Page 7 of The Fault Next Door

He studied Ryder, seeing the exhaustion in his eyes. He could have burned the piece of paper inside over a candle or something, but he’d tried to make some weird grand gesture because he’d forgotten that yesterday was the anniversary of Andrew’s death. “Really, don’t worry. It’s okay.”

“Can I make it up to you by grilling tonight? I know I haven’t been the most neighborly person. I’m just—life has been hard the last few…um, weeks.”

Nolan almost laughed at the offer to grill, but he held it in. He should say no. Getting closer to this man would be a dangerous mistake. It would be crossing the line because of the sexy dreams he’d had that made him hard as a pipe.

“Sure,” he said instead of saying no. “I get off work at three today, so I’ll be around.”

“I finish close to six. Today is my long day, but I’ll be here as fast as I can.”

“I look forward to it.” He must be crazy to want to spend time with this man. He was looking for trouble. That's what he was looking for.

Maybe if he got to know Ryder, he wouldn’t be attracted to him. He’d had loads of male friends over the years who were just friends, and he could be friends with his neighbor. Once he got to know the man better, he would get over this crazy lust he felt for Ryder. He was sure of it.

Ryder flashed a smile that made Nolan’s heart speed up. “Awesome. I’ll see you later.”

“Hey, let me bring something,” Nolan called out before Ryder got too far. “Meat is expensive.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it covered. I did some carpentry work for a friend when I moved to town, and he paid me back with a side of beef.”

“Oh, wow. That was nice of him.”

“Yeah, he’s a good guy. I have to go, or I’ll be late. I’ll see you later.”

Nolan waved and forced himself to look away, or he would have stared a hole right through Ryder’s jeans. He would get over this lust. He had to.

It would be good to spend time with someone outside of work. Moving to Texas may not have been the wisest decision he’d ever made, but he was going to make the most of it.

Chapter 6

Work wasn't too bad,and Nolan left on time. He headed home, stopping by the liquor store to buy wine. Before he checked out, he wondered if Ryder even drank wine. Maybe he didn't. It would be weird to show up with just wine and not beer, but he had no clue what type of beer to buy. Andrew had very strong views about beer. At the beginning of their relationship, he'd accidentally bought Andrew the wrong beer. Some guys would drink anything, but there were a lot of guys who would only drink certain beers. He didn't want to get this wrong after all the trouble they'd already had.

He was standing in the aisle when Lila Thompson, one of the other nurses at the office, stepped close and bumped him on the shoulder. He turned and flashed her a smile.

“Hey, how are you?” Nolan asked.

“Call me crazy, but I didn’t take you for the beer type,” Lila said.

"I'm not." For a moment, he thought about not telling her what he was doing, but he needed help deciding which beer to buy. "Do you know beer?"

“Duh, I grew up here. What’s up?”

He shrugged. "My neighbor grew up here. He's grilling tonight and invited me over. I can't show up empty-handed, but I don't think he's a wine drinker."

“Ah, Ryder Jameson. I don't know if he has ever drank wine in his life, but I know he likes this beer." Lila pulled a six-pack of bottles from the refrigerator and flashed a huge smile. "It's a Texas-based beer. Everyone around here likes it."

“Oh, thanks. I’ve never heard of this brand.”

"Not surprising. Like I said, Texas-based, and the brand didn't get popular nationwide until recently."

Lila screwed up one side of her mouth. "So, how is living next to Ryder going? He's kind of prickly. His wife was the best part about him."

“Wife?” Nolan racked his brain, trying to remember if he’d seen a woman at Ryder’s place.

“Oh, yeah, she died like three or four years ago. He moved back home recently.”

Pain slid through Nolan, but he suppressed the sadness. He had lost someone, too, but he wasn't telling people in this town. "Oh, I didn't know he'd lost his wife." Ryder had a wife. That was news to him. Maybe that was all the confirmation he needed that Ryder was straight, and he should stop thinking about him in any way other than just as a neighbor.

Knowing that Ryder was straight made it so much easier for Nolan. He didn’t need to be anything more with Ryder than friends. They could just hang out like guys did. There wouldn’t be any sexual tension, just two guys being friends.

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