Page 27 of After Hours

That was all it took to send him over the edge. His eyes squeezed shut, and he bit his lip so hard I thought he might hurt himself. Oscar looked beautiful as he came, and I couldn’t stop my orgasm from exploding in my hand as I swallowed every drop he gave me.

We came back to reality together, and I reached out to wipe my hand on my t-shirt before shifting up the mattress to pull him into my arms. “Was that okay, baby?”

“Are you kidding me?” His wide eyes popped open, and he gaped at me. “Zane, you know it was the best thing ever.” Oscar wrapped his arm over me and settled his head on my shoulder. “Well, besides everything else I’ve ever done with you.”

“And everything else we’ll do together in the future.”

We shared a sweet kiss, a thank you and a promise. “Yeah,” he said as he snuggled against me once more. “Besides all that.”

Chapter 15

Oscar

Abattered cardboard box wrapped in what must have been one hundred feet of packing tape sat on the front stoop when I came home from work several days later. I hadn’t ordered anything, so I assumed it was for Wyatt until I saw the return address. “Declan O’Donnell,” I read before scrambling to tuck my water bottle under my arm and pick up the box.

Wyatt wouldn’t get home for a couple of hours, but I didn’t stop in the living room where I often hung out on the couch to unwind after work. I staggered to my bedroom and let the heavy box thump to the floor.

Since the unforgettable blowjob on moving day, I’d upgraded to a full-size bed and bought a dresser and nightstandfrom a thrift shop in town. I set down my phone, keys, and bottle before sitting on the floor in front of the box.

What on Earth would Dec ship to me? I hadn’t left anything there that I cared about, but maybe he found something of mine in the attic or basement. After tugging for a while, I gave up and fetched a knife from the kitchen to slice through the tape.

An envelope sat on top of another cardboard box inside. I opened it and read.

Oscar,

Dad put me on trash duty – you know the way he does when he’s pissed about something – and I thought of you. Wow. That sounds bad! No, I mean I thought of you when I was scooping up cast-offs and scraps. This isn’t getting any better, is it?

Haha! Just open the box and you’ll see what I mean.

But first…

I was feeling really low that day. No makeup. No jewelry. No pretty clothes. No me, you know? There I was in old jeans, a plain O’Donnell Masonry t-shirt, and work boots thinking about how hard it was to be that person, and still Dad wasn’t happy with who I was, right?

Then I thought of you and your amazing guts to just pack up and leave. And I thought of the photo you sent of you and Uncle Finn by that beautiful lake… and how I want so much to be in a photo like that with both of you someday.

I have just a few months before I get my vet tech degree and I made up my mind to do something wild and gutsy like you did. I’m going to look for a job in New York near you. I’m never going to wear an O’Donnell Masonry t-shirt ever again. Maybe I’ll donate the ones I have to an animal shelter so dogs can pee on them.

Anyway, I thought you might like these. Maybe they’ll remind you of the shitty old life, but I hope you look at them thesame way you used to. You can make something beautiful from the cast-offs and trash of this family. I hope someday, I can too.

I’ll see you soon. I’m counting down the days.

Love you, Dec!

Tears burning in my eyes, I cut the tape on the next box and opened up the flaps. A jumble of rough chunks and shards of stone filled the box. I picked up the first one, tan speckled granite, and turned it over in my hands. The next was limestone, smooth and gray, and then a few chunks of white marble about the size of my thumb. Sandstone, slate, and a few pieces of quartz. Dec had even included some decent-sized pieces of plain old rubble, which were completely worthless but workable.

Rock dust covered my hands by the time I sorted through the cast-offs and trash from the family business. These were the types of things that ended up in the garbage unless I rescued them for my carving hobby. More than ever before, my hands itched to get ahold of my rotary tool, to feel its vibrations and power as I transformed junk into something pretty or meaningful.

Working with Rafael filled some of my need to work with my hands on beautiful things, but the mosaics were his creativity, not mine. While I fetched tiles, brought him tea, and helped him mix the right shades of grout, we talked about art and life and beauty. He told me the pieces he’d seen on OO Stone Designs website helped convince him to give me the job.

My mind strayed back to the special rock, the gray striped one, that I pocketed on that wonderful day with Zane up near the cliff. I could’ve told him I loved him on that day, but maybe it was too soon. Maybe I could show him instead.

I spent the rest of the hour sorting the rocks, cleaning them up, and vacuuming my room. Rock dust got everywhere. I slipped Dec’s letter into my nightstand drawer next to my lube bottle and the still-wrapped dildo before lying back on my bed.

Scrolling through my photos, I noticed Zane showed up in at least half of them. I took some time with the picture Dec mentioned of Finn and I by the lake. It felt like a lifetime ago when I walked into the inn and hoped this perfect stranger would welcome me into his life.

I sat up and swung my feet to the floor. I had rocks and my tools, but there were some things I had to leave behind. I logged onto my favorite small-brand hobby shop online and started adding things to the cart. New carving tips and polishers, a few clamps and stands to hold the project while I worked, a spray bottle to keep the dust down.

I’d escaped my old life, found the real me, lived out and proud, and gained independence. The time had come to go beyond survival and start carving out a beautiful future for myself.

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