Page 109 of Love It or List It
“Well, notonly.Though Linda really did want to send those over.She also sent a message,” she added with a look in Austin’s direction.He girded himself.“Next time, ask for help, you hapless sad sack.”
“You’ll be surprised to hear that you’re not the first one to tell me that,” Austin said dryly.
Starling snorted and looked at her nails, faux casual.“What about pig-headed martyr?Anyone call you that yet?”
“Starling,” Joe cut in, but Austin waved him off.
“Not in those words exactly, no.”
“Well, they should have.”
“Yes, thank you.”Austin wasn’t unaware of his need to do some self reflecting as to why he didn’t reach out for help or why all his new friends and family thought that was stupid of him.
Starling eyed him and then relaxed, dropping the act.“Good.Because I’m too grateful to actually lecture you.”She sat on the couch next to him and hugged him.“Since you’re also my new favorite person.”
“I am?”
“Of course you are,” she said, jostling his shoulder.“Skye and Brady are safe and sound in Toronto.”
“Wait.”Joe shifted to look around Austin.“What happened while I was down for the count?”
“Your boo, despite his stupid overworked martyr complex, found the time to listen to my woes and pay me for the work on the house.”
“What?”Joe shot Austin a look, but before he could ask how, Starling kept talking.
“Which I needed for Skye and Brady.”
That caught Joe’s attention.“Wait, what’s the update on that?You said your nephew—”
“He’s getting treatment at Sick Kids.”Joe paled.“He’s fine.Well, not fine, but the prognosis is good.The doctors are happy with his initial response and hopeful he’ll be back home in a couple weeks good as new, sort of.”
“But the money?”
“I wanted to help—my sister is living in Toronto for two weeks.”
Joe cringed, obviously having caught on to the issue and Starling’s views on the matter.He asked more questions about Brady’s health, which Starling answered in detail.Clearly the issue had been weighing on her.By the time the kids started bringing food into the living room, Starling was shaking her head at their invitation to join and saying she should get back on the road.
“Thanks again, Austin.”She kissed his cheek and then the top of Joe’s head.“Have fun being cozy sloths on a Saturday, I guess.”
“Thanks for looking after her when I couldn’t,” Joe said quietly during the brief moment when the kids were out of the room, fetching more provisions.
“What are boyfriends for?Besides, it’s not like it wasn’t also my wiring.”He waved a hand about the room.
“I’m not sure the old stuff would’ve been able to handle the load of this many teenagers charging their devices,” Joe said wryly.“Although the real issue would’ve been they each would’ve had to charge them in a separate room.”
“We’d have tripped and died over the extension cord situation, probably,” Austin agreed, relaxing somewhat.It didn’t seem like Joe was going to pry further—to ask where Austin got the money, or offer to pay him back, or anything else that would leave Austin choosing between lying, deflecting, and the awkward truth.“Hey, while the kids are distracted—think there’s enough manicotti left for a grown-up’s lunch?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
BOUNCING BACKfrom pneumonia didn’t happen as seamlessly as Joe hoped.He might finally be ready to shower, put on clothes instead of pajamas, and leave the house, but prolonged physical activity still exhausted him.When he went out with his seasonal work crew to clear snow, he had to use the self-propelled blower and leave the shovel cleanup to someone else.The cold air made him cough, and he had to use an inhaler.And when he got home, he usually ended up falling asleep on the couch for an hour or so before he had the energy to think about dinner.
Walker, at least, loved this development, as it meant he got his favorite cushion in his favorite room of the house for long enough to have a very satisfying nap.And landscaping work for Marco and Luca’s buyers was mostly design at this stage, which Joe could do at home on his laptop.
True to his word, Will had stepped up around the house.He totally took over litterbox and pet-feeding duties.He and Austin traded off dinner dishes, and the three of them rotated laundry, with Joe getting off easy once he was back to doing most of the cooking, and he usually fell asleep before ten.
All in all, Joe didn’t have anything to complain about aside from the condition of his own body, so he felt extra petulant about being so grumpy he couldn’t fuck Austin the way they both liked.Austin never gave the slightest indication of dissatisfaction, and Joe couldn’t exactly complain at being ridden so enthusiastically his headboard left a dent in the plaster.But his own inability to pick Austin up and rail him six ways from Sunday on their kitchen table, fuck him into multiple orgasms, and then pour him into bed did kind of grate on him.He felt like he’d set an expectation and now he couldn’t meet it.
Considering that he’d left Austin in charge of the house, a financial disaster, a teenager he didn’t sign up for, four pets, and his own sickly ass for a couple weeks, he owed Austin better than what he was currently capable of providing.But he’d get there.
