“Deflecting.” Jake wagged the brush at Ozzy. “You don’t have to kiss and tell. I’ll just assume that I’m right, since you’re not denying it.”
“Look, we’re trying to break those old patterns so that we don’t fall apart again.” He stared down at the boards he was staining to a deep, warm brown. “Just friends, all right? And I’m going to leave you to do all this shit yourself if you don’t drop it.”
Jake chuckled, but didn’t say anything else. He just pulled out his phone and started blasting some kind of freaky hyperpop that Ozzy…well, he wasn’t going to admit that it was damned infectious, but he caught himself bobbing his head along to it. And itdidmake the tedium go by much faster. Even if the guy on vocals sounded like shit.
Chapter thirty-one
Evander
The house was reallycoming together, at least in Evander’s opinion. They had tons of furniture moved in, including some of Jake’s custom pieces. Most of it was the stuff they’d bought at the local stores. The bedroom was just about finished, save for a little bit of lighting work that Aras and a couple of the contractors were finishing up. Ev only peeked in to see the progress there, since he and Aras had gotten into a hell of an argument over the fixtures he wanted. Evander had won, in the end, but better not to poke the bear.
He took a stroll through the house just to make sure he had eyes on everything that was going on. He’d chosen to actually do minimal furnishing, since Melanie’s folks had their own large collection of decor items they’d be bringing in. That showed the most in his bathroom selections. Robinson had just wrapped up the installation on the walk-in shower/tub combo. It had beena bit of a sensitive subject to bring up with Melanie, but she’d agreed that it would be good. Her parents weren’t getting more dexterous or spry with age. Her words.
But since the functional work was only recently wrapped up, the decor shouldn’t have fully gone up…but it had. They had a couple little shelving units and a towel rack, and Evander was particularly fond of the mirror. A local artist had a few for sale at the hardware store. This one was round, with an amorphous frame painted white, and scrolling carved into the wood. It blended into the white walls of the bathroom, but it was just enough visual interest to keep it from being dull.
Aside from the shower curtain and the sleek, inset light/fan combo in the ceiling, that was really all the notable decoration. It was clean and white, and when Evander had suggested a nice, plush bathmat for the floor, Melanie had said they were attached to this rug they used. Something Evander hadn’t even bothered to take a picture of when they’d toured the house for inspiration. It clearly wasn’tamazingin any way, but she was the client and they were the ones who were going to be living there.
The world would be more beautiful if I was in charge, though.
He headed out into the living room and kitchenette. A bit rougher around the edges. They had a new rolling island that Jake was finishing up that would help delineate the two spaces, and the only living room furniture they had in place was the hanging entertainment cabinet that would go under the TV. The walls were a super soft cornflower color, and Evander had insisted on warm lighting to keep that from feeling too lifeless and chilly, so it brought to mind a clear day outside instead of the dead of winter. They’d brought a refrigerator and an oven into the kitchen, but again, all the other appliances would be provided by Melanie’s parents.
The only space left that neededrealwork was the patio. Evander didn’t step out onto the concrete slab, just stood in thedoorway and peered out. He and Ozzy had made a lot more progress when they were sniping and backbiting the entire time. In the last few days, since their littleencounterin the hotel room, the patio had fallen by the wayside as far as projects were concerned.
Because of me. Ev just felt this discomfort, like things hadn’t settled. When they were fighting, he knew how to interact with Ozzy, how to talk about the project. It involved a lot of bitching and cattiness, but it was familiar. They were exes. And that was still true on paper, but it felt different.
Because I don’t want to be exes anymore. Obviously.
He pushed past that thought and looked at whathadbeen accomplished. The patio had been cleaned up and edged. After the little blow-up over the lights, Aras and the contractors had wired in some wall sconces that would keep things warm and bright, but still cozy. Again, according to Melanie, they had some outdoor lighting they liked that they’d bring in.
Evander still had a whole list of ideas to burn through for that patio, but that meant going to Ozzy. He’d have to eventually, but it felt a bit too much like tempting fate. They were in a good enough place for the time being. What was the real value in pushing things? They still had plenty of time to work out the last bits on the patio between them. He could put off anything intense a little while longer.
“Hey.”
He turned at the sound of Bunny’s voice and saw her wandering over, pink overalls covered in dirt and sawdust and some mysterious wet splotches. Water? Oil? Wood stain? Hard to say.
Ev took one last glance at the unfinished patio, then strode over to her. “What can I do for you? I’m in a big supervisory role right now.”
“So you’re standing around with your thumb up your ass.”
“Basically.” He hoisted himself up on the kitchen counter, right next to the sink, and kicked his feet. “What’s up?”
She leaned back against the refrigerator. “Checking in after our little talk. You two haven’t been seen around each other since.”
Shit. “You noticed that, did you?” She’d already found him out. He wasn’t going to lie about it.
“Well I have these nifty things in my face called eyes. And I’ve known the two of you since we were in high school.” She popped her lips, a little bridging sound she’d used for a long time when silence threatened to be a little too heavy. “So what’s the story? Do I need to beat some sense into that boy?”
“I mean probably, but not about me.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Would you believe it if I told you this is all because things wentwellwhen we talked?”
“Sounds made up but sure. I’ll buy it. What’s the story?”
There was a camera watching because there always was, and Ev became suddenly very aware of the weight of the mic pack on his waist, but he pushed forward. It wasn’t like he was going to say anythingscandalouson camera. He’d save any admission about their blow job session for later if Bunny really needed to know.
“We’re friends. Something about trying the same thing over and over again and expecting anything to change.”
“Ah, so that was Ozzy’s idea.”
Evander raised an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”
