Page 49 of Grin and Bear It

Faded jeans hugged his thick thighs and a tight grey Henley stretched across his impressively broad shoulders, shaggy black hair just touching the collar. He raised a big hand and pushed his hair back off his face, running his hand down to rub at the back of his neck. My eyes were captivated by the sight of his bicep flexing each time, then as I took in the rest of him, I realised he actually seemed a little uncertain. His lips were slightly pursed and his pale blue eyes narrowed slightly behind a pair of very sleek wire-framed glasses as he shook his head.

“Ah, no. But Nash said… He said you were OK with trading some renovations for tutoring the boys? Well, I’ll be painting your house, so…”

“Are you asking my girl out for a Bunnings snag?” Coll appeared at my shoulder with a shit-eating grin, her eyes dancing between the two of us. “Oh, yes! Wandering the aisles. Looking at paint swatches in the café, over hardware store coffee and a sausage in bread. Grabbing about 20 sample pots so when you come back you can paint a square of each one on the wall so she can see what it looks like at different times of the day. Sounds amazing.”

“Shut. Up,” I hissed at my best friend.

“Um… yeah.” Cole’s lips twitched, then he smiled, his eyes crinkling and his whole face transforming from his usual rather foreboding expression. “I guess thatiswhat I’m asking. So, Ellie.” His nerve seemed to falter a little as he looked back at me. “Whaddya think? You up for it?”

And that was how,half an hour later, I came to be sitting in Cole’s car: showered, hair brushed and wearing something other than my PJs. And feeling really, really uncomfortable.

“So, Coll—”

“I was thinking—”

We looked at each other for a second, and his eyes sparkled a little at our mangled attempt to break the silence at the same time.

“You first,” I said.

“My plan is that I’m just gonna toss some colour ideas out at you and see what you think,” he told me. “And what were you going to say?”

“Just that Coll was joking. You know that, right? Like, you guys know her: she’s always joking.”

“Sort of. I’ve known Dale since I was a kid. And Colleen?” His focus shifted back to the road. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him. And, yeah, I know she likes to talk a lot of shit.”

“Cool…” I slumped back in the seat, my discomfort levels dropping.

“Doesn’t mean that she isn’t right, though.”

“What?”

I got a sly, sidelong look then, and a smile curved Cole’s lips.

“I wanted to come around and see you.” His smile faltered. “I had to, but I couldn’t think of a good excuse. I’m gonna be painting your house one way or another. It’s your choice as to what you want to do: whether you want to be part of the process, or you just want to come home and find it done.”

“Ohh-kay…”

“But yeah, a coffee date at Bunnings? Wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but it works for me. How about you, Ellie?”

It was as if Cole was the devil offering me millions of dollars in return for my soul, because he was no less tempting. But then I blinked and thought of the last guy who had asked me on a date.

“So you know that Lin came by to ask me the same thing last night?” I asked, watching him closely for his reaction.

“Lin asked if you wanted to go to Bunnings?”

“No, he asked me on a date. You guys work together.”

“And live together,” he added, flicking on the indicator to pull into the Bunnings car park. “But we do not share a bed.” His grin widened as I flushed, remembering my previous assumption about their relationship. “Not unless there’s a girl between us.”

Girl. Between. Us.

My mind stuttered as the mental image of the two of them lying naked on a bed, patting a space between them, forced out all other thoughts. I felt a moment of vicious envy the like most of feel when someone wins big on the lottery. That sort of experience would be similarly life-transforming, I was sure of it.

“You know how you assumed me and the boys are into each other because we’re close?” he said, steering the car into a parking spot, before throwing on the handbrake and turning to me. “Well, we are, in a way. You’re aware that our nephews’ parents were in a poly relationship?” I just nodded, struggling to follow where he was heading. “That sort of relationship is normal for us. We’re just looking for the right woman to put in the middle of us.” His eyes slid down me, as if my old jeans and over-sized hoody were fucking sexy lingerie or something. “Someone to spoil, look after, care for…” The heated intensity left his gaze, banking to a comforting warmth as he looked back into my eyes. “Someone to love.” I was struck dumb, trying to process what he was saying. He smiled again. “So, ready to pick some colours out?”

I just sat there without answering, because my mind was still trying to wrap itself around his words. Lin hadn’t said… Nash hadn’t mentioned… Cole used my lack of response to walk around to my side of the car to open the door and offer me his hand. At his touch that sensation washed through me again, hot and warm and welcome. Once I was out of the car, I went to pull my hand back, but he gripped it tighter, so we walked towards the hardware store, hand in hand.

Fancy dates were one thing, exciting, the process of getting ready and the build-up half of the appeal. But this? It was far more seductive. Families flocked to Bunnings on the weekends, ready to get their DIY on, so, as we walked in, I felt like I could see a sort of mirage of a possible future. One where we would walk into this sort of shop and then bicker about plants or the kind of outdoor setting to buy. One where he would slide his arm around my waist and draw me closer to—

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