Page 25 of After Hours

Zane

Oscar’s uncle caught us around the side of the cabin after he returned from baking the inn’s breakfast scones. I had just dropped off the linens in the storeroom and shot a text to Oscar in the hope that he was still awake. I didn’t know if I woke him up or not, but he agreed to our after-hours meetup right away.

It took a minute or two to notice the hulking figure scowling at us with his arms crossed, but Finn wasn’t actually mad. He was a good guy. That still didn’t mean I wanted to get caught with my hands all over his nephew in the woods. Oscar blushed bright enough to notice by the light of the moon and steppedback so quickly he almost toppled over. Luckily, I still had my arms around him.

After Finn cracked a smile and went inside, I gave my boyfriend one last kiss and headed back to the truck. I still had a few hours of deliveries, and Rafeal expected Oscar at the workshop by nine. These opposing shifts would destroy us. Not our relationship, but maybe our health. I knew I was missing my after-work nap more often than not since I met him.

I’d asked around at work to see if any of the newer Beacon drivers were interested in the night shift. I think I found one I could push at my boss, Henry, when I requested my schedule change. Normal hours meant seeing more of Oscar, and I’d never wanted anything more.

After four restaurant deliveries, two motels, and a daycare with a huge number of organic cotton naptime blankies, I headed back to the laundry, helped shift the dirty loads from truck to the wash sorting room, and handed over the truck keys. Instead of stopping by the lockers to grab my stuff and heading home, I detoured to Henry’s office. A quick double-knock on the doorframe, and he waved me in.

“You don’t think I know what this is all about, but I have my ears and eyes on everything that goes on around here.” Henry popped an almond in his mouth and chewed while he peered at me across his messy desk. “Camila stopped by my office the other day asking if she could take your shift when you switched to daytime. Ready for the classic nine to five, Zane?”

I leaned nonchalantly against the edge of his desk. I should’ve known Henry would hear about my plans before I had a chance to ask. “Yeah, if that works for you and Cami.”

“You know you have to deal with a lot more people on day shift.”

Smiling, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Do you doubt my ability to interact with customers in a friendly and professional manner?”

Henry snorted and chomped on a few more almonds before answering. “Nah, kid. Report on Wednesday at eight-thirty. We’ll get your route set up. Maybe ride with Michael for a day or two until you meet everyone.”

My grin grew until my cheeks ached. That was a lot easier than I expected it to be. Not that Henry was a hard-ass or anything, but I’d handled the night shift for years and anticipated some resistance. “See you then.” I hurried to my locker, grabbed my jacket, and jogged out to my car, tapping Oscar’s name as I went.

Zane:I got days! 8:30 to 4:30, rolling days off, but still better than midnight.

Oscar:Yay! I get to see you every evening if I want!

My heart double thumped as pure happiness zinged through me. Was I really this far gone over a guy? Bet your ass I was.

Oscar:It’ll get even easier once I move out of F&C’s place.

When he moved into the small but decent two-bedroom apartment across town with my brother, he meant. Not only had I gotten used to seeing Wyatt in my living room every day, but it still felt strange that my boyfriend was moving in with himinstead of me.Snap out of it, Zane.I kept reminding myself that it was still way too early to think like that.

At least now that our schedules meshed better, we could go on dates and hang out like a real couple. Everything else would happen when it happened. That was me, though, always reaching for the summit halfway up the climb. The idea of everything with Oscar, all of him all the time and forever, had settled way down deep inside me and wouldn’t shift.

I typed out a see-you-soon and tapped over to my high-energy playlist. Everyday life suddenly felt as exciting as the approach to a favorite climb on a beautiful day, and I wasn’t going to miss a moment of it.

***

Wy cursed again from the larger bedroom. He insisted he could put together the flat-pack dresser by himself, but I hoped it wouldn’t drive him to violence before the day was through. He’d already moved in a week earlier, but the place needed more decor in general. The settlement money he hadn’t tucked into savings bought a floor model couch, a TV, kitchen stuff, and other essentials. It also got him a decent used Toyota.

I didn’t ask how much money the trucking company paid out. It wasn’t any of my business, but I was glad to see he wasn’t wasting it on anything frivolous. Part of my brain clung to the old image of my brother: drunk, high, and irresponsible. He’d been clean and sober for almost six months, though, and showed no signs of falling back into that dark place.

Oscar came outside to grab the last box from the back of my car. “This is it. I’m officially independent.” His smile made my heart thump harder.

I carried the three bags of takeout burgers and fries inside and dropped them on the coffee table in front of the ugly brownsectional. “Food’s here!” I called toward the back bedroom where Wyatt still thumped and grumbled.

My brother emerged and we all fell on the junk food like starving beasts. “I like this,” he said with a glance between us. “I promise not to bug you guys all the time, but I like this. It’s cool to hang out together.”

Oscar ate a few fries. “Now that everyone works days, we could set up a schedule. I mean, like organize a takeout and movie night once or twice a month or something.” His big blue eyes filled with hope and twinkled with excitement.

“That’s a good idea. As long as Wy doesn’t try to take over all my boyfriend’s time now that you live together.” Saying that still sounded weird, and not just to me I guessed, because everyone laughed. Weird wasn’t bad. I could see a lot of benefits to the setup.

“It’ll be good.” Wy kicked his feet up on the coffee table and slurped some soda. “I really don’t mind if you two… um, hang out together here. As long as you’re not loud. And don’t use the couch. I’ll probably find someone to bring home at some point too, right?”

Was Wyatt lonely? The thought never occurred to me before. He’d always been the life of the party before, so getting sober probably came with a lot more changes than I assumed. He had to leave his whole friend group behind. Besides work and his recovery meetings, he had me and now Oscar. “As long as they pass the twin approval test,” I told him with a grin.

The smile he flashed my way looked so much like the one I remembered from our pre-partying years. Oscar sighed next to me, and I turned in his direction. “This is great. I never really thought I’d find friends and a boyfriend and a place to live and everything.” His eyes shone, and he fiddled with the box of fries in his lap. “It was hard to see happiness at the end of that long drive.”

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