Page 71 of Something Good
“Is this…?” Surely, this wasn’t the place I thought it was.
He stepped up next to me and flipped a switch that shone a light on the metal. The way it picked up the texture worked into the piece made the whole thing feel alive. “It’s our spot,” he confirmed, his voice hesitant.
“Did you make this?”
“I commissioned it from a friend. I don’t have the laser-cutting equipment to do this kind of detailed work. We worked out a trade. ”
“Why did you choose that location?” I hadn’t been to our spot since I’d moved back to Nebraska. I’d thought about it but hadn’t been able to face it.
“That summer was one of the lowest times in my life. But you were my something good. The light in the darkness.” His words were soft. Solemn. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. “Letting you go was unbearable. At the time, I wasn’t sure I’d survive it. And for a long time after, I wanted to forget about you. Even with Charlotte leaving us and being on the verge of homelessness, losing you was worse. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I could look back and realize I’d been lucky.”
Lucky?My heart hammered in my chest. He was talking about unbearable pain and losing me like he hadn’t been the one to make that choice. “How does any of that make you lucky?”
“I could have spent that summer alone, fumbling through the dark, trying to figure out how to survive. Instead, I had you. Do you know why I called you golden boy?”
“I assumed it had something to do with me being privileged. When it started, you said it to mock me or, at the very least, push my buttons.”
“Yeah, maybe that was true initially. But somewhere along the way, its meaning shifted for me. It represented the way you always had a sunshiny outlook. If I was the darkest of nights, you were the brightest of days.” He took a couple of steps back, putting some distance between us. “Come on, I’ll show you to the bathroom.”
I stood a moment longer, staring at the massive piece of artwork before I turned and wordlessly followed him.
41
SAMMY
Will opted to shower,so while he was doing that, I looked for something for both of us to wear. I didn’t keep a lot of clothes out here, but I managed to find a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, which I swapped for his wet clothes and set on the sink counter in the bathroom.
I threw our wet clothes in the dryer, rubbed Goldie down with some towels, and mopped up the puddles in the entryway. She trailed me around the apartment while I pulled some blankets out of the old dresser I’d repurposed into a TV stand and laid them across the couch. It really was too small to sleep on, but I was full of enough restless energy tonight that I wasn’t sure I would be doing a lot of sleeping anyway.
Having Will in my space had set the blood thrumming in my veins. I was vibrating with nervous energy, almost like I had that first night he’d taken me on a date out at the lookout. Ten years later, and I didn’t know what I was doing now any more than I’d known back then.
This isn’t a date, I reminded myself. Still, I couldn’t help but enjoy having him in my space, which was unusual for me. I was a loner, just as I’d always been. I didn’t have people over otherthan Jimmy, and even he hadn’t spent much time here at the shop. This apartment really was meant to be a place for me to crash. Otherwise, I spent most of my time in the city.
The water shut off, and moments later, Will stepped out with a cloud of steam in his wake. I’d changed my clothes as well and was grateful the shorts I’d chosen were baggy because they hid the way my cock began to fill at the sight of him. We were a lot closer in size than we’d once been, but the gray sweats I’d given him were still at least a size too small, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. I could see his dick print angled toward his right thigh, straining against the fabric. And he hadn’t put on the T-shirt I’d left for him, presumably because it was also too small.Fuck. I was in trouble.
He shifted under my scrutiny, and I sprang into action. “Can I get you a drink? I’ve got beer, pop, bourbon, vodka…?”
He followed me into the kitchen area, saying, “A beer would be good, thanks.” I pulled one out and handed it to him before grabbing one for myself.
We took our drinks into the living room, where I took the blankets I had just laid out and tossed them onto the coffee table so we could sit. It was a tight squeeze, making me very aware of his proximity. There was that scent again, the one that was uniquely him. It didn’t matter that he’d used my soap and shampoo in the shower. He smelled like sunshine and a gentle breeze on a summer day. My golden boy.
“So, how did you go from working in an auto shop to becoming an artist?” Will’s question snapped me out of my reverie.
“When I started working for Julio, I knew nothing about cars. I didn’t even have a car of my own. So I started out by doing odd jobs like sweeping out the garage, emptying the trash, and shit like that. I didn’t mind. I was just grateful for a job that paid well enough to keep me and Jimmy afloat. Julio started teachingme how to do oil changes and rotate tires, and then eventually, I learned everything from transmission work to rebuilding engines.”
Goldie came over and laid her head in Will’s lap, and he stroked her head absently, his eyes on me as I spoke.
“Julio’s shop mostly focused on repair, but we did do some body work and restoration, so he contracted with a welder who came in a couple of times a week to handle that side of things. Sylvia was a badass. She noticed I had an interest and took me under her wing. Showed me everything until I was able to do it on my own. When we had downtime, I started creating art from scraps around the shop just for shits.
“Anyway, in addition to the auto work, Sylvia had her own business as an artist and suggested I bring some of my stuff to a show. That was where I sold my first piece. It was a shitty lamp, but I sold it for twenty bucks, and I was so damn proud of selling something I had created. That was when I realized I wanted to do the art thing full-time. I didn’t mind working as a mechanic, but I wanted to go into business for myself, answering to no one else. I continued to work for Julio for another two years, but eventually, I had enough saved that I was able to make a go of it on my own.”
“What about your drawings? I saw the one you had up in the silent auction and a couple other ones you had here at the shop last time I was here. I don’t remember you drawing when we were kids.”
Goldie settled at Will’s feet, grunting as she stretched out next to us, making herself comfortable. “It wasn’t something I did a ton of. I had a couple of art teachers in school who told me I had talent, but I never really thought much of it. Occasionally, I’d draw on a scrap of notebook paper, but I never showed those to anyone. It didn’t occur to me that I was doing anything other than doodling.”
“Clearly, you’re doing more than doodling. And you’ve obviously done well for yourself. You’ve got this place, a classic muscle car, a motorcycle… And I don’t know if I told you this, but I’m the project manager for the oncology center. I know how much the hospital is paying you for that sculpture.”
I could feel my face heating at his words, and I shifted, feeling awkward with the praise. “I actually have a loft in Omaha as well. That’s where I live most of the time. And the car was a gift from Julio.”
