In the Middle of Somewhere (Middle of Somewhere, #1)(113)

“Tell me how you guys met, Rex.”

“You didn’t tell her?” Rex asks, and he sounds a little hurt.

“No, I did,” I say. “She wants to hear how you tell it.”

“Well,” Rex says, “I was out walking in the woods around my house. I’d heard wolf howls the night before, so I wanted to check it out.”

“You said you were hunting!” I accuse.

“No, you asked what the gun was for. I’ve only been hunting once. You just thought everyone in the country goes out to shoot their dinner every night. Besides, sweetheart, it was dark.”

Oh yeah. It was dark. I grumble and gesture at him to get on with it.

“Point is, I was worried about running into a wolf or something, when I heard this awful sound. Couldn’t tell what it was, but a while later I heard this guy talking to himself. I shined my light toward the sound and there’s this man holding an animal. When the light hit his face, I froze because I’d never seen someone so beautiful.”

My heart beats faster and I look up at Rex. He looks a little embarrassed.

“Clearly a city guy, wearing a suit and all, but he looked so out of place or something. Not just in the woods, but in the suit. And he looked terrified. At first I thought he was just really worried about the dog, but then he was looking at me like I was something out of a horror movie.”

“You had a gun,” I say weakly.

“When I got close to him to take the dog, he started babbling about whether the dog was a boy or a girl. It was adorable. I liked how he talked. Like I was smart and could understand whatever he was on about. He was just… different. I thought, if I can help that dog, maybe this guy will give me the time of day. So I brought them back to my house even though I never bring people there. I was trying so hard not to check him out that I took about twice as long to fix the dog’s leg as I needed to.

“When I ran a shower for him, I felt like a total pervert because here was this beautiful kid who’d gotten in a car accident and all I could think about was how to get him out of that ugly suit. When he took his shirt off and I saw those tattoos, I was done for.”

Now I can tell Rex is really talking to me.

“You took my shirt off.”

“Whatever,” Rex says, smiling at me. “He got drunk on a couple shots of whiskey, and then paraded into the kitchen with my pants so close to falling off that I almost swallowed my tongue.”

“They were too big,” I say, elbowing him.

“I made him a sandwich and he told me a bunch of stuff about the job he was interviewing for. I thought, shit, this guy is smart and gorgeous. And, from what I saw with the dog, a sweetheart. But he clearly thought we were in the middle of nowhere, so I knew there was no way he’d ever be back.

“He let it slip that he was gay and I thought he was going to pass out. I could see how scared he was, but he just stared me down like he was daring me to have a problem with him being gay. It was… hot. So when he started freaking out, I couldn’t help myself. I kissed him. I knew I’d only get one chance, so I figured I may as well go for it when he was incapacitated with fear.”

He winks at me and I roll my eyes, but my memory of that kiss is still vivid.

“Then we were on the couch and he was all drunk and warm and adorable.”

Rex shakes his head.

“When he kissed me it was all I could do not to rip those damned sweatpants off and—um, you know. But he was drunk and he’d been in an accident and it wouldn’t’ve been right. It killed me to do it, since I knew I’d never see him again, but I went to bed and left him on the couch.

“The next morning, he was dead to the world, sacked out on the couch with my sweatpants practically falling off. Like he’d been put on that couch specifically to show me what I could never have. I banged around in the kitchen for a while, hoping he might wake up, but he was out.

“I had to take the dog to the vet before I went to work, so I left him there. I wanted to program my number into his phone. Get his number and put it into mine. Leave him a note saying if he ever came back through Michigan he should look me up. But it felt pathetic. In a day or two, the guy would be gone, back to Philadelphia or New York City or wherever, and he’d never be back.”

I can’t help but notice that Rex mentions New York, where Will moved, as well as Philly.

“And anyway, I didn’t want to leave a note—even one to say Take care, because I didn’t want him to think I was stupid and spelled everything wrong. Which I do.”

Rex trails off.

“Got home that night and he was gone. Spent the next few months cursing myself for not leaving my phone number. Or something. But then, just when I’d convinced myself I’d never see him again, there he was.”

“There you were,” I murmur, my eyes closing.

“Come on, you narcoleptic,” Ginger says, shaking me. “He always does this,” she says to Rex. “We’ll be listening to a record or something and he just conks out like a baby in a f*cking car seat.”

“I know,” Rex says. “At first I thought he was constantly sleep deprived.”

“Nah, he’s just always keyed up. Then, when he finally relaxes, he just falls asleep before he even notices.”

Rex seems to contemplate this while Ginger takes the whiskey away from me and clears the trash from dinner.