Page 31 of Deck the Fire Halls

“Sure, sure,” he said, gesturing for me to come in. “Please, come in.”

The space itself was maybe fifteen feet across and twice that long. There were bookshelves and beanbags, a small kitchenette, and what looked like an office at the back.There were posters on the walls, some pride flags, and some brochure racks with mental health cards and some sexual health ones too.

“Great place,” I said.

He sighed as he looked around, smiling, proud. “Thanks. It’s early days and I’m still getting it set up. There’s a lot to do, but I’m happy with how it’s going so far.”

“Anything I can help with?” I didn’t know why I felt so nervous. Almost as if I was asking if we could hang out, which was weird. We were both adults. I was a doctor, for Pete’s sake. “I uh... I have actual days off for the first time ever and I’m not entirely sure what to do with myself. I had a to-do list for my first day off and was kinda done by eight, so...”

Gunter laughed. “So you’re like me. You can’t sit still, need to be productive.”

“I guess, yeah. I rarely had any time off before, and if I did have a day, I slept.”

“Sounds brutal.”

“It was.” I made a face. “Hence why I’m here.”

His smile was warm and knowing. “I totally get it. I moved here, bought a fixer-upper, and buried myself in renovation work, and when the house was done, I started on the gardens, and when that was done, I tried to relax. I retired early, right? To spend my days leisurely doing whatever I felt like, but I was stir crazy after six months. Clay suggested I look into doing something community-based, and so I jumped right into this.” He gestured around at the room. “Took a bit of red tape and background work, but here I am.”

I found myself smiling. “I love that. I get the whole doing-something-community-based thing. I mentioned something similar to Soren and he thought helping out here would be good for me.” I shoved my hands into my back pockets, nervous again. Or still. “That’s why he introduced us the other night.”

His eyes sparkled as he gave me a nod. “Ah, Soren. You’re neighbors, right?”

My cheeks burned with . . . something akin to embarrassment. “Yes. He’s, uh . . . he seems nice.”

Gunter found that funny. “Nice, yes.” Then he whispered, “Also a hot-as-hell firefighter. And he’s single.”

My face burned brighter. “So I heard.”

He chuckled, but maybe for the sake of my embarrassment, he dropped the suggestiveness. “But seriously, he’s a nice guy. I don’t know him that well. Clay does. He works with him from time to time, you know, with forestry and fires, etcetera. He’s become pretty good friends with Colson too, which is nice. He actually hasn’t been in town too long. About the same as me, and I’m glad his circle now includes ours. Kinda need that, right?”

He meant his queer group of friends, his own little queer community.

“Never really had that,” I admitted. “I mean, I did, but not really. My circle of friends was mostly doctors and there was no social life to speak of. No dating, even. Just casual... acquaintances.”

His smirk told me he knew what I meant. “Ah, yes. Acquaintances of the Grindr community.”

“They would be the ones.” I snorted. “The Venndiagram of my community of friends and Grindr dates is pretty much one circle.”

Gunter laughed. “Well, there’s a community of friends here if you want. Though I should probably warn you about Hamish.”

I snorted at that. “Soren said something similar.”

“Nah, I’m just joking. He’s great. He’s one of my dearest friends now. We’re actually meeting for dinner tonight at the diner. You’re more than welcome to join us. There’ll be a few of us. We try to catch up once a week or so, and with Christmas coming, Jayden and Cass get super busy so we need to get in early.”

Oh.

“Oh, uh...” Could I join them? Did I want to? Hell yes, I really did. “That’d be nice, actually. I’d like that.”

Gunter grinned. “Great.”

He opened the box on the table, pulled out a roll of green and red tinsel, and handed it to me. “What are your Christmas decorating skills like?”

“I’m going to be very honest with you when I say below average.”

“Perfect,” he said with a chuckle. “Oh, and Soren’s already invited to dinner tonight so you don’t have to ask him.”

CHAPTER SIX

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