Page 142 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

They drove in silence on their way to Ben’s shop. Joe, their real estate agent, was one of Ben’s clients, and they figured they could meet there and then head off for the house hunting together.

Joe stood outside, leaning against his Range Rover and smoking a cigarette. His tie flapped in the chilly breeze. Spring hadn’t exactly come in like a lion’s roar, more like a slow yawn with clear skies and cool sun.

When Gavin pulled up to the curb, Ben rolled the window down and asked, “Mind if we take your rig?” Maybe he didn’t want to get out of the car only to stuff himself back in if Joe’s answer was no.

Joe took one last drag from his cigarette before tossing the butt into the gutter. “Sure, man, no problem.”

Ben didn’t say the words thank God, but his relieved sigh spoke volumes. Why hadn’t he just said he’d rather take his bike for this? Gavin could feel himself scowling, but he didn’t say anything either.

He opted to sit in the back seat so Ben and Joe could talk. Gavin still felt awkward around Ben’s clients sometimes, though he wasn’t sure why. Ben became friends with a select few of the people he worked on. He and Ben even went out with a couple of them sometimes, but Joe was new to him.

Ben stretched out his long legs and relaxed as Joe pulled onto the road and filled them in on where they were looking today. “I know you guys said you wanted the safest neighborhood and stuff, but a decent house in those areas, you’re gonna be looking at a half mil, easy, a lot more if you want something that isn’t a fixer-upper.” Gavin winced but didn’t say anything. Joe looked at Ben and added, “And you’d be in for a hell of a commute, hour or more depending.”

Ben only nodded, looking like he had thought about that already. “Yeah, that’s a bit out of our range. Did you find anything in our neighborhood? I wasn’t sure if you’d gotten my message about that, but, ya know, it’s maybe not the nicest, but we’ve never been mugged or had a home invasion or anything.” Ben paused and looked at Gavin. “I checked out the schools too, just in case Tina wants to stay near. They’re pretty good.”

He thought of everything, didn’t he? Gavin really loved the asshole.

Joe stopped at a traffic light. “Exactly. Violent crime is lower than you might think in your neighborhood. Drugs aren’t even that bad, but I can pull up the police stats if ya want.”

“I already checked out some of that,” Ben said, adding with a laugh, “I trust ya. I’m not done with your body suit, so I figured you wouldn’t screw me over and piss me off.”

“Guaranteed, man.” Joe laughed as he turned the corner. “It’s too bad you didn’t think about this a few years ago when the bottom fell out. You could’ve gotten a really sweet deal.”

“Yeah, well, those were some lean years for me too. Besides, it didn’t really seem like a big deal till now.”

“I hear ya. It’s hard to take the plunge when your paychecks are feast or famine.”

Gavin knew what they were talking about. Ben made top dollar now, won awards, and got a lot of clients through word of mouth. But when he was first starting out? He had months where he made less than five hundred dollars and would’ve starved if he hadn’t been working on his dad’s fishing boat to fill in the gaps. And even after he’d moved away, made a name for himself and built his reputation, it didn’t matter how good he was if people couldn’t afford him. Ben’s career had bounced back by the time they’d met, but once Ben talked to him about having to live off his savings some months, Gavin understood why Ben would work so many hours, understood his obsession with his bank balance and finding the lowest-risk, highest-yield investments he could.

Yeah, Ben was a planner. Now that Gavin thought about it, he probably drove Ben nuts. Maybe, though, that made them a better match? Gavin could take a few risks, talk Ben into a few too, and Ben could have the safety net in place. Maybe that was one of the things Ben liked about him. Gavin was a risk all the way round, and maybe Ben needed a little of that in his life.

When they pulled to a stop in front of the first house, Gavin didn’t even see it. His eyes were set on Ben.

Chapter Nineteen

Ben

“Oh, look. I really like this window with the tree right in front.” Gavin was clearly excited. Ben could tell he loved the house. He hadn’t liked the four-bedroom rambler three blocks from a nice middle school because he thought a two-story house would be cuter. And he hated the little concrete house—which even Ben thought was ugly but solidly built—because it looked cold and uninviting. He and Gavin had very different ideas about what was important for their future home. Gavin turned to look at Ben, beaming at him. “I think this might be the one. What do you think?”

“It’s… yeah. It’s got a lotta potential.” A dung heap could have potential if you applied enough creativity and hard-earned money, right? “Whatever you want.” He’d lost count, but Ben figured he’d said that twelve times in the last four hours. Gavin seemed to notice too.

“Damn it, Ben. Just… What do you think about this place?”

“I think if you like it, we’ll make it work.”

Joe had given them the walk-through, but he seemed to catch which way the wind was blowing. “Why don’t you guys talk it over for a bit? I’m gonna step outside and make a few calls.” He practically ran for the front door.

Gavin waited for Joe to make his escape before he narrowed his eyes on Ben and stepped closer. “Ben. What do you think of this house?”

“Gav—”

“Ben. Goddamn it, just tell me.”

“Fine,” Ben roared. “I think the basement is damp, and that’s a big fucking problem. I think that crack I noticed outside might mean the foundation is going. I think the little sag on the roof under the moss is going to cost us thousands in the long run. I think that tree so close to the window is fucking dangerous if there’s ever a windstorm, and mostly, I think your sister’s bedroom sharing a wall with ours is a huge mistake if I ever wanna get laid again. Ya happy now?”

Maybe that last bit was unfair. They hadn’t stopped having sex just because Tina was on their couch. They’d just started having very quiet, uncomfortable sex on the floor because the bed squeaked too much and the headboard pounding on the wall over Tina’s head would probably be a pretty big clue.

Gavin stood and looked at Ben for a long moment. “Yeah, I am.” He sounded like he meant it. “Why didn’t you just say that?”

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