Page 11 of After Hours

“No, it’s a church. The meetings are in a church basement.”

“You’re hooking up with a church janitor? A male church janitor? Who you met at a recovery meeting?” I thrust my fingers through my hair. “You’re blowing my mind, Wy.”

“We’re not hooking up. Just talking, but… well, you’re gay, and you seem to enjoy like, no boobs, and muscles and dicks and all. So, I thought maybe it wouldn’t be so strange if I did too. We are twins, after all.” The funny little smile appeared again. “His name’s Louis.”

Before I could say anything else about his astounding revelation, my phone buzzed.

Oscar:Do you work soon? Carter sent me to pick up something from the store and I thought maybe I could see you for a bit? No rush or pressure or anything. I mean, come shop with me is hardly a fun idea. Forget I said anything.

I had hours before I had to go to sleep in time to get up refreshed for my delivery route, and I missed Oscar. Three whole days without seeing him at all felt like a lot longer. I was already addicted to the sweet man.

Zane:I’m not busy. Where should I meet you?

Oscar:Market? You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. It’s not exciting or anything.

Zane:I’ll be there in 10 mins.

“Gotta go.” I tucked my phone in my pocket and headed for my shoes. “Don’t think I’m going to forget about this revelation.” I paused and stared at him standing near the counter fiddling with his coffee mug. “Do you want to talk about this now? I’m not trying to run out on something important, here, Wy. If you need me…”

He shook his head and flapped his hand. “No, no. There’s no news to tell or deep angst or anything. I mean, who knows if anything will even come of it.”

In two strides, I had my arms around him and squeezed him tight. “Thank you for telling me. I’m glad you trust me enough, and I look forward to hearing more whether something comes of this Louis thing or not.” I smacked a kiss on his cheek and let go. “Love ya, Wy.”

“I love you too, bro.”

Before things got too sappy, I slipped on my other shoe and headed out to meet the guy I really wanted to get touchy-feely with.

***

I leaned closer to bump against Oscar’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. “Candles, six cucumbers, and peanut oil? Sounds like whoever gave you this list has a wild night planned.”

He blushed furiously, and snatched his hand back from a box of granola bars as if there might be something extra kinky about the chewy chocolate chips. He glanced up and down the supermarket aisle. “Shh! And no. I don’t want to think about my uncle like that. Besides…” He frowned down at the vegetables in the basket slung over his arm. “People don’t really use cucumbers for that sort of thing, do they?”

Why was making Oscar blush so much fun? I could hardly handle how cute he was already with those big eyes and plump lips. I shrugged. “I guess some people might. There’s a kink for everything, and some might not feel comfortable ordering toys offline. I certainly wouldn’t want to stick a--”

He whirled around so fast it made me jump. His hand smacked over my mouth before I could get another word out. “Shh! Oh my gosh, Zane.”

Laughter bubbled out of me – as much as it could through his hand clamped over my mouth – and I pressed a quick kiss to his palm.

He shot me a look, half scolding and half pure sweetness, as the chocolate chip granola bars landed on top of the cucumbers, and he headed for the end of the aisle. “I just have to drop these off back at the inn.” We got into line behind a man buying three cases of dog food.

“What are you doing after that?” I had no idea about Oscar’s work schedule, but I knew I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. I’d even skip a few hours of sleep for the privilege. “I have to get home by sevenish for Sugar, but I’m free before then.”

“Sugar?” He paused in the middle of shoving the granola bars into his reusable grocery tote. “Do you want one of these?”

It took me a moment to get it, but then I shook my head with a grin. “Sugar’s my dog. I need to feed her and take her out then.”

“Ohh! I forgot you told me about her.” I followed him back to his tiny turquoise car and watched him climb inside. “I don’t have to work this afternoon.”

“Would you like to go climbing with me?” I didn’t mean ropes and cliffs or anything, but Oscar’s gasp and the clench of his fingers on the steering wheel made me think that’s exactly what he pictured. “Just a hike? We could take Sugar.” A man who blushed at cucumbers in the market wasn’t ready for harnesses and knots. I chuckled and shook my head. It’s not like I was into bondage, although I’d had some guys assume when I started talking about rock-climbing.

“I could hike. Working at the camp is giving me an appreciation for nature. The leaves are pretty when I don’t have to rake them.”

I hurried to my car and followed him back to the inn. It took about half an hour to drop the stuff off at the stock room, run Oscar’s granola bars to Finn and Carter’s cabin, and then hit the road again. “We can pick up Sugar and maybe you’ll meet my brother. He’s staying with me for a bit while he recovers from a car accident, but I don’t know if he’s home right now.”

Wyatt was home and wearing only a towel around his hips when I led Oscar through the door of my apartment. He was in this perfect pose, too, if he wanted to start attracting the male gaze. One arm was up and tensed as he rubbed at his hair. I wanted to step in front of Oscar and shoo Wy away. The new knowledge that my brother might find my date attractive bugged me, and the feeling could be mutual. Wyatt and I were twins after all, and I knew I looked good.

Instead of ogling my brother, Oscar ignored him completely. Instead, he dropped to his knees and held out his hands to the fluffy white ball of cuteness that was my Sugar. She trotted over, gave him a quick sniff, and then made a fool out of herself bouncing and begging for pets.

---