Page 15 of Starting Over in Cedarwood

“Luck.”

He hung up. According to the schedule, the game had just ended. People were filing out of the stadium, so the timing must be correct. How long would food service have to stick around afterward? An hour?

If nothing else, he had time to sort out the next part of his plan.

He arranged his hair and admired himself in the mirror. “Here goes nothing.”

* * * *

Kevin locked up the kitchen and headed down the corridor to the employee exit. His back ached from being hunched over the fryer for the last hour of the ballgame. He massaged his lower back, then stopped at his locker long enough to retrieve his keys, ruined personal phone, work phone and wallet.God.Nothing had gone right. He’d had to toss a case of stale buns and the taps on two of the kegs had broken, not to mention his personal phone.How could so much have gone haywire?

At least Kyle hadn’t stopped him.

He headed out of the building and into the waning sunshine. Most of the cars were gone from the lot, but one had parked right next to his. A man stretched out on the hood of the car. The closer he got to the vehicle, he realized the guy on the car wasn’t just anyone.

Shaun.

Kevin wanted to hide, but why? He liked Shaun, and despite the disaster the other day, he longed to see him again. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Shaun sat up and adjusted his sunglasses. “You’re done?”

“I am.” He swept his gaze over Shaun. The jeans and shirt fit like a second skin. Hell, he could be prepping for a photo shoot in this outfit. He reminded Kevin of the calendars with the boy-next-door models. Shaun could be one. Kevin’s mouth watered and he wondered what Shaun’s kiss might taste like.

Kevin ventured over to Shaun. “You’ll chip your paint sitting on it. Your pocket rivets will scratch it.”

Shaun shrugged. “I won’t do too much damage.” He scooted to the front of the hood and slid until his feet were planted on the asphalt. “You haven’t answered my texts and I wanted to apologize.”

Kevin held up his hand. “Slow down.” If he wanted a chance with Shaun, he needed to stop being scared. Shaun was just a guy—like him—a human. “I didn’t answer the texts because I haven’t gotten them. My phone is slow and it’s even worse now since I dropped it in a sink of hot water.”

“Ouch.” Shaun grasped Kevin’s right hand. “Bricked it?”

“Completely.” He allowed Shaun to tug him forward until he settled against the vee of his legs. “I got a couple texts from you, I think, but by the time I had a chance to read them, I’d ruined the phone. Once I get out of here, I’m going to get a new one.”

“Do you need it? Like can you go until tomorrow before you replace it?” Shaun held both of Kevin’s hands. “Or will something come to a crashing end if you don’t?”

He still had his work phone and anything of importance would come across that one. “It could wait.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Kevin swept his gaze over Shaun again. “I love the effect you’re going for here. I’ve never had a hot guy waiting for me to finish work.”

“You think I’m hot?” Shaun’s mouth curled in a wicked grin.

“I do,” Kevin said, his voice husky and almost unrecognizable. “But how long were you out here?”

“I confess, it’s been almost an hour.” Shaun blushed and let go of Kevin’s hands long enough to encircle him in his embrace. “I wasn’t sure how long it’d take for you to come out, so I played it safe and arrived early. I’ve only been on the hood for about ten minutes, and I’m glad it’s a somewhat cloudy day, or my hide would be toast.”

“It would.” Kevin sighed. He should explain his hasty retreat at the Coffee Bar. “I’m sorry I freaked out and left the other day.”

“Will you tell me why?”

He screwed up his courage. Admitting the truth wasn’t all that bad and he liked the way Shaun held him. “It’s Kyle. He has a knack for getting involved in my life when I think he’s out. I think I’m in the clear and he shows up to wreck stuff.”

“He’s done it before.”

“Twice with potential boyfriends and all the time at work.” He hated the way the truth sounded, like he was helpless. “I’m working on not letting it bother me. Right after the breakup, it was bad, but I have a job to do and I want to do it.”

“But he likes to show up when you’re not in a controlled environment?”

---