6. Scott
SCOTT
On Tuesday afternoon, I was replacing a worn drum belt on machine seven when the door opened.
I didn't look up because no one ever needed me…especially right when they came in. I had the front panel off the machine and both hands inside when I realized the footsteps had stopped a few feet away and stayed there.
After carefully backing up, I turned and looked at the customer waiting for me.
Forest was standing there holding a single sock. It was light gray and loosely balled up in his fist like something he'd grabbed on his way out the door, which was probably exactly what he did. He was wearing a dark green jacket over a henley and his hair was down over his shoulders.
He looked fucking delectable.
I sat back on my heels and took my time wiping my hands on the shop rag as I smirked. "Lemme guess. You lost a sock?"
His eyes went wide like he knew he’d been caught, but his jaw was set like he wasn’t intimidated by it. "Uh, yeah." He held up the sock as if I hadn’t noticed it already. "I think I left the other one in the dryer. Do you remember seeing it?"
I nodded to the wadded fabric in his hand. "Lemme take a look at that."
For a second, he seemed surprised that I was playing along, but then he held it by the toe and let it hang. "I've been looking everywhere for it."
"Since Saturday." I leaned forward as if taking a closer look. “Doesn’t look familiar.”
"That sucks. They were a gift from my grandma." He was fully committing to his story, which I respected. "She’s no longer with us."
Damn. He was going all in with a dead grandma. I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered, amused, or disturbed.
“Well, let’s double-check.” I went to the dryer he used and made a show of checking the drum, even though they were cleared of left items every few hours. The drum was empty, but we both knew it would be. "Nothing in there."
"Huh." He stared into the drum like it might produce the sock if he stared long enough. "That's strange."
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. "Really strange."
He blew out a deep exhale. "Maybe I left it at the rink."
"Maybe." The silence stretched for just a beat longer than was comfortable as I watched his expression hold steady through sheer determination.
He was a terrible liar but he was a committed one, and there was something adorable about how hard he was selling it. “I guess I should check there.”
After another moment, I let him off the hook. "You want some coffee? I've got a fresh pot upstairs."
The relief that moved across his face was unmistakable. "Yeah. Sure. If you're not in the middle of something."
I glanced at the machine I'd opened up and needed to put back together. "It can wait."
He followed me up the stairs without a word and then took a moment to look around the apartment when I let him in.
“Welcome to my home sweet home.” I watched him inventory everything as he turned in a circle. He clocked the cookbooks and the row of herbs growing along the kitchen window as I grabbed mugs from the cabinet and poured us each a cup.
"This place is really nice." He dragged his finger along the spines of the books. "You like to cook?"
"Yeah, but mostly because I like to eat." I handed him a mug and watched him wrap both hands around it. "Do you cook?"
“A little.” He shrugged as he brought the mug up to his lips to take a sip. The knuckles on his right hand were scraped raw.
I reached for his wrist and ran my thumb along the bottom of his hand. "What happened here?"
He sucked in a breath and stood still. "Tight space at work this morning. Caught it on a bracket when I was trying to get to a fitting."
My brow furrowed as I saw the angry red border growing around the cuts. "You put anything on them?"
He shook his head. "It's fine. They’ll be scabbed up by tomorrow."
“Or infected.” I checked his other hand to see if there were any other injuries and then took a step back. “Wait right here.” I went to the bathroom to grab my first-aid kit.
Forest looked at it and his jaw gaped open. "You really don't have to do that."
"I know." I put it on the coffee table and sat down.
After a second of pause, he sat down next to me and held out his hand.
Over the next few minutes, I carefully cleaned up the scrapes and put ointment on them to fight any growing infection. Forest was quiet as I held his warm hand in mine and took care of him.
He didn’t even try to pull away.
It felt good to take care of him and even better that he let me.
"Okay." I applied two bandages and then clasped his hand in mine. “You’re all set.”
He cleared his throat and looked me in the eyes. "I have a confession."
I smoothed the edge of his bandage down. "Okay."
"I didn't actually lose a sock."
I pulled his hand to the center of my chest and looked into his eyes. "I know."
"You knew and went along with it anyway?”
I nodded and had to fight the urge to pull him into my arms for a kiss. “You’re just too cute to call out.”
A red flush rushed up his neck, but he leaned closer instead of back. "I wanted to see you again and didn't have your number…"
And there it was. No more games or deflection. He was ready to be honest, and I was here for it. "I'm glad you came back."
"Yeah?" His shoulders lowered and a wall of tension seemed to roll right off them.
"Yeah."
We relaxed on the couch and spent the next hour talking about his game and his teammates and his job. He settled against the couch cushions with his jacket off and one foot tucked underneath himself.
The shift in his demeanor was small but significant as he slowly began to trust me.
Then Forest asked a ton of questions about the building and what I did before becoming a laundry-preneur. His joke, not mine.
“I worked for a mechanical engineering company for a while. We had contracts with most of the laundromats in the state, so I knew how to work on everything. When this building went up for sale, I knew it was what I wanted to do next.”
"So you can just fix everything yourself?" He sounded both surprised and impressed.
"For the most part. These new machines are basically computers, so they aren’t as straightforward to fix as the old ones. But I know how to swap out motherboards, so that’s kinda the same thing."
He smiled at that, probably happy to hear we had a lot more in common than either of us expected. Outside the window, the afternoon light was fading, so I turned on a few lamps before it got dark in the room.
At some point, I realized I'd been watching him talk more than I'd been listening. It wasn’t because he was boring but because his whole face lit up when he was excited about something, and I couldn’t get enough of it.
When he finally looked at his watch and sighed, I knew what was coming next.
“I should probably get going.” Forest stood up and put his jacket back on. Then he picked up the single gray sock from where he'd set it on my coffee table and slipped it into his pocket. "Don’t wanna forget this here.”
"I’d keep it safe if you did." I winked when he glanced back at me.
“Thanks for the coffee.”
“Anytime.” I walked him down to the door and opened it up.
He took a step forward and then stopped and was suddenly just a few inches away. “I guess I’ll see you around…”
"Can I take you to dinner?" Asking him had been on the tip of my tongue for hours, and I didn’t want to let him get away before I did. "On Friday. There’s a new restaurant I like...or I can cook."
He didn't hesitate for even a second. "Yeah. I'd really like that."
"Good." I opened my arms, hoping he’d take the hint and come to me.
Forest swallowed hard and walked right into my chest, pressing his forehead against my neck and breathing me in.
"Next time you don't need a prop." I pulled out a business card from my pocket. "You can call, text, or come by anytime."
He might regret telling me that. “I’ll see you on Friday.”