Jake took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Quinn wasn’t comfortable or stable with the way things were between them anyway, and he had all that stress between the work on the house and his grandpa and the new job he was on. The last thing he needed was Ozzy breathing down his neck about this, bothering him, gossiping, or even looking smug at him when he tried to come to the house.Quinn’shouse. A place he should feel comfortable, if he was going to feel comfortable anywhere.
It took a few more minutes before everyone gathered up around the folding table in the living room. Eliza spoke first. “Morning, everyone. No major differences today. We’re pretty solidly in the montage section of our filming, so unless something important or interesting happens, I don’t think we need to pull any of you away for confessionals. Keep ears open just in case, obviously, but I think we’ll be okay. You all have experience with your channel, so you can flag me down if you think something could be a good shot or take for us. We can’t be everywhere. And, uh, yeah.” She shrugged and smiled. “House is really coming along. Good work, everyone. Keep it up, go team, rah rah.”
A few scattered laughs, then Mason started in. “Like Eliza said, it’s a pretty straightforward sort of day all around. Floors are in. We cajoled the counter folks to come in and do the install today, and that means we can start getting sink and appliances hooked up in there, then we can tile the backsplash and finally wrap the kitchen up.” He circled his finger around, pointing at seemingly everything. “Walls are the big thing today. We should be able to get those done and dusted with Linda’s crew, but anyone other than Jake and Ozzy I might have step in. You two want to tell us where you’re at in the process right now?”
Jake nodded. “I’ve got about fifty percent of his gaming room built-ins ready to go, and one last piece for the living room. Don’t know if I’ll finish it up today or not, but I should be able to get close if I push hard enough. Then a few pieces through the rest of the house. Floating bedside tables, see if I can’t squeeze some extra storage into the bathroom and kitchen once we have the full layout in there. But today is mostly the gaming room, and probably tomorrow. It’s kind of the big spectacle of the house, so I want to give it the care it deserves.”
“Right.” Ozzy shook his head. “That’s why you’re putting all that work into it. It’s good for the house.Noulterior motives.”
“Right.” Jake was pretty sure he could take Ozzy in a fight, but not without getting pretty battered in the process.Was he always this bad?
Mason cleared his throat. “Right. Well, Ozzy? What’s on your schedule?”
While he detailed the work, mostly in the backyard, Jake pulled up his phone again.
Are you okay?
A few seconds of waiting, but he got a response without too much delay.
Yeah. Just a lot to handle.
If Ozzy gives you any shit, I’ll handle him.
You don’t need to do that.
We live separate lives, and you have to work with him when you leave.
I’ll be fine.
Reading tone through text message wasn’t easy, but Jake considered himself pretty good at it. That wasn’t a good tone, but he’d learned not to push when Quinn was stressed. So he tucked his phone away and turned his attention back to the group as Ozzy was wrapping up. “…planter boxes, if time permits. Unless Jake can slip me into his schedule. I know he’s already pretty full uphelpingQuinn.”
“We’ll see what things look like. I’m pretty focused on the job.” He was definitely “full up” on Ozzy’s needling, that was for sure. “If we’re all good for the day?”
Nods went around and they broke apart. Jake headed out to begin setting up and getting ready, and to get away from everyone else for a minute. He trudged across the lawn, trying to figure out if there was anything he could say to Quinn, make him feel a little better about everything without overstepping.
“Jake, where you running off to?”
Jake froze for a second, then kept on walking, not even turning around. “Work. Like we all should be. That’s why we’re here, yeah?”
He got to the tent and, when he moved to grab his safety goggles, Ozzy slipped inside after him. “Work can wait for a minute. It’s not like a little chat is going to derail the entire project.”
“You don’t know what kind of time crunch I’m on.” He snapped his goggles on a little too hard, stinging his face, but didn’t acknowledge it. He didn’t need Ozzy pestering him. Frankly, he didn’t want to see Ozzy at all until he got a chance to talk with Quinn, sort things out…and find out what exactly Ozzy said to him in the hallway. Given his responses in those text messages, it hadn’t been a bundle of laughs.
“Look, I just want to gloat a little. I was right. Quinn has the hots for you.” He brought his head up higher and grinned. “Nothing to be ashamed of. We’re traveling around the country. God knows you’re hard up, pun intended. Get a piece of ass while you’re in town and you don’t need to worry about the emotional baggage. Win-win.”
“Quinn’s not a piece of ass.” Jake stared down at his notes and sketches, trying and failing to focus on the numbers, come up with a plan of attack, do anything that might quell the fire searing up his spine.
“Whatever. Just congratulating you on getting some. How long’s it been? I mean, you’re still in Pine Point. Never moved away and got yourself to a city with some actual gay culture. Can’t imagine you get your rocks off very much.”
Without even looking, Jake couldhearthe smug smile on his face and the brightness in his eyes. “I really don’t need you screwing with me right now, Ozzy, okay?”
“I think there’s a misunderstanding. It’s not me doing the screwing, it’s you. Or maybe Quinn?” He clapped Jake on the shoulder. “Have fun at work. And after work.”
Finally, he left and Jake just stared at the ground a good, long time.
Chapter twenty-five
Quinn
