Page 19 of The Long Game

“Ugh, what time is it?” he murmured, careful not to glance in Grady’s direction. He wouldn’t be able to resist examining the man’s shorts for more conclusive evidence he was blessed in the dick department.

“Eight thirty,” Grady said.

Jack hadn’t needed to know that Grady’s voice got so gravely in the morning, damn it. Goosebumps shivered up his neck again, even as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Fuck, I’ve got to get going.”

Grady looked over his shoulder at Jack. “The clinic isn’t until one, right?”

“What?” Jack asked, his brain still slipping a few gears. “Oh yeah, right. I have a ton of shit I have to take care of before then.”

“Anything I can help with?”

Jack turned to look at Grady. “Don’t you have to work?”

“Nah, I’ve got the day off. I moved my schedule around for the clinic. For the summer, at least, I have Wednesdays off and picked up a bunch of shifts on Saturdays or Sundays to help cover vacation time for some of the guys.”

Jack blinked, gratitude and guilt battling. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I don’t mind.” Grady shrugged, like it was nothing to give up summer weekends. “But it leaves me at loose ends this morning, so if there’s something I can do to help, just say the word.”

Jack knew he should say no. They’d already crossed all kinds of boundaries in the past twenty-four hours, and adding more was a shit-stupid idea.

“No, I’m good. I’ve got to take care of a bunch of stuff for my mother,” Jack said, because apparently inviting Grady along would be a stupid idea, but talking about it wasn’t?

Gradytriednot to look surprised, Jack would give him that. “I didn’t realize she was local.”

Jack sighed. “Yeah. She still lives in the house I grew up in. She doesn’t drive, so I take care of a lot of her errands.”

“You sound like a good son,” Grady said, his smile almost…sad?

Grady rarely ever talked about his own family, but Jack was pretty sure Grady’s parents were dead. Grady always spoke of them in the past tense, about things theyusedto do.

“I don’t know about that,” Jack said, unable to keep the huff of bitter laughter contained.

Grady studied Jack’s face. “And you don’t need help?”

Jack started to shake his head, then stilled.Shit.Hecoulduse some help with one thing. He’d been considering hiring someone, but…

Hell, it was a terrible idea, and god knew his mother would make him regret it, but he couldn’t resist finally being able to check this chore off his to-do list.

And, well, maybe he wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to Grady yet this morning.

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I’ve got this monstrosity of a couch I need to get from my mother’s house to the Swap ’n Save at the dump, but I can’t get it in and out of my truck on my own.”

Grady jumped to his feet. “Sounds good. Let’s do it.”

Always ready to leap into action.Jack shook his head at his friend. “Easy, there, cowboy. I have to do some shopping and then a bunch of shit around the house first.”

“Can you use help with the rest of it?”

The truth was, he’d lost an hour already to the morning snuggles they were absolutely pretending did not happen, but that seemed to have broken Jack’s brain, so he would need help if he was going to get everything he wanted done that day, but…“You don’t want to spend your morning off mowing my mother’s lawn.”

“Maybe I do,” Grady threw over his shoulder on the way to the bathroom.

Jack was weak. And stupid. But he’d be goddamned if he could come up with another argument.

When Grady didn’t close the door and picked up his toothbrush, Jack followed him in, reaching around to grab his own. He propped a hip against the counter, mere inches from Grady, and registered how weird this was.

He’d never had anyone spend the night, let alone brush their teeth with him, shoulder-to-shoulder, in his en suite bathroom. It felt both mundane andintimate.

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