So basically, Rowan needed a new job so he could move out.
He might have slammed the stapler harder than necessary. His thoughts were getting stupid. Spending so much time around Jordy’s hotness was damaging his brain. Could lack of regular blood flow to the upper body cause permanent brain cell loss? Clearly, he needed a break from Jordy, which was why he should not go on a free trip to New York City. All thetogetherness, the family vacation vibes, the hotel room, would only make Rowan’s crush worse. Because at this point, he was past mere attraction. It was a definite crush. Rowan didn’t just want Jordy to bang him like a screen door in a hurricane. He wanted to watch dumb TV and documentaries with him. He wanted to hang out with Jordy and Kaira. He wanted not only to drool over Jordy’s muscles but bask in his sunny smile as he heaved Kaira into the pool and listened to her shriek with laughter.
Playing happy-families vacation when he should be spending his time looking for a new job didn’t seem like the wisest choice.
This was why Rowan only dated losers. They didn’t make you want to reorganize your entire life—unless you counted giving up dating.
Of course, the giving-up-dating part of the experience was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Rowan’s life was significantly better without losers in it. On the other hand, at least if he were getting laid, he could stop panting after Jordy like a dog.
Probably.
“Wow, Rowan. What did that stapler ever do to you?”
Taylor’s voice was light, but a note of concern rang underneath it. Rowan didn’t generally brood. He was like a… duck, maybe. A happy little duck swimming around happily in the pond, unbothered by rain.
Maybe that was a bad metaphor, actually. Didn’t ducks get kind of broody? When they were, what was it called, egg-bound? That was a bird thing, right?
He viciously stapled a red maple leaf to the corner of the border. “Asked me why I went and got an MLS instead of becoming a plastic surgeon like my father wanted.”
Wincing, Taylor helped herself to a seat on the circulation desk. Rowan could’ve scowled at her, but the hard wood surface was actually more comfortable than the chair, and there weren’t any patrons around to see. “No luck on the job search?”
He huffed out a breath, lips flapping embarrassingly with the force of it, and reached for the poster advertising their fall sewing class, just in time for Halloween costume season. “Who has time to search?”
The sound of her heels clacking against the side of the desk ceased. After a moment of silence during which Rowan debated poster placement, Taylor said, “Is your employer guy taking advantage of you?”
He snorted. “If only.”
Then he realized she meant in the sense ofworking him too hard, and—okay, well, Rowan’s brain went to the bad place with that too. His whole face felt like it was on fire. “I mean—”
But Taylor was laughing. “No, please, go on. You’ve been very close-mouthed about the whole thing. And now it turns out there might be juicy details?”
He turned around long enough to glower. “There are no juicy details.” Unless you wanted to call Jordy’s thighs after a morning workout juicy. Which was a thought. Resolutely, he returned his focus to the bulletin board. “It’s just demanding is all.”
“I thought Daddy was supposed to be doing all the childcare when he’s home?”
“Oh my God, Taylor.”
“What?” she asked, her voice a perfect impression of innocence.
“He’s a very hands-on father—”
She cackled.
Rowan groaned and gave in to the urge to beat his head against the bulletin board. Maybe he should staple himself toit. Could he get worker’s compensation for that? The library couldn’t fire him if he couldn’t leave.
Finally he got the poster affixed and Taylor got her giggles under control.
“So he’snottaking advantage of you,” she clarified. “In either sense of the term. And he’s presumably doing his share of the housework as well as the child-rearing—”
“He’s doing all the child-rearing,” Rowan broke in. “I’m a babysitter, Tay.”
She waved this off as unimportant. “But you don’t have time to look for a job because… you’re spending all your time jerking off?”
Well, notallof it. He spent a great deal of time hanging out with Jordy with or without Kaira—watching TV, making dinner, splashing around in the pool while the warm weather lasted.
But he didn’t think telling Taylor as much would make this conversation any less painful. Anything he told her risked her trying to trick him into bringing Jordy around. Rowan put a staple into the bulletin board. It wasn’t holding anything else there; it was just punctuating his frustration. “Could you be slightly less perceptive?”
“Yes, but it would be boring.” She sobered. “Seriously, though. I know this situation sucks for you. I wish the city would get its head out of its ass and fund some more positions. It’s not like we don’t need the help.”
