Page 56 of Pitcher Perfect

They talked about some invoice, but Austin sounded strained. When they wrapped up, Austin asked Dom not to say anything to the guys about us. I didn’t like the twinge in my stomach.Is he embarrassed? Did it mean nothing to him?

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my mouth shut. Just be glad it wasn’t Ty who walked in.”

Austin groaned. “Thanks, man.”

“See ya.”

I turned to wave Dom off. He winked at me and gave me a thumbs-up once Austin’s back was to him. At least I had the stamp of approval from one of Austin’s brothers from other mothers.

“I’m so sorry about that. Of the three of them, Dom is by far the most discreet.”

I swallowed and tried to focus on cleaning some grain off the floor next to the bin, but I couldn’t let it go. “Do we need to be discreet?”

When I looked over my shoulder, Austin opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. My stomach sank further with each moment he stood there gaping like a goldfish.

“We talked about it being just the once.”

I nodded because the words wouldn’t come immediately. I knew better than to get my hopes up. Austin had been clear about his boundaries, and I’d let my heart get away from me. I’d pushed him unfairly. “We did. Hey, it’s okay. Just because we have chemistry doesn’t mean we need to do something about it right now. I’m not about to hop on a dating app or anything.”How pathetic does that make me sound? Jesus Christ. Don’t worry, Austin. I’m so over the moon about you that I’m happy to wait until you’re ready. And if you never are, that’s fine. I’ll pine for you from afar like a complete fool.

I took a steadying breath as I straightened up. When I turned to face Austin, bracing myself for whatever I saw on his face, the last thing I expected to see was a fierce determination. His eyes were indecisive. Obviously, some sort of war waged in his head, but still—determined. That gave me hope.

Austin closed the distance between us, pushing me against a thankfully cool vat, pressing his open hands on the metal next to my head. Though I had a couple of inches on him, his energy and attitude made me feel smaller. I loved it.

“I want you, Caleb. I want you so much, but it scares the hell out of me.”

“It scares me too,” I whispered. “But not enough to keep me away. I’m not asking for anything official here, but I don’t want to ignore what I feel about you. Can we let whatever happens… happen? No expectations, no promises. We both have a lot going on, but I think we’re worth seeing this through.”

Austin’s brow furrowed. I stayed silent so he could process my words, but his proximity, the heat of his body, him boxing me in, made it hard to think. I saw the moment he stopped fighting himself. Everything about him relaxed.

“Yeah. Let’s see what happens. I’d be an idiot to keep you at a distance.” His eyes still held a flicker of doubt, but I would do what I could to chase it away.

“Damn right you would. I make a killer breakfast sandwich. Hanging out with me gets you all the sammies you want for free.”

“That’s exactly why I’m here—all that free breakfastsausage.” He pressed his hips against mine.

I tilted my head back against the vat and groaned. “If you want me to be productive through the rest of this, you’d better keep your breakfast sausage wrapped up and away from me.”

“Let’s get back to work. Maybe if we finish early enough, I’ll let you touch my breakfast sausage.”

“Promises, promises.” I clapped my hands together and rubbed them. “What else do we have to do?”

While I watched him add the hops and other ingredients to get that killer flavor, he talked about his work—their production, the various beers they made, the schedule, their plans for the next couple of years. Watching him in his element was sexy as fuck.

“It sounds like you’ve got a solid routine going for your regular beers. How do special ones like this affect things? Or seasonal ones?”

Austin wiped the back of his hand over his forehead. The brewing area was getting hot between the boiling and all the cleaning. Seeing sweat curl the edges of his hair had me wanting to make him sweat in ways that involved much less clothing.

“It’s going to be tough. Having seasonals will be important to bring visitors to the tap house, but maintaining a steady production of our standard lineup is important for all the vendor relationships Ty is working on. The more restaurants and stores we get in, the more I’ll need to produce. I’m trying to finalize a recipe now for the winter ale, but it’s tough to focus on that when I have a ton of barrels to brew between now and then.”

“Do you have any ideas for your recipe?” I walked over to the cooler I’d brought and pulled out a lunch I’d assembled for us.

Austin said we had a little time before the next step, so I would use the opportunity to feed him. I handed him a bento box filled with charcuterie-type goodies. I thought that would be easy to nibble and walk away from if he needed to do the next step in the brewing process.

“I do, but nothing feels good enough. It’s our first seasonal, and I want it to be amazing.”

“You put a lot of pressure on yourself,” I said absently. I stiffened, worried I’d overstepped.

He was quiet for several long, stressful moments. “I do. I guess I always have.”

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