Page 116 of Love It or List It
He didn’t look up from the table.
Will picked up the knife and put it in the sink before sitting down across from him again.“This is aboutPaul?”
He said it so incredulously Joe had to look at him.Will was looking at him like he’d grown a second head and then punched it in the face.“People who don’t learn from their mistakes repeat them.”
And Joe had tried so hard not to repeat the mistakes he’d made with Paul.He’d tried to keep his hands and his heart to himself.With Paul everything had moved so fast.He’d gotten swept up in it.And at the end of it all he’d lost Paul, had to leave his job, walked away from the house where he was already envisioning their future.
“Austin and Paul aren’t even the samespecies.”
“Maybe not now,” Joe allowed.“But their closets look kind of the same.”
Will frowned again.“Is that, like, a—what are they called?Euphemism?What does that mean?”
“No, it’s not gay code, it’s—I mean they both liked to go to the clubs a lot.So they had lots of clubbing clothes.”
Now Will was just flat-out staring.“I have literally never seen Austin wear anything other than coveralls and flannel unless it was something he obviously stole out ofyourcloset.Or DeeDee’s.”He paused.“Do you think he’d let me borrow some shirts?”
“I think I’ll definitely need that beer if he does.”God, soon Will wouldn’t even need a fake ID to get into clubs.Joe might as well have become a grandfather after all.He could feel arthritis settling in.He had the sudden urge to check the backs of his hands for liver spots.
Will rolled his eyes.“Okay, but the point is, obviously Austin’s not going out clubbing at the moment.He’s picking up dinner.Just like he picked up dinner when you were sick.Like he washed your sheets every day and missed work and shit taking care of you.Because he loves you.And he’snotlike Paul.”
Once when Joe got strep throat, Paul moved back in with his parents for a week.
Joe took a deep breath and forced the residual panic from his brain just as Pepa perked up in the dining room and started barking.
Austin was home.
Will stood up and went back to the counter to finish with the vegetables.“This conversation isn’t over,” he warned.
“It definitely is.”
Before Will could protest, the door opened, admitting a gust of cold wind, the scent of roasted chicken, and Austin, dressed in ancient jeans and one of Joe’s sweatshirts.He set the grocery bags on the table and then bent to give Pepa her due attention.“Hey, pretty girl.Did you miss me?”
Pepa wagged her tail so hard it made a repeated thunking noise against the leg of the dining table, echoing the thud of Joe’s heart.
God, he was dumb.
Apparently having guessed that Joe had not recovered from his trauma, Will piped up, “Hey, Austin.”
“Hey, Will.”There was a double thwack of boots hitting the mat, and then Austin entered the kitchen.He ruffled Will’s hair, set the chicken down on the counter, and made a beeline for Joe.“Hey, sweet thing.”
Joe tilted his face up automatically for the soft kiss Austin planted at the corner of his eye.“Hi.”
“Brought you some dessert.”
The plain white box Austin slid onto the table smelled like butter and chocolate and pastry.Joe eased open the flap with his thumb and tried to devour the contents with his eyes.“Are these from—”
“That place you like on Erie Street, yeah.”So Austin had driven forty minutes out of his way to get Joe’s favorite cannoli.No—longer than that, if he left from the garage to pick them up; that drive would take at least a half an hour at this time of day.“I still think Nutella is disgusting, but it’s cool, I can eat the ricotta or lemon one.”
Joe felt Will’s eyes on the side of his face like a laser, practically etchingI told you sointo Joe’s skin.
“Thank you,” Joe said, a credible imitation of a normal person despite the emotions crowding his chest.
“You’re welcome.So—are we spoiling our dinner, or are we going to pretend we’re adults?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
NOW THATWill had pried Joe’s eyes open, he was seeing all kinds of things he hadn’t noticed.When Austin folded his own laundry, he often left his clothes inside-out, but he knew it drove Joe crazy, so he turned Joe’s right-side out.He never complained about buying Joe’s fancy coffee creamer (which Joe denied using to the rest of the Romanos because he didn’t want to be mocked forever).He called every day on his way home from work to find out if Joe needed him to pick up groceries or Timmies or a stray child.
