling, just like the residents, it came from a less carnal place.
“Confession?” He didn’t reply. “I wasn’t in a great place when I first got here. I thought a change of scenery would be good for me.”
“Am I that scenery?”
I was about to say no when he leaned back, giving me a wink.
“I’m sure Dorothy saw us talking at brunch. From there, the town thought it’d be a good time to get involved.” Edward’s saying, as always, rang true. “I needed a friend. Firefly—”
“—gives us what we need.”
Were we talking about me? Or him? Did it matter anymore? Whatever unfolded between us, Firefly would take credit. I would be annoyed at their meddling if it wasn’t doing exactly what they planned. I scanned the windows, expecting to see Rose’s face pressed against the glass.
Charlie’s stoic face hadn’t changed when I made my confession. Admitting it out loud had been terrifying… and freeing. I didn’t want to keep repeating the same mistakes and hiding my feelings.
“I’m glad they did,” I said.
Sammy didn’t speak as he fidgeted behind the door. He didn’t act as if he had heard me. Should I have repeated myself? Or did I consider it the universe telling me to keep it to myself? Or worse, he heard and—
“Me too.”
He leaned back, wiping his hands. He could have commented on the job, or cracked a joke. There were a thousand reactions, but every gay man knows the pause, the lingering want to say more but the fear of saying it out loud. That moment was part of our shared trauma.
He pointed to the cabinet. “It needs to dry.”
I wanted to hug him and provide assurances.
I’d quote a self-help poster filled with kittens while making it clear he wasn’t alone.
This wasn’t for me to push. We each had a journey, and we were the only ones who could travel it.
I cracked a smile. I’d gladly be a passenger as he meandered toward his destination.
“So… Seamus…”
Anybody else might have missed the implied question. “He and Patrick are the odd couple. Mr. Talks-Too-Much and Mr. Never-Talks. I’ve known Patrick for years. I’m still figuring out Seamus.”
“That’s not an easy task, is it?”
I laughed, a genuine belly-shaking laugh. He barely knew his way around town, and Sammy’s keen observation had already clocked Seamus. Now that I thought about it, a little exposure therapy might not be a bad thing.
“I don’t know if you would…” Everybody knew of Sammy. Few had the opportunity to meet him. It’d be like feeding him to the lions, but it might do him… and me some good. “The guys have dinner every week. Seamus will be there. I’m sure you’ve seen Lacie at Valhalla. It’s kind of a ritual.”
“Are you asking me to dinner?”
Yeah. I was. “I get it if it’s not your thing.”
“Can I think about it?”
I expected nothing less. It was one thing to be tricked into coming here. Rose had done her best to keep the ruse going before vanishing. At Jason’s house, there’d be no protection. Even if I demanded they be on their best behavior, it’d only take a few sips of wine, and Jon would make googly eyes.
I nodded toward the table. “If you don’t eat a muffin, Rose will throw a fit.”
His eyes lingered for a moment. Beneath the calm exterior, his stomach was tied in knots. If I inspected his palms, they’d be sweating. He might not understand yet, but the bears would. We all had that moment where we stood at the threshold and needed to decide for ourselves.
“Wouldn’t want to make my girl upset.”
I smirked. I’d go along with it. “She’s going to be tickled pink.”
He gave me a wink as he headed to the table. “I hope Sarge isn’t a jealous man.”