Page 31 of Kiss-Fist
“Who’s Michael?” Isaac asks, completely lost. Shit, they don’t know each other.
“Oh,fuckMichael,” Leaf says. “He’s a groundhog that has taken over my yard. He’s insidious.”
“I hate groundhogs,” Isaac says. “Unless it’s a hot man with buck teeth who is trying to burrow into my ass.”
I gasp, and Leaf lets out a surprised squeal.
“Isaac! That is not something you say to someone you just met,” I say.
“He looks gay though. I mean, am I wrong?” Isaac asks.
Leaf stares at Isaac and then grins. “I am. Very gay. And you?”
“I am too. Name’s Isaac.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Leaf. And yes, these are my replacement plants. I swear to god, if Michael touches these, I’m going to put TNT in the ground and blow up his little hidey-holes.”
The manic way his eyes gleam when he says this tells me that he’s had a rough few days since I last saw him. And that there’s a good chance TNT is in his shopping cart online.
“You okay? Do you want to talk about it?” I ask.
“I think we should definitely talk about it,” Isaac says before glancing down at his phone and swearing. “Except I can’t right now. I have to run. Sister shit.”
He leans toward Leaf and pats him on the shoulder. “Tell Thom everything. I want to know it all.”
Leaf nods, and Isaac turns, jogging away.
We watch him go, and I huff out a laugh. “Sorry about him. He’s my best friend. Nothing I can do to change him. I’ve tried.”
“Don’t apologize. I get it.”
His hand flexes on the cart, and he stares at the plants he just bought.
“You wanna talk? I just ate and had coffee, but I can totally do another shot.”
“Nah. I mean, no to the coffee. But how about you help me plant these things, and I’ll unload on you while we do it. Then you can hear all my tales of woe since our last workout session. Unless that’s unprofessional? Shit. Is it?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ve decided we should be best friends since, you know, I don’t want to bone you. No offense.”
Leaf lets out a loud laugh and shakes his head. “Same, bro. Same. So, you in?”
I consider my day. Doing this with him will cut into the time I’d planned to rot in my house and think about the way I’d had Robbie against the desk, so…
“You know what? Why the hell not. I have a few hours before I need to get to the gym.” And honestly, I’ve found that doing hard manual labor works out muscles in my body that I didn’t even know I had. So it’s really a win-win situation. Also, I get to meet Michael. I can’t fucking wait.
I help Leaf push the cart to his car and unload everything into the trunk before jogging to my own and following him to his house.
It’s on the other side of town, situated outside of the city limits. I glance around and realize that Leaf owns a huge parcel of land with an old, slightly worn Craftsman house sitting right in the middle of a few acres.
The neighbor’s house isn’t as close as I’d expected it to be. It’s not like the closely built homes in the center of town. But it’s close enough that Leaf’s neighbor can warn him about the dreaded groundhog when needed.
“Where do you want these?” I ask as I pull two basil plants from his open trunk.
“In the backyard. Just go through that gate. It’s unlocked. Set them on the raised beds so Michael can’t get to them.”
I snort, and Leaf arches an eyebrow at me. “I’m serious about that groundhog, man. He’s vile. Just you wait.”
I really can’t wait. I’m so fucking excited to meet him. I hope he sticks his little head out of the ground and smiles at me with his two front teeth.
