Page 11 of Nicks and Cuts

SIX

Dante was being more friendly than he’d been yesterday. Perhaps banging bits of metal had improved his mood, or maybe it was the pizza and beer. Food could win over a lot of people. Whatever the reason, Shannon didn’t care as long as his stay was pleasant enough. Given the private location and the trees surrounding the main house, he was willing to put up with the occasionally grumpy host.

He also didn’t mind the view of Dante in his worn and well-fitting black work pants.

“If I have a life philosophy, it’s probably ‘keep your head down and stay out of trouble’.” Dante helped himself to another piece of pizza.

“That’s not a bad way to live, but it also means avoiding a lot of things.”

“It’s only avoiding if you feel like you’re missing out,” Dante countered.

Shannon raised his eyebrows, not convinced that Dante wasn’t missing out on a few things by keeping his head down, buried beneath the clothes in the closet.

Dante held his gaze as if daring him to speak those thoughts aloud.

Once he’d seen somebody naked and heard the noises they made when they came, it was hard to pretend that there wasn’t something that existed between them that no one else knew about…unless there had been other people involved at the time, but that was a different mess…

He knew something about Dante that very few did. And Dante seemed to be aware of that. Did he regret it or did he think about it when he was in the shower by himself?

A smile curved his lip. He hoped Dante thought of him tonight. “How would you know if you’re missing out if you never try?”

“Maybe there’s some things I don’t want to try. Do you follow through on every random idea?”

“No, but I also keep an open mind instead of pushing the entire idea aside.” Like the idea of sleeping with Dante again. Sure, it was probably a bad idea, but it would be fun at the time, and sometimes that was enough.

He took a sip of beer and reminded himself why sleeping with his landlord was a bad idea. That Dante was technically his landlord was at the top of the list. That he knew a lot about knives, was ex-military, and in the closet followed swiftly.

He didn’t usually mess around with military guys as they often had issues. He’d seen Dante’s physical scars and knew he’d also have the invisible kind, both from the military and from the death of his family. But temporary fun, which was all this could be, because Shannon was not disappearing for anyone, didn’t care about scars.

Reasons to fuck around with Dante: he was fucking hot, he was built, and when he stopped worrying what other people might think, he knew what he wanted. And most importantly, he was right there. Convenience sometimes won out.

Except that he was not there to hook up. He drew in a breath. Foggy Basin was meant to be a new start, with a new set of priorities that put him at the top, not someone else. LA Shannon hadn’t got the memo…nor had his dick.

“If I pushed aside every bad idea, you wouldn’t be sitting at my table.” Dante took a bite, glowering at him.

“Ouch. Message received.” Eat pizza and shut up. “My mouth gets ahead of itself sometimes.”

“You never had to filter what you wanted through the lens of what might happen if you get it.”

Shannon opened his mouth to argue but found he couldn’t. “You’re right. I grew up in a creative family who I never needed to come out to; it just was. My parents probably suspected before I did. But what I do need to learn, and one of the reasons I left, is to say no instead of offering to help everyone. My sister needs a loan to cover rent…my parents need to pay the electricity bill, my ex needs shoes or clothes or something…and…” He sounded like such a shit. “I got sick of reaching into my wallet. Of being the responsible one they all turned to when they needed bailing out—literally once. Because I can’t say no to my family, I left, figuring that a bit of distance would help me grow a spine.”

Wow, he really should’ve stopped talking at ‘you’re right’ instead of spilling more word vomit than the average nightclub bathroom floor saw at two am. What the hell was in these local beers? Some kind of truth serum?

He checked the label to see how much alcohol was in a bottle. It was strong, but not that strong.

Dante smiled and lifted both eyebrows.

Shannon pressed his lips together. “Maybe I’m still a little…” Not bitter, as he didn’t resent them.

“Burned out from bailing out everyone else?”

“Maybe.” He’d been exhausted by everyone by the time he’d hooked up the fish and fled.

“And your ex?”

He glanced away. “I should’ve ended it six months earlier. By the time we split, I was more relieved than anything else.”

“Yet you left everything to start over?”