Page 12 of Everything's Better With You
Les remained on the covered porch and watched as Joe climbed the steps.
“You should have everything you need, but if you don’t, you can let me know. I can run out and—”
“I’m sure everything’s fine.”
Joe walked in the door and Les flipped on the light. He wanted to see Joe’s face. Maybe it would give him a clue whether or not he was impressed, whether he was thinking positively about the—
“Aren’t you coming in?”
Joe wasn’t looking at the house. He was looking at Leslie.
Leslie was still standing outside. Stepping across the threshold would require an invitation.
“My intention was to show you to your room and say goodnight. I don’t want to crowd you.”
“Get in here, Les. It’s obvious you came here to do more than open a door for me. Come in.”
Les stepped inside and closed the door.
“Wow, this is nice,” Joe said, finally taking it all in. “This all looks new.”
“Yeah, uh, Barry had the vacant cottages renovated. New kitchen, new appliances including a stackable washer—”
“Aw, you mean no more lugging fifty pounds of laundry two miles to the laundromat? How would I survive?”
Les laughed. “Yeah, I made that trek myself when I lived off-campus, but I borrowed a car.”
“I didn’t have that luxury, thank you very much. I didn’t get my license until later,” Joe said. He strolled around and peeked in the kitchen and then into the hallway where the bathroom and two bedrooms were. “Nice place. I could have just stayed at Motel 6, you know.”
Les cleared his throat. “I know, but I wanted you to see this, see where you could be living if you take the job.”
Joe turned to face him. “Is that all?”
Leslie’s heart pounded. He hadn’t been nervous like this since his last Super Bowl performance, or maybe his first championship game as head coach at University of Kansas City several years ago. As a rule, Leslie wasn’t unsure of himself. He knew his strengths and he knew his limits, but when it came to relationships, he’d always felt awkward. And after years of pining after Joe Judd, to be here with him now, he didn’t know how to proceed.
“Joe…”
“It’s been a long time since we started this dance, Leslie.” Joe moved to stand in front of Les and held out his hand. “What are we going to do about it?”
Les hesitated a moment, wondering if he should pinch himself. Was this really happening after all this time?
Five
Joe
All the near misses, the flirty conversations, and the innuendo-filled texts over the past fifteen years had led to this moment. Joe’s head was spinning from all the day’s events and that whopper of a decision he needed to make, but tonight, he didn’t want to think. He wanted tofeel, and he wanted to feel the man standing in front of him, the man he’d dreamed about for so long.
As Leslie stared at Joe’s hand, Joe was taken back to the Goalpost’s parking lot fifteen years earlier.
“Take me with you,” Joe had said, breathlessly. “Let’s see if we’re still this hot without all the conversation.”
Leslie had looked at Joe’s extended hand then and…sighed. He’d clasped Joe’s hand and squeezed.
“I’ve had the best night with you,” he’d said. “And I’m invested, Joe. If I take you back to my hotel, I’m not going to want to let you go, and you’ve made it clear that you’re just getting started. If you reallythink you are ready to try for something real, let’s go. If you need time—”
“But I want you now. Les, I don’t know where I’m going, what I’m going to be doing…I can’t make you any promises.”
“I know that, and I know I’m going to regret this, but it would be too hard to let you go if we take this any further.”
