Page 99 of Interference

Two…

Oh, hell.

Wyatt got up from the couch where he’d been watching TV. He had on a pair of gym shorts and a snug Army T-shirt, and that smile… the way some dark curls had tumbled over his forehead… those eyes…

No wonder Simon thinks I’m sleeping with you.

I cleared my throat as I put my luggage and grocery bags down by my feet. Petting my demanding cats, I said, “Hey.”

“Hey.” He came around the island and started rinsing out the empty bowl in his hand. “That was a great game last night. I think I’m starting to figure out the rules a bit more, too.”

“Oh, yeah?” I chuckled and rolled my eyes. “It was definitely a crash course in what is and isn’t offside, that’s for sure.”

He snorted. “I was starting to think the refs need to learn more about it than I do.” He shut off the faucet and put the bowl aside. Leaning against the counter, subtly taking some weight off his prosthetic, he added, “Does it usually take them that long to figure out if something is offside?”

“Ugh. No.” I rolled my eyes. “Especially since the play was obviously onside. I don’t even know what their coach was thinking, challenging that goal, but the refs? One of my buddies said they were probably just watching cat videos or something.”

Wyatt laughed, unaware of the inexplicable things that did to my balance. “Okay, so it wasn’t just me.” His brow furrowed. “What I didn’t get was the penalty. Both times the coach challenged for offside, there was a penalty right after. What was that about?”

“Delay of game. If they challenge a goal and lose, they get penalized.”

“Ooh.” He nodded slowly. “Okay, now it makes sense. I kept thinking I’d missed something.”

“Pfft.” I tousled Moose’s ears. “The officials missed a lot, so you’d have been in good company.”

He chuckled. “But hey, you guys still won.” His eyebrows rose. “That seemed like a huge score for hockey. Or have I just been watching games where nobody scores much?”

“It was a pretty wild score.” I reached down to get the groceries I’d set by my feet and put them on the counter. “I need to grab a few more of these out of the car. Be right back.”

“Do you need a hand?” Wyatt pushed himself off the counter.

The words, “Nah, I’ve got it” lodged in the back of my throat. I tried not to think too hard about why I said, “Sure, thanks,” instead. There wasn’t much, but for some reason, I just couldn’t say no to the company, even if it was just out to the garage for some grocery bags.

What is wrong with me?

Eh, whatever. I liked Wyatt’s company and didn’t feel like picking apart why. We continued chatting about the game as we trooped out to the car for the last few bags. Of course it only took one trip, and Wyatt immediately set about helping me unpack them and put things away.

It was so strangely domestic. The kind of thing I’d have done with a partner or even a roommate. It occurred to me as I handed him some freezer items that I’d been missing little domestic things like this. Even tasks as simple as putting away groceries or making a meal together. I also realized Simon and I had stopped doing them together well before he’d moved out. It was rare for us to even go to the supermarket together anymore, never mind go through the motions of putting it all away afterward.

Have we been over for longer than I thought?

As I was putting some things into a cabinet, there was a rustle on the island behind me. I didn’t think anything of it because Wyatt was pulling things out of bags.

But then a few things tumbled onto the floor, and Wyatt laughed. “Really, dude?”

I turned around to see Bear sitting beside a partly empty bag that was leaning over the counter’s edge, its contents scattered on the floor. I chuckled. “He’s so helpful.”

“Yeah, he is.” Wyatt gave Bear a little head scratch. Then he leaned down to pick up what had fallen.

And that was the exact moment I realized which bag Bear had dumped out.

Wyatt scooped up the toothpaste, the deodorant… and the box of condoms. To his credit, he just put them all back in the bag and pushed it away from the edge of the counter. “Can you leave it alone now?” he asked Bear. “You’re not helping.”

My face was on fire.

I felt like an idiot—I was a grown man. A single one! Buying condoms wasn’t scandalous, for fuck’s sake.

At least one of us could be an adult about it, though. Wyatt didn’t even acknowledge the box as he continued talking to my cat and going through groceries.

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