Page 16 of The Stargazers of Copper County
“Maybe I’m a procrastinator. Or a loser. Or just chickenshit.”
Bennett’s hands moved around my waist to my back and pulled me even closer. Being connected to him physically felt natural and safe. Welcoming and exciting at the same time.
“I doubt it. What would your ideal situation look like? Do you know?”
I thought about it for a moment. “I want to draw what I’m inspired to draw. And then get paid enough money for it to keep the lights on and to be able to afford to replenish my supplies.”
“Have you tried doing exactly that?”
I felt a little stupid. “No. I don’t know what that would look like.”
He pulled us over to the edge again so we could take another sip of wine. “You’re so talented. You could start by creating whatever art you want and posting it on social media. Then, you could either monetize your content or simply link to an online marketplace where you sell your work. It would take time to build your platform, but it doesn’t sound like you’re in a hurry.”
“What makes you think I don’t already have social media for my illustrations?” I asked, watching Bennett carefully in hopes his answer revealed something of himself.
My observation was rewarded.
“Because I searched. At least, I searched by your name. I looked everywhere, and…” He seemed to realize what he’d admitted. He stopped and blushed red to the top of his ears. “No luck,” he finished in a strangled voice.
He tried letting me go, but I grabbed onto him, shoving the pool noodle away and wrapping my arms around his neck instead. “Tell me how hard you looked, Bennett,” I teased softly.
“I’m thirty-seven,” he said, as if breaking terrible news.
“Ouch. Does it hurt as much tosayas it does to hear?”
His eyes snapped up to mine, but I stopped him with a kiss before he could say anything. Just as before, the kiss awoke something in him, something dominant and half-wild. Something delicious.
“Don’t care about your age, old man,” I said between kisses. I felt giddy with joy. Giddy enough to keep talking. “I’ve wanted you for a long time.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BENNETT
Being with Theo was easy.He seemed to have an innate ability to put me at ease in conversation. He teased me about my age, about my inability to hide behind curtains, and about my reputation in town for being the world’s best—and most ruthlessly efficient—uncle.
After a while, I gave as good as I got. I asked him if he’d ever drawn NSFW illustrations. He turned adorably pink when he admitted that he had. When I asked if he’d done them of anyone he knew in real life, he got even pinker and mimed zipping his lips. But I got the feeling from the way he looked at me that I might have featured in one or two of them.
I also asked him about his jobs and about his relationship with his family. He told me about his mother, who was a combination of wonderful and terrifying; about his oldest brother, Julian, a veterinarian who ran a romance novel book club with his longtime boyfriend; and about his other big brother, Constantine, who ran Ross Landscaping and was planning to adopt a child with his husband. He even told me about his father, who’d passed away when Theo was just a kid.
Now that we’d begun talking, it felt like the conversational floodgates had opened, and neither of us wanted to stop. I wasenthralled with him and endlessly curious about the things and people and places he loved. We even exchanged a little Copper County gossip, discussing everything from old Milton Knight and his obsession with his rare Icelandic chickens—“Just be glad you don’t live closer to the Knights’ house, Bennett, that’s all I’m saying.”—to how old Mr. Wrigley had passed away and his wife, Mabel, had recently had a stroke, to Watt Bartlett’s plans for expanding his orchard. Theo told me about an online course he’d taken over the winter in graphic design, and I asked his advice on a hiring decision I needed to make.
When the sky finally faded to inky black, the subject of stargazing came up again.
“You said you were going to show me your telescope,” Theo said, eyes sparkling. “I was kind of hoping that was a euphemism.”
I snorted and pulled him closer. We’d wrapped our limbs around each other a while ago and hadn’t let go since. “If it wasn’t, it certainly is now.”
Theo reached out and caressed the side of my face. “Will you show me the stars first? I really do want to see them, and I want to share something that’s special to you. Like the logic puzzles.” He moved his mouth close to my ear. “And the creeping on each other.”
I moved my face to kiss him. It was lazy and slow this time, seeking and finding, and I took my time indulging in the lack of urgency. When we finally separated, his eyes were glazed.
“Let me take you up. We can look for noctilucent clouds.”
I pulled him out of the pool, handing him a fresh towel before leading him to the circular stairs behind my office. He asked questions about the observatory as we made our way up several flights, but when we finally arrived on the main observational level, he got quiet.
While he looked around, I double-checked the positioning. When I’d found something interesting for him to look at, I urged him over and placed him in easy reach of the eyepiece. I explained how to adjust the focus, and when I finally heard him gasp, I could tell he’d discovered the target.
“Saturn.” His voice was reverent, and it reminded me of the earliest memories of finding the planets with my grandfather. “You can actually see the rings.”
