Page 7 of Hammered and Nailed
Mybodywassorefrom the constant repetitive motion of bending, picking up, and hauling heavy sections of downed tree the day prior. We’d agreed to work on the interior, maybe even try to salvage the running water, but everything hurt and I didn’t want to do it anymore.
"Come on, Mase. Do I have to?" I was definitely whining.
Mason just snorted. "What are you, a toddler?"
"I’m a teacher on summer vacation."
He shook his head. "Not good enough. Gotta keep going or we really won’t get finished until fall."
With a deep sigh, I bent over and stuffed leaf debris into the industrial trash bag I was holding. Mason was sweeping broken glass into a bucket across the room. "This sucks," I muttered.
"Imagine how I feel," he countered. "I do this shit all the time. All day, every day."
"Strong."
He glanced at me, brow furrowed. "Huh?"
"I bet you feel strong. My arms feel like pool noodles. You’ve built up stamina."
He winked. "That’s what she said."
I casually flipped him off and went back to picking up leaves and twigs.
Once the interior was much cleaner than it had been when we started, Mason showed me how to check that the water heater was still intact and operating. When we confirmed that it was, he took off his hat and rubbed his forehead with the back of his wrist.
“At least that’s still intact.”
“Then why don’t we have running water?”
Mason nodded toward the second bathroom. “Your dad probably shut the water off from the main valve. It was smart of him, but we have to fix any leaks before we can get the water back online. Now the fun begins."
“Turning the water back on and taking hot showers?”
He shook his head. "We get to check under the house for leaks."
My stomach dropped. I didn’t think I could handle crawling around in the tight space under the cabin after all that lifting. "You’ve got to be kidding me."
“Look, you think I want to get under there with all the creepy crawlies? Grab a flashlight and come on. I’ll get under the house, all you have to do is light the way.”
I followed him around to the back of the cabin, knowing his anxiety would already be making his skin crawl at the thought of bugs, spiders, snakes, or whatever other horrors awaited us under there.
"Shine your flashlight in. I’ll crawl around and see what I can find."
I swallowed hard. "Be careful." When he looked at me with wide eyes, I smirked. "Scared?"
"Hell yeah, I’m scared. Who knows what kind of murder bugs are under there."
"This isn’t Australia. It’s western Virginia."
"Still." He sighed. "Look, just keep the flashlight steady."
With that, he ducked down to crawl under the cabin. As he did, I couldn’t help but notice his ass, firm and round and directly in my line of sight. Normally I would’ve just snorted and ignored it, but instead, I caught myself wondering what it would feel like under my touch, and whether he was an ass guy. When I realized what I was doing, I shook my head to redirect my thoughts.
It's been too long since I’ve gone out, clearly. Straight guys don’t check out their straight best friends.As I chastised myself, the flashlight drooped.
"What are you doing? Light," Mason said with frustration.
"Sorry.Thought you might prefer the dark, getting cozy with your new spider friends."
