Jason's First Workout Ð Chapter XVI Ð Under Construction
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(New chapters (5 and up) updated to present day: Luke age 56, Brock 48, Jason 34, Joe 40, Chase 28, Sam 26).
----A little more than a month has passed since Chapter XV and much has happened with Jason and Joe.
Joe:
I stepped around the back of the cabin to the steady sound of hammering and viewed the construction on what was once the back deck of Jason's family cabin. Two extended gables capped each end of the deck with open space between. Off the right-hand side, a new screened porch housed our outdoor gym in one area. It seemed completely finished. On the left-hand side, the extended bedroom was now getting cedar siding to match the existing siding on the cabin. Extended from this were 4x4 posts that outlined where the new, extended deck would go and almost meet the start of the ridge up the mountain behind the house. What Jason's Dad, Brock, and I had begun as a covered porch extension had quickly outstretched our capabilities after two weekends of demolition and building. While we'd framed the walls and roof, Brock was worried about resetting the French door at the end of the 8-foot extension, and Jason had decided he wanted part of the new, extended back wall to have a picture window over where the new, king-sized platform bed would be placed. Thanks to Mr. Frank, his son-in-law Tyrell Jackson had a crew here within three days and had been working off and on ever since. I'd parked next to Tyrell's truck when I drove up so I knew he must be here supervising the crew. There was no sign of Jason's Jeep when I pulled up.
Glimpsing the tall, then black man at the base of a ladder, I called out, "Hey Tyrell! It's looking good."
He waved a hand and walked my way, dodging clay piles around the new deck footings. He reached out a hand. "Hey Joe. How as work today?"
"It was good. I was up off Squirrel Ridge, doing some tracking and also checking on some service issues. Any day not stuck in the office is a good one!"
"Well, every one for me is different. You like the look of that siding? Once we get some matching paint on it, it'll match up the cabin real good," he said, eyeing his men and their work.
"Yeah, it looks great!" I said enthusiastically. "What did Jason think?"
"Oh Mr. Perry ain't seen it yet," He replied. "We had just reset that new French door on this deck side and hadn't started the siding when he left, probably three or four hours ago."
"Oh, okay," I replied, wondering where in the Hell Jason had gone if he had work to do online all afternoon. Of course, with the noise, he may have gone to his Dad's place to get away, but that was more than a half-hour drive away. I'd have to check in once I finished with Tyrell.
"You know you don't have to call him Mr. Perry," I said. "We're both paying for the work and you just call me Joe!" We both laughed.
"Well, Frank says you're about family," he chuckled. "And besides, I done know you. Mr., I mean, Jason, he's new. And he left here not too happy."
"Oh yeah? Why?" I asked.
"Said my crew was too loud and he needed to get some work done. I tol' him we could pull off and come back another time, but we're finishing a job over near Edenton, and it might be a week or two `fore we could finish here. He just said keep on, then said he was leaving," Tyrell informed me.
"Well, he was probably just stressed. It's hard working from home when your company is all the way across the country. Anyway, we just appreciate y'all coming in at last minute and fixing this. Jason's Dad and I got in over our head too quickly." I said.
"Nah. Y'all's framing was good. We didn't have to tear out nothing and that roof and tie in was plumb level and perfect. But that old French door was a little warped. We got it fixed so it'll be fine once your new deck extension goes on. And that new one matches it. But that picture window would've been a bitch for an amateur to install. And lucky for us, y'all didn't have the pine paneling in that room. Sheetrock and mudding will be finished tomorrow inside. I have a rotating deck crew so they'll be here day after tomorrow and do this frame and decking all in one day. We just needed 1-2 dry days for the footings to cure," He informed me.
"Wow. That's amazing Tyrell. We really do appreciate it. It's going to be great to have some room to move around in when it's finished," I said honestly. We had walked around through the new screen porch, onto the deck, and into the now extended bedroom. "It's great, Tyrell, honestly."
"Well, adding an 8x10 addition is almost like adding another room." He pointed to the existing frame. "The way we removed this framing, once the new sheetrock is here, it'll be an extended wall. You won't even know where the old ends and new begins." I whistled low.
"Damn, it's so big. Now I wish we could figure out a way to use some of that space there," I said pointing to the front wall of the room, "and expand that small bathroom so we could have a bigger shower," I said, musing.
"Hmm, you got space for it," He answered. He walked out the bedroom door and into the existing bathroom, then back. "I'd need to look at that crawlspace and probably have my plumber look at it too. You want to do away with that fiberglass tub/shower combo and build something or have a pre-fab?"
"I'm not sure. I think we'd be okay with doing away with the tub and just having a tiled shower big enough for me, well maybe me and a friendÉ" I grinned, sheepishly.
Tyrell laughed long and low. "Clarissa's Uncle Marc got him a partner. Y'all ain't the first two gay men we've remodeled for but hell, I don't know why it's so cool. Been married more than twenty years and Clarissa ain't ever interested in climbing in with me and making sure my ass is clean."
"Really?" I laughed. "To each his own though. So you did work for them all the way up in Raleigh?"
"Oh yeah," He said. "First an apartment, then a townhouse, now a big house out in the suburbs. That house, we had 3 crews working, subcontracting when I first starting working for Daddy Frank. He takes care of his family."
"Well, I don't knowÉ" I started backtracking. By this time, Tyrell had walked back outside and gotten a hammer and came back through. "Maybe I should talk with Jason beforeÉ" At this point, he was swinging the hammer at the wall separating the bedroom and bathroom. "Shit!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
"Hell, I's alright, Joe. I'm just checking wiring and where this other pipe goes out. Don't have to crawl under the house this way. `sides, the sheetrock boys here in the morning. What I mess up, they can patch back if need be." He kept on pulling away drywall and looking at framing. He looked back. "I think this is do-able. We come about another 2 feet or so this way and will have to move that drain line, but I think the shower on this wall is fine. But I could probably figure out a way to get your access here through the bedroom into the bath too. Let me measure and I'll have a drawing for you in the morning," he said.
"Wow, okay. Thanks Tyrell. I really didn't mean to add on. I know your subs are on a tight schedule," I thanked him.
"No worries, Dude. Top secret, I like being the boss since Mr. Frank semi-retired, but this was always my first love- kind of doing reno- problems like this, designing and working out the math. It sho beats hammering shingles in August heat like that roof was last week," he said.
"It all looks great. I'll talk with Jason when he comes home and we can talk again tomorrow morning before I go to work," I offered.
"No worries, my man. You know, Clarissa always say when she gets rid of me, she was gonna look for a younger man like you if you weren't so gay," He laughed at his own joke. I did too.
"Well, Clarissa is enough to make a gay boy like me straight, and besides, she's only what 2 or 3 years older than me?" I agreed.
"Man, she done got that science magazine of yours and I was supposed to get you to sign it. I'll try and remember to bring it tomorrow," he reminded himself.
"Hell, y'all didn't need to buy one. I had copies at work I would've signed and sent to her if I'd know," I said, regarding my cover story in Nature magazine that had debuted two weeks before.
"She said she's sorry you didn't get to go to New York City for that interview but it was still fun watching a boy she knows be on the Today show, even if it was on his laptop computer," he offered.
"It was cool, either way," I agreed. "I don't know what the fuss is all about but I'm hoping it doesn't endanger my panther any more than it is already."
"Oh, you should have heard my roofing crew. They a bit older you know. I was teasing ol' Jack about watching when he got up on that ladder last week cause you never know when your old cougar might come up here looking for you again," he started laughing. "Ol' man bout fell out!"
"Well, she's on the north side or thereabouts now," I answered, hesitantly, "I think. But tomorrow's a tracking day, so I'll check my cameras in late afternoon. But you can't tell anybody that," I reminded him.
"Oh hell no, Joe! Clarissa kicked my ass if anything I say hurt that damn cat of yours. She act like you birthed and named it." He joked, heading out the door. "I'll see you both tomorrow morning early."
"I know you will," I laughed. "Give C a hug for me." He raised a hand and hollered at his two boys on the framing ladders as he went out. Quitting time was here for the day.
It was probably a good hour later when I heard a vehicle on the gravel drive and hoped Jason might be back. By that time, I'd made good use of our `new' screened porch gym and had been lifting and sweating in just a jock and shorts for a good while. I was pumped and feeling good and the thought of my man approaching made my cock chub in my shorts. I quickly got back on the bench and started some barbell presses even though I'd finished my pushing reps already. Let him see me stretched and hard when he walked out. But I did a whole set and he never came out. Finally, I couldn't stand the suspense any longer. I grabbed my water bottle and walked into the kitchen, hoping my sweaty self would be a turn on for some after workout porch sex again.
I yelled through the kitchen, "Hey, you home?"
"In here," I heard Jason mumbling from the master bedroom under renovation. I walked across the great room in four large strides and ducked into the open doorway, smiling and ready to greet my man.
"Hey Stud," I said, "I was hoping you would catch me on my weight bench." He turned to face me and the scowl on his face stopped me cold.
"Want to tell me what the fuck that is about?" He pointed at the semi-destroyed wall between the master bedroom and bathroom. "I can see INTO THE FUCKING BATHROOM!" He yelled.
"Yeah, It's okay. I thought the new bedroom was so big, maybe we could use two or three feet of it to expand the bathroom and put it in a shower like your dads' Ð big enough for both of us," I said, off put by his anger.
"And you didn't think you might want to ask me first?" he shouted, getting angrier.
"Well, yeah. But what the fuck, Jason?" I said, starting to get hotter than my sweatier torso was already. "I asked and before I knew it, Tyrell was knocking through the wall. When I told him to stop, he said it was no big deal because the sheet rock guys are coming tomorrow to finish these interior walls. They could always patch it at his expense if we left it alone."
"You still should have asked me," he fumed.
"You weren't fucking here when I got home," I fumed back. "Seriously, what is up your ass by the way?. Tyrell said you weren't happy and left hours ago. You know their being here is a favor to me. Brock and I couldn't have gotten much of this done without Tyrell's construction crew coming in."
"You think I don't know that? I was trying to work!" He yelled back, "And I couldn't hear myself fucking think, so I've been at the Corner Stop for more than 3 hours, drinking coffee and using their wi-fi to run a business 1200 miles away which, by the way, is sort of a cluster fuck right now." I took a few deep breaths and stepped toward him.
"Is that what this is really about?" I said, reaching a hand to his shoulder. "You and Denny still disagreeing on company stuff?" He shrugged away from me.
"It's just a lot, okay?" He faced me again. "I can deal with the inconvenience usually, and our not having much separate work and living spaces has been okay since you've been back at the office and I can use the whole kitchen. But the fucking racket drives me crazy all day! You're not here to hear it."
"Well, cause I'm out in the woods or at my desk at the Forestry office," I answered calmly, trying not to match his exasperation. "Are you having second thoughts about my moving in with you? If I hadn't, you would have had plenty of room?"
"Shit, no. Can't I just lose my temper about everything else and it not be about you and me?" he demanded.
"Yeah, but a good fight might also mean we could then make up," I said, taking another step toward him and reaching out to pull him into me.
"You stink!" He countered as I pressed his head into my pec, burying his face into my smelly pit. I reached around and pressed his ass into me, grinding my crotch into his.
"And you love it," I growled into his ear.
"I do," he stammered, "but fuck, Joe. Sex doesn't resolve everything." And pushed away.
"You want to just talk about it?" I countered, still trying to play it cool. Jason had often lost his temper in the few months we'd been together, but when he did, it was typically stress about his company, not about me or anything that was going on with his home or family. Today seemed to be no exception.
"Maybe," he said, looking up at me.
"Go sit on the porch," I said, "the guys got the ceiling fan up. I'll bring you a drink." And I pushed him out the new French door onto the existing deck.
I stepped into the kitchen and chugged the entire contents of my water bottle slaking my thirst and calming my heart rate. I readied myself for whatever this conversation might be. This is what it meant to have a partner, to share a life with someone, I told myself. I hadn't ever been much of a talker, but I'd spent the last few months talking more than I'd ever done Ð to Jason, to my co-workers, Gran, the press (of all things). Who'd have thought "quiet" me could do it? But I still had to give myself these pep talks. He was just in a mood. It would be okay.
I grabbed two beers from the fridge, flicked off the caps, and walked out the new kitchen door onto the screened porch/gym. Jason was perched on one of the stools we'd set up next to the outer screen. I handed him a beer then leaned down and kissed him. I'd learned that sometimes these talks went better if we started with a kiss. He smiled up at me, "Thanks. Sorry I'm such a bastard."
"It's okay." I answered. "I've been yelled at before."
"You didn't deserve it," He began, "but honestly, another fucking hole in the wall?" I laughed but he only shook his head. "You and my Dad were just going to extend the fucking roof so the outdoor gym was covered. Then Brock says, we should make your bedroom bigger, and you're like, `whatever you say, Brock,' and now we have two rooms extended on my deck," he looked out, "and a new deck about to be built, and there's a hole in my fucking bathroom." Was he totally pissed or just slightly pissed?
"In my defense," I held up one hand, "I definitely have to impress my guy's parents if I can expect to keep getting cock, so I HAD to go along with your Dad. It's a boyfriend requirement. And then, honestly, I thought you were jacked about having a larger bedroom. We could have a bigger bed and more room to play. I didn't expect it to snowball like this," I confessed.
"Oh Bullshit," he smiled. "You weren't trying to impress Brock on my account, especially with your brute strength carrying all that lumber. Admit it. You have the hots for both my dads."
"Guilty," I snapped. "But that's not what this is about. Look, I was standing there with Tyrell and the room was so damned big now. And I looked at that wall and I just said, I wish we had a shower big enough for both of us and he just went off."
"He just `went off?'" He was back to shouting again. "Just like that?"
"Actually, yeah," I stammered. "He said afterward he kind of missed the reno design part and figuring out the math. I guess since he's the big boss now he doesn't get that on many jobs. And he did say he could patch it if, AFTER I TALKED WITH YOU, if you didn't like the idea."
"Where are we going to shit, Joe?" he asked. I must've looked dumbfounded.
"The damned bathroom!" he went on. "If they demo that, where will we go to the bathroom and shower? I'm sure he can't install a bathroom in a day!"
"Well, we hadn't talked about that yet. He measured and he'll be back in the morning with some plans for us to approve. We really talked about pulling out the fiberglass tub/shower combo and just building a new, walk-in shower. I don't think he'd have to move the toilet," I said shakily. And then, "but is this really about the renovations?"
"Of course not," He said back in a huff. "But it's a hell of a lot easier to argue about that right now than my company, since you have no control over that but you are overseeing this."
"I'm not overseeing this," I argued. "You're here all day."
"Tell me about it," he countered. "But it's your friend's construction company."
"Okay, that's fair. Now what the fuck is happening in California that has you so pissed you are yelling at me instead of taking advantage of my sexy, sweaty, muscled body," I teased.
"You know," he began, then he breathed and smiled at me. "Any other day, Stud, and it would have been enough. It's just been a really shitty dayÉ" he broke off. I walked over, put down my beer, and then pulled him into me. I hugged him tight just letting him breath through it.
"I'm sorry if I added to the shit-show," I whispered into his ear. "I love you, Bud."
He held me tight and I tried to breath slow, hoping he'd match his breathing with mine and lower his heart rate and anger. He sighed into my sweaty chest. "You're fucking sexy when you get mad," I said. I felt a tongue lick at one sweaty nipple. "Hmm, don't start something you're not willing to finish." He suckled on my nip for a second then pulled away. He sat back on the stool and picked up his beer.
"Sit," he commanded. I obeyed, dropping onto my press bench.
"Dennis thinks we should sell the company," he said flatly.
"Holy Fuck!" I said. "Just because y'all have disagreed about some stuff."
"No," he sighed, taking another pull on his beer. "Because we got another unsolicited offer. This one, honestly, is too big to refuse. The fact that we've been disagreeing just makes it easier. And he's making that about my being away from this office and living here, but it's always been a bit tenuous. When we were just starting, we were young and didn't have much to lose. I was the business/financial order behind his creative chaos and that works when you only have four or five other people on the payroll. When you've got 165 people depending on you, it can change quite a bit. He says the only reason we have the offer is because of his products, and I say the only reason is because we've been financially conservative and our balance sheet reflects my checking his wildest impulses on development. Frankly, it's lasted this long because we genuinely love each other, but I'm just tired of always having to work it out."
"Wow," I said, genuinely. "That's probably the most I've heard you talk about you and Denny in two months. How big is too big to refuse?"
"22 million," He said, looking me in the eye. I spit my beer into his face.
"Holy Shit!" I said, getting up, wiping his face with my sweaty hands. He started to laugh, and then I was laughing, and then we were rolling around on the porch floor in beer and sweat, laughing.
"You are going to be fucking rich!" I yelled.
"Not just me," He pulled my hair. "You too. But really, it'll be split up. My take won't be even 50% of that, maybe with lawyers and fees."
"Not me too," I said softly.
"Look," he got up on all fours over me, "this doesn't change anything. Or if it does, it's for the better. I'll figure out a new career and have time to do it. That's more time to spend with you and on us."
"I'm not really a rich guy," I began, "you know that. I don't move in those kinds of circles. I meanÉ"
"Stop!" he commanded and pressed his lips into mine. I tasted his tongue and the beer and I let myself go. He pulled away.
"It's a lot to consider, though," I stammered.
"No shit," he said quietly. "it's why I was so torn up. And I was trying to deal with conference calls with Denny, and then our west coast lawyers- who are also friends, and the fucking noise around here was driving me nutsÉ" he lowered himself on top of me and I curled an arm around his back.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here to talk you through, or talk you down, or whatever," I said, rubbing his head.
"I know," He said looking me in the eye with that look of love and desired that melted me. "But I really can't have you freaking out about the money, too. Only one of us gets to freak out at one time, and damnit, now was my time, okay?" He kissed me again.
"Okay," I said, rubbing his back. "You might feel better if you lifted a bit and worked out some of this energy."
"Lifted, hmm?" He looked at me.
"Yeah, just shuck off your t-shirt and those khakis. It's just you and me out here. You can lift in your drawers," I teased.
"Nobody but you and Doc still says `drawers', and no, I can't," he countered.
"Why not?" I tickled him.
"Because."
"Why not?"
"I'm not wearing any drawers," he said, sheepishly.
"What? You went to work at the Corner Store commando? What if you popped a boner?" I asked, incredulously.
"Not commando," He said, standing up away from me.
"Well, don't leave me in suspense." I commanded. He pulled off his t-shirt and I smiled at the sight of his sculpted chest, dusted with blonde fur and his perfectly proportioned biceps. He toed off his deck shoes and I smiled at the sight of his perfectly shaped toes on size 11 feet. "Come on," I teased. He turned around and dropped his khakis. I gasped at the size of his beautiful, muscled ass framed in the straps of a black jock.
"Wait a minute," I began, and he turned around. "Is that my fucking jock strap?"
"Maybe," he demurred.
"The one you begged me to shoot my load in the other night while you fucked me?" I asked.
"MaybeÉ" he smiled up at me.
"You've been wearing my used, crusty jock all day while you were working," I asked, standing and approaching his hardening body.
"Not just today," he said, reaching for me and pulling me into him. "I wore it yesterday too. And it was still moist when I put it on." He licked the side of my neck.
"You sexy little pervert, you," I growled. "Getting me to nut in my jock, then stealing it and wearing it for two days while you pretend to be a big businessman." I fondled his hardening cock in the pouch of my jock and thrust my tongue into his mouth. He broke our kiss.
"I need you with me during the day sometimes," he groaned and he kissed me back harder. I lifted him easily, grinding my cock into his and then laid him carefully onto the press bench.
"Let's give you the real thing, Champ," I growled, shucking off my shorts and current jock with one hand while keeping my lips locked on his.
I reached onto the porch post above him and pumped some lube into my hand, then coated my hard shaft, pulling back my foreskin. I was aching to be inside my man.
"Wait, what is that?" He looked up, shifting his legs in the air.
"Lube? Or my cock?" I teased.
"That!" he said pointing. I carefully maneuvered two large lubed fingers into his hungry hole. He was already gaping for me. He moaned.
"It's a lube station," I said, leaning over to chew on one nip. "We got a bunch of those dispensers at the station as part of our PPE and it's a small office. I re-purposed one and instead of hand sanitizer, ours has lube. I hung it up out here yesterday." He smiled as I withdrew my fingers and lined up my rock-hard head.
"I forgot how fucking smart you are," He groaned as I entered him. "I just keep you around for the great sex andÉ" he let out a little half-moan, half yelp as I grounded my full 9 inches into his hole. "Oh God, Joe, right there."
I nuzzled into him, covering him with my sweaty chest as I retreated and then thrust again. "I'm happy to be your fuck-toy, Stud, but I have many talents," I whispered into his ear and began a steady pump fuck as he lifted his hips into me. I covered his mouth with mine, and tried to tongue fuck his mouth with the matching beat of my fuck in his ass. I became cock, tongue, and heated skin only. He was heat, and hole, and mouth. That exquisite mouth. He tasted intoxicating to me. And his chute- now used to my coupling- was groping me on down thrusts, gripping my pleasure, a willing partner and not just a receptacle of my love and lust. Jason gripped the bar behind him or I would've fucked him off the bench. I felt a muscled arm reach between us to grab his own cock. I breathed through my nose, not anxious to release his mouth or his ass from my hard, sweaty assault. The sweat rolled off my forehead and into his, our torsos were stuck together in heated passions.
"Oh, fuck me, Joe! There, right there!" he cried out, releasing my mouth. I raised up in a modified squat so I could leverage my cock in further, bracing one hand on the bar and the other on his left pec. I rammed my cock home harder and harder, as the fwap, fwap, fwap of his hand on his thick cock continued frantically. He raised his hips into me even more, wrapping his legs tightly around my ass, willing me into him as I felt the walls of his anus contract and then he cried out as he shot his first load up over his head, onto the bench, followed by more along his hairline, face, and chest. The sight of my strong man covered in my sweat and his cum, partnered with his continued gripping of my cock in his man-pussy drove me over, and I plunged back into him, grapping him to me as I shot one, two, three, four, five hard volleys of man-cum deep into his rectum, pummeling his prostate with my seed, aching to give him all the love and comfort I could, sharing with him my physical joy of having every part of him as mine.
Jason:
Joe emerged toweling his dark, curly locks, his limp cock swinging from that mass of dark curly pubes, framed by his cut Adonis belt and the sheer mass of his quadriceps. I gasped at the startling beauty of this muscled god who had earlier fucked the anger and fear right out of me. I knew we were still in the first, full blush of love and all of the lust that it brought with it, but I could feel my cock hardening just at the sight of him as I struggled to keep setting the table.
"What?" he smiled at me, wrapping the too-small towel around him and tracking into the second bedroom which was now our shared first.
"Just admiring the view," I yelled after him. "It was for my benefit, right?"
"Well, since there's barely room in that bathroom for me to back out of the shower, I have to fully towel off in the great room," he yelled back. Oh, this bathroom discussion was still going on was it? Hell, the construction had actually gone quite well and fairly quickly, if I was being fair to all concerned. If we didn't have to give up the toilet, I guess we could shower out on the deck with a cold waterhose for a few days? It was not quite September yet, so we still had warm, humid nights for the most part. As long as Tyrell gave us a clear start date and end date, I could probably be convinced if it meant a shower big enough that the two of us could soap up without soaking the entire bathroom. I'd be willing to get rid of that shower curtain (that we'd already knocked down twice in the last few months during some serious shower fucking). Ah, what the hell.
Joe walked back out of the bedroom, solid boxer briefs stretched across that generous package and framing his delicious ass, cell phone in hand, frowning.
"What is it, Babe? C'mon, let's eat before the pasta gets cold." I said. He looked up, a lost expression.
"That was Ms. Peggi, from the office. I only answered `cause it was her call I recognized and it's after hours," He confided, throwing himself into his chair at the farm table.
"And?" I questioned, putting a heaping plate of pasta carbonara in front of him. Sweaty sex after his workout often took a lot out of him, so in our shared cooking chores, I'd learned he often needed to carb load soon after.
"Bob McCrary took the original call. You know they've all been sharing phone duty since the article came out. There's an 800 number set up on the website by Nature magazine and their publicists field that one, but the lazy just read the article and call the Park Service Office," he rambled.
"Okay, but we've had that going on for the last two weeks. Did someone report a cat sighting?" I queried.
"Bob was confused. He got Ms. Peggi in on the conference call." He looked again as a text came in. "A guy read the article and has been trying to reach me all week. Asked for my cell phone. Bob got Peggi involved because this guy said he knew my mother in the summer of 1979. Peggi just texted me the guy's number. Says his name is Will HendricksÉ" Joe went on, and then suddenly, burst into tears. What theÉ? I was confused as fuck and then, realization. Summer of 1979. If Joey's birthday was late March 1980, thenÉ? I walked over and held him.
"Oh Baby. You think this man might be your father?" I asked.
He sniffled into my t-shirt as I held the back of his still wet hair in my hand.
"Babe?" I asked again.
"It's just too much," he whispered.
"What?" I asked again, confused. "Don't you want to at least call him back and see if it's credible? What do you have to lose?"
"I'm scared," he finally growled at me.
"Of what?" I prodded.
"Of getting my hopes up again," He said, pulling his head up and looking at me. He wiped his eyes with one meaty hand and said, "Hell, let's eat. I'm starving."
"Okay," I agreed moving around and sitting down facing him. "You always think best on a full stomach."
"Really?" he raised an eyebrow.
"it's something my Mom used to say," I answered.
"It's delicious," he said over a mouthful, absently looking away. "Thanks for cooking."
"Hmm, hmmm," I concurred digging in. I let him eat, chew, and ponder. If there were wheels turning up there, I could imagine them smoking. God, he was so fucking handsome. What if this caller was his real Dad. How would that change who he was, who he had become over all these years as the father-less but wonderful man he was?
"It's just," he started, staring at me and pointing with his fork. "My life is finally so damned good, you know? And you," he hesitated. "It all started with you," He smiled at me, lovingly. I gave it right back.
"I can't take any credit for anything other than recognizing a guy jerking off on my porch and taking full advantage of him. The fact that he was stacked like a Greek god didn't make it any harder on me! If anyone has lucked out here, it would be me," I countered.
"Well, you're right about that. You are pretty damned lucky you found me, being a almost-divorced loser and all, and kind of puny on top of all that," He smiled, sheepishly, teasing me in this awe-shucks way of his I had come to adore. "But seriously. I find you. And then, my life makes sense all of a sudden. My research reaches new heights. With you comes two very handsome men who within weeks treat me like a son! Again, probably because they are so happy I'm taking their ne'er-do-well loser son off their hands," he laughed at himself. I hit him square between the eyes with a piece of bacon from my pasta. "Hey, no food fighting while we're thinking," he shook his fork at me again.
"I mean. Everything else has just been a whirlwind, but so good, maybe this could be too?. But, how will I know? I mean he could be a nut job. The article biography did mention my mom's name, he could have read the absence of father in that and created some fake timeline. Help me think through this part?" he asked, looking at me. "I want to be cool. Objective. Not get my hopes up,"
"Oh, Babe," I said, reaching across for his meaty hand and squeezing it. "Of course, I'll help you. It's wise to be cautious. But it's okay to let yourself be hopeful too," I said. "We can make a list. Like Luke always does. Then, when you're ready, you can call the number."
"Okay, Jay. Sounds like a plan," He smiled back at me. "Is there any more of this pasta? I seemed to have inhaled this helping." I stood and took his plate.
"Bud," I told him, "I've learned my man likes to eat. There's enough here for tomorrow night as well." I filled his plate and put it in front of him, smiling.
"You're too good for me," he said, gratefully.
"We're good for each other," I said. And then as gratitude, "And I'm willing to see what plan Tyrell brings by in the morning. If we can get a good timeline and we don't have to lose the toilet, then I'm open to the bathroom remodel too."
"Yes!" He pumped one fist in the air, sending sauce flying off the end of his fork. "Sorry, I'll clean that up," he grinned, chastened.
"No worries, Mountain Man. I'm used to the rough lack of mannersÉ" I grinned back.
What a day we'd both had. Could we make it through more complications? My company, his work, a possible long-lost dad? A renovation?
Who was I kidding? I was already in over my head and I'd walk through fire for this guy. Hell yes, I was invested. And like my Dad, I wasn't going to live in fear. We could face whatever came our way. Together.