Borrowing Trouble(15)

“I’d want my son to take this education and better himself. Not that I think your folks don’t want you to. Just seems like a shame.” Jay’s sympathy made Landon sigh.

“You know the men like my dad. Born and bred here, think it’s putting on airs to move up and out. That’s why he was all but willing to help me pay to build this house.” Landon snorted. “I sometimes think the only reason he deals with my being gay is because he knows I’m not getting any action here.”

Jay shuffled uncomfortably and Landon wished he’d kept his damn mouth shut. He didn’t know why he’d said that. He grimaced. “Want another beer or something?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” They went back to the kitchen.

“So what about you? Any trade school?”

When Landon passed Jay another beer, Jay plopped on one of the barstools on the opposite side of the kitchen island from Landon. “Not really. Before I really got my head wrapped around the fact I’d graduated high school, Beths came up pregnant, right before her first year of nursing school. Took less than a week before I was hitched and moving up to be in Columbus, closer to her school.”

“Damn.” Landon couldn’t imagine. “That had to be… rough.” Especially since Landon knew Bethany had lost that baby not long afterward.

“It was what it was. Figure we’d have ended up hitched either way. Didn’t really know any different in those days.”

“Yeah,” Landon said and took a swig of his beer to quell his need to hug Jay right then. Jay sounded almost defeated, a little lost. To keep the mood from getting maudlin, Landon teased, “Back in the Victorian Era of the ‘90s.”

Jay humphed. “You’d be surprised.” Okay, so Jay was taking a trip to introspective land.

“You good?”

Jay glanced up, then shook his head like he was shaking it off. “Yeah. Sorry, man. Been getting all introspective lately. I blame it on my therapist.”

Landon resisted the urge to ask about that because Jay seemed to regret the words as much as Landon had regretted bringing up The Gay earlier.

“So what all’d you bring?” Landon asked, switching gears and going over to the grocery bags Jay’d brought with him. He rifled through the first bag as Jay’s footsteps approached.

“Just some odds-and—” Jay stopped abruptly when Landon turned and nearly ran into him. Jay’d gripped Landon’s biceps to stop them from crashing together and to keep Landon from toppling over. When Landon righted himself, they both froze.

Their bodies were mere inches apart. Landon hadn’t realized until then that they were both almost exactly the same height, a fact made obvious by the fact their lips were on the same level as they looked one another in the eye. It’d take just a fraction of an inch to push their lips together.

And oh how Landon wanted it, his body thrummed with the need to press his lips to those slightly chapped, wide lips. He wanted to nibble on the bottom lip that was only a bit fuller than the thin upper lip. When his eyes flicked back up to Jay’s, he noticed a mix of surprise, fear, and most definitely what could be desire burning in those brown depths as Jay’s gaze zeroed in on Landon’s own lips.

Landon’s heart stuttered in his chest, eyes fell to half-lidded, and he studied Jay’s face carefully as their breaths gusted over each other. For a split second, Landon thought Jay was going to move in, but a bang at the front door and a “Yoo-hoo! Landon! You home?” made them jerk apart.

Jay shook visibly as he ran his hand over his head, eyes wide as his gaze landed on the floor, then Landon, then Brittany and Mitch as they came into the kitchen. Landon’s lungs ached, and he finally let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

His friends came in a flurry of hugs and activity. He and Jay both pasted fake grins on their faces, and Landon was so f*cking confused. He ached.

He wanted five more minutes. He wanted to know what just happened. Maybe it was his imagination. Maybe it was his f*ck up. Jay edged close to the door, looking like he was about to bolt. But just then, in came Landon’s folks. His mother grabbed Jay happily into a hug and recruited him into helping Landon’s daddy get food and a cooler from the car.

Landon beat a hasty retreat to check on the fryer.

He may have also taken a moment to silently lose his shit.





Chapter 8



Landon only had a brief opportunity to kick himself and cuss himself for being a fool before his daddy decided to come out and supervise frying the fish. He didn’t know what the hell had caused the moment, and he knew he’d probably read the situation wrong. He’d almost kissed a f*cking straight man and he knew he was lucky he hadn’t eaten his teeth.

“I’m gonna go grab the hush puppy mix,” Landon said. His daddy grunted and popped the top on the beer can he’d carried out with him.

When Landon walked in, he almost wondered if Jay’d made his excuses to leave. Hell, that’d probably be best. He’d made fool enough of himself for one night. But his mama had roped Jay into helping with going through her Tupperware. Mitch and Brittany stood on one side of the island asking questions as they poured up drinks.

Jay caught Landon’s gaze when he walked in, quickly averting his eyes. His friends didn’t miss the exchange, though his mama went on chattering about how good Bethany looked when she’d seen her at Bethany’s parents’ earlier in the day. Landon’s shoulders tensed so much they were practically at his ears.