Page 52 of Handy

Jericho’s voice filters down the hallway, pulling me out of my HGTV daydreams.

“So now I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do. Hey, Griff,” he says as they enter the kitchen and he sets a big bowl of pasta salad on the counter.

I grunt and nod at him in return. Ever since I pulled my head out of my ass and made things official with Ledger, Jericho has slowly warmed up to me. Thank fuck for that.

“Jer’s lease is up and the landlord is raising the price by five hundred bucks,” Ledger fills me in.

I grunt again, this time sympathetically, then go to the refrigerator and pull out a few beers, handing one to Jericho, another to Ledger, and keeping the third for myself. The nice thing about the two of them together is that I don’t have to worry about trying to get a word in edgewise, I can just lean against the counter and drink my beer while they fill up the silence for hours.

Jericho sips his beer, grabs a handful of the chips Ledger put out for our cookout, and tells us all about the lack of decent apartments in Fall Crosse that don’t cost an arm and a leg to rent. I’ve owned my house for so long that I really can’t relate, but it makes sense. Prices are up everywhere and there are only a couple of apartment complexes in town, so supply and demand I guess, right? As they start to trade horror stories about the worst places they’ve settled for renting, an idea starts to form.

“Why don’t you rent Ledger’s house?” I blurt.

They both fall silent and turn to look at me. Ledger cocks his head, a curious smile forming on his lips.

“And where would I live, big bear?”

Heat creeps into my cheeks and I take a sip of my beer. Maybe I should have let the idea fully form before I started running my mouth, but on some level, I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of months now. I clear my throat and meet his eyes, gathering my courage.

“With me?”

He makes a strangled, excited noise and flings his unopened beer bottle in excitement. Jericho’s eyes go wide, and he dives to catch it before it hits the floor while I focus on catching the man launching himself into my arms.

I laugh and stumble back into the counter as Ledger’s body weight hits me full force.

“Yes, yes, yes, I want to live with you.” He kisses me sloppily all over my face before he finally realizes he’s way too heavy for me to hold for long and puts his feet back on the floor. “But wait, what about TP? She’s not exactly an easy house pet.” He gestures to the holes in the drywall.

I give him a lopsided smile and run my thumb along the sandpaper edge of his jaw. “I have some ideas about how to TP proof the house. And if it doesn’t work, that’s fine. Drywall can be patched. I don’t know if you know this, but I’m pretty handy.”

He snorts a laugh and then kisses me again.

“In that case, I think I’ll start packing now.”

I chuckle. “Or maybe wait until after your housewarming party?”

Ledger looks around at the food and supplies out on the counters—the reminder that a dozen or so of our friends are going to be here any minute.

“Right, good call.”

Maybe I didn’t take much time to put a lot of thought into it before making the offer, but this feels right. Having Ledger live twenty feet away is great, but having him in my bed every single night is even better. Preferably forever.

LEDGER

It feels a little silly now to have a housewarming party at a house I won’t be living in much longer, but at least it’s an excuse to show off all the hard work Griff put into it. And either way, I’m definitely in a celebratory mood now.

Griff heads outside to start warming up the grill while I sigh and giggle to myself as I finish getting everything set up for the party. Jericho chuckles at me every so often, but he hasn’t said a negative word about Griff since we made things official, so I think even he can finally see that this time is different.

Instead of coming to the door, I start to spot the guys filtering into the backyard. It’s been ages since I’ve had an excuse to press my nose up against the window and watch my gorgeous bear, but apparently being a window-peeping stalker is like riding a bike; you never forget how it’s done. I nudge Jericho as we watch the guys gather around Griff at the grill, slapping him on the back and trying to drag him into conversation.

“Isn’t his ‘I feel out of place’ scowl so cute?” I swoon.

Jericho just shakes his head at me. “You’re such a freak. But I guess you’re the one about to move in with his adoring boyfriend and I’m the single loser now, so what do I know?”

“You’re not a loser.” I put my head on his shoulder and give him a side hug.

“Sure.” He doesn’t seem at all convinced. “Any of those guys happen to be single?” He nods towards the backyard slowly filling with Griff’s coworkers plus the mechanics, followed by some guys in leather jackets I don’t think I’ve met before.

“None of the ones I know, but it seems like there are more of them every time I turn around, so anything is possible.” I chuckle and squeeze his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go save my man from having to betoosocial all on his own.”

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