Page 43 of Handy

A chair scrapes against the tile floor, and I feel the slight shift of the table under my face as Jericho sits down next to me. He puts a hand on my arm and rubs his thumb back and forth over my wrist.

“Ledgie, I know I’m the last person in the world who should give any kind of relationship advice, but hear me out, okay?” he says, and I take a leaf out of Griff’s book and grunt in acknowledgment. “You can’t change anyone. You can’tmakehim the kind of guy who’s mature enough to face the big feelings that scare the shit out of him. This is why I don’t like guys like this for you, because at the end of the day you love so damn hard, and it’s just wasted on people who can’t or won’t receive it. I think you should give him space, maybe hire someone else to finish up your living room, and just let him go if he wants to go.”

My heart aches, but I can see the wisdom in what he’s saying. I thought if I let Griff set the pace and kept my cool that I would be able to coax him out of his shell, but what if he prefers his shell? What if I’ve spent my life trying to bulldoze down walls that people would rather be left standing? What if I’m the asshole constantly bothering guys who just want to be left the fuck alone? Oh god, what if all the scowling and fuck-off vibes weren’t designed to give me an I-can-fix-him boner, but were actually just meant as a way to tell me to fuck off?

I groan and gently bang my head on the table. I don’t want to hurt my beautiful face, but it might be a good idea to knock some common sense into my thick head for a change. I stop banging after a minute, but thethud, thud, thudsound continues.

“Is that an echo or is someone at the door?” I mumble, and Jericho chuckles.

“That would be the door.”

My heart jumps and I gasp, bolting upright and dragging my fingers through my hair. I leap up out of my seat, knocking it over and leaving it clattering on the floor without a backward glance. I pause when I reach the front door, pulling in a deep breath to steady myself and putting a neutral look on my face.

Except, isn’t that what I was just angsting about? If faking chill isn’t working, maybe I should just… not. Maybe I should let Griff see all of my crazy, and if it scares him away, then so be it. With one more breath, I whip the door open.

Griff is standing there on my porch, dressed like he came straight from work as usual. But instead of a sledgehammer or a length of pipe, he’s holding a bouquet of sunflowers. His lips twist into a sheepish, crooked smile and he thrusts the flowers towards me.

“Can we talk?”

Chapter 17

GRIFF

Ledger is practically vibrating,staring at the flowers in my hands and opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. I’m hoping that’s a good sign. My heart is in my throat waiting for his answer though.

Jericho appears behind him, coming around the corner and leaning against the wall at the opening of the hallway. His eyes are narrowed and his lips are puckered like he just tasted something particularly sour and didn’t care for it one bit.

“Oh.” I swallow and tighten my grip on the bouquet, the paper crinkling in my sweaty fist. “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was interrupting anything. I can come back tomorrow or…” I should have called first. I assumed Ledger would be waiting around for me to show up and start tearing up the ruined living room floor tonight, but why would he when I left him hanging this morning with nothing but a lame note?

“No.” Ledger lunges forward to grab my arm before I can turn to leave. The second his fingers touch my skin I’m hit with the urge to melt into him and start to purr. I don’t care if hisfriend stands there with his lemon face the whole time, I just want to pull Ledger into my arms and beg him to tell me I didn’t ruin everything. “Jericho’s leaving.” He looks over his shoulder at his friend, tightening his hold on my wrist like he’s afraid I’ll make a run for it. “Bye, Jer, love you, get lost.”

Jericho’s sour face smooths out and he snorts a laugh, uncrossing his arms and sauntering forward. There’s an awkward moment where I step inside and slip off my boots while Jericho puts his shoes back on, continuing to shoot me less-than-friendly looks the whole time. I should say something to him, right? He’s Ledger’s best friend; I don’t want him to hate me. But what would I say? I don’t even know why he hates me, although I could take a guess. He probably thinks I’m not good enough for Ledger, maybe too old, too grumpy… Hell, maybe he wants Ledger for himself. I could hardly blame the guy, but I sure as shit wouldn’t let it go without a fight.

My heart squeezes and I look at Ledger again, hovering next to Jericho, shooting him various looks that seem like he’s trying to communicate wordlessly, but fuck if I know what he’s trying to say. Jericho seems to though, moving his eyebrows and shaking his head in an equally silent response.

I would fight for Ledger. That’s what I’m here to do, right? I stopped at Little Shop of Flowers on my way over and now I’m going to wrench my own chest open, show Ledger all the messy things inside, and hope he wants this too.

Jericho finishes tying his shoes and straightens up. He squeezes Ledger’s arm, gives me one more wary look, then leaves, shutting the front door behind him. No one was saying anything before this, but the silence after he’s gone rings in my ears. My tongue feels too big for my mouth, and I can already feel myself sweating through my shirt, but I’m not going to let that stop me.

“So, he hates me.” I let out a rusty chuckle.

“He doesn’t hate you, he’s just protective of me.” Ledger glances at the flowers in my hand again.

“Oh, sorry. These are for you.” I thrust them forward again, and instead of staring at them this time, Ledger takes them with a soft smile.

“Thank you.” He bites his lip and tilts his head towards the kitchen. “Come on, I need to see if I have anything that can function as a vase.”

“Sorry, I didn’t even think of that.”

He waves the apology off. “The flowers are beautiful. I love that they’re sunflowers. Don’t get me wrong, roses seem nice and everything, but this feels more…”

“Yeah, I was going to get roses, but Lewis, the guy at the flower shop, he said they’re a bit overdone. He asked me about you, what you’re like, and I said…” I clear my throat again, heat rising in my cheeks as I follow Ledger down the hall to the kitchen. “I said you’re like sunshine. Hence the… um… sunflowers.” I wince at how lame that sounds, but Ledger stops in his tracks and spins to face me.

“You told some flower shop guy I’m like sunshine?” I never knew someone could actually look like the watery eye emoji, but he manages it. “Stahp, that’s too cute.” He launches himself at me, crushing the flowers between our chests as he slams his lips into mine.

I catch him with a grunt, hooking one hand behind his neck and tracing the shape of his smile with my tongue. After a minute, he breaks away and checks the flowers to make sure they survived.

In the kitchen, TP is splayed out on the table on her back, her chubby belly rising and falling as she snoozes without a care in the world, clutching a toy fish in one paw. Ledger chuckles and shakes his head at her, then rummages through his cabinets until he finds a glass pitcher to fill with water.

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