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Out the windshield the dark went on forever, no town glow to spoil it, and somewhere on that road Niall quit white-knuckling. He’d been running his life like a man balancing the books to the penny. Tonight he was taking a hammer to his piggy bank.
Maybe it was the third month of red numbers in QuickBooks, or maybe how Chuck kept looking at him like a failing store and a prickly single dad were the most fascinating things in Northern California.
When they pulled up in front of Niall’s apartment, Chuck turned off the engine but made no move to get out. “I had a fantastic time tonight.”
“Me too.” Niall hadn’t expected to mean it so much, but he sure did. “Killer burgers. Everything.” He glanced up, eyes trying to memorize everything.
“Anytime, my man.” Chuck hesitated, then added, “To be clear, this was a big ol’ gay date. In case you were wondering. I took you out and you went and it rocked.”
Niall blinked. “I was wondering.”
“Well, so now you know.” Chuck’s smile was soft in the dim light of the truck cab. “I’d like to do it again sometime. If you’re interested.”
“I am.” Niall should say no. He had enough complications in his life without adding a relationship with Chuck Mitchum to the mix. Chuck was temporary, passing through to somewhere better. He had a history of walking away when things got rocky. He was everything Niall had spent his adult life avoiding. But sitting there in the truck, with the night wrapped around them and Chuck’s eyes holding his, all the rational arguments sounded distant and unimportant. “Yeah.”
“Yeah?” Chuck looked startled.
“Hundred percent.”
Chuck’s smile widened. “Good to know.” He leaned across the seat, taking enough time that Niall could have pulled away or deflected if he wanted to, and pressed a firm kiss to his lips.
It was brief, almost chaste, but it jolted him—WHAM—all the way down to his socks. When Chuck pulled back, Niall swayed after him before he caught himself.
“Down payment,” Chuck murmured. “For next time.”
“Next time,” Niall echoed, his voice raspy with desire.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. For treehouse planning.”
“Right. Treehouse.” His brain was somewhere down below his belt.
Chuck chuckled. “Go on, before I start getting rude again. Remember, I’m not a polite person.”
Niall climbed out of the truck, his legs wobbly under him as he tried to walk. “Night, Chuck.”
“You better have a very good night too.”
As the truck pulled away, Niall stood on the sidewalk for a moment and pressed two fingers to his lips to feel where Chuck’s had been. He wanted to laugh. He also wanted to throw up a little.
He should be cautious. He should think of all the reasons this was an awful idea. He should protect himself and Winnie from inevitable disappointment.
But just maybe, a big scary gamble was his best bet.
Chapter 6
CHUCK MITCHUM had never been accused of overthinking things. Acting on impulse? Absolutely. Leaping before looking? His specialty. But spending an entire morning obsessing over a single chaste kiss after a dinner date at a dive bar? That was new territory.
Yet here he sat, staring at a lumber order for Winnie’s treehouse, unable to focus because his mind kept drifting back to the soft press of Niall’s lips against his, the surprised intake of breath, the way Niall chased his mouth a half inch when Chuck pulled back, not wanting it to end, sure as a magnet tracking iron.
“You’re going to rub a hole in that paper if you keep staring at it.” Aunt Lydia scrutinized him from across the kitchen table.
Chuck blinked, startled. “No, I get it.” He shook his head. “I was trying to calculate how much lumber we’ll need for the trunk. Got a bit lost in the details.”
“Hmm.” Lydia’s eyes narrowed with skepticism. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain lanky bookstore owner, would it? The pretty one whose roof you’ve been fixing all week?”
“Niall’s just a… friend.” The word felt inadequate after last night’s kiss, but Chuck wasn’t ready to pin down whatever was happening between them, especially not to his gossipy aunt.
“Friend. Right.” Lydia chuckled, stirring her coffee. “That’s why you’ve been walking around in circles like a one-legged chicken, humming Motown.”
