Page 23 of Peach Tree Family

Chapter 6

After what happened when they parked, Seth was surprised that Theo gave him a ride to work. Seth was sure Theo would have rather dumped him on the side of the road.

But Theo did want to thank Mrs. Del Rio and she was at the cafe. While he was talking to her, Theo didn't show how it bugged him to have people in his business. Not that he got a chance. Mrs. Del Rio called Theo a sweet-faced angel and he got a taste of how she was. She remembered his grandfather coming into the café, her first customer no less, and how he used to go to the library to lug stacks of books home with him.

Theo promised to pay her back for the water being turned on, but she wouldn't hear of it. "That was nothing and that old truck is no use to me. So you keep it as long as you need it."

Theo being Theo, he insisted on paying her back, but he also told her, "That doesn't mean I don't appreciate what you've done for me and Ace. Thank you."

After Theo left without a word to him, Mrs. Del Rio turned to Seth. "Just like his granddad, so serious, and I bet he's smart as a whip."

"He is," Seth told her but his mind was on other things he found out about Theo.

Seth didn't know what got into him, but hearing Theo say he was gay did something to him. His brain checked out, and the rest of him moved, touched, tasted.

He got chewed out for it like he deserved, but Theo was wrong about what was going through Seth's head when he kissed him. He wasn't trying to use him or get into his good graces with offers of sex. And he wasn't thinking anything else either. There hadn't been one thought in his head just the sound of rain and the feel of Theo's lips.

The whole time he worked, he felt the kiss and wondered at himself. Theo being into guys was too much of a shock for him to keep his wits about him. It was like Seth got it into his head that Theo might want him.

Well he set him straight about that. But until now Seth didn't know he would want to kiss a guy. He never did before, and he couldn't remember lusting after any guys.

Girls didn't make him drool too much either, not even Sarah Belle when she pushed herself against him and gave him that teasing kiss. She smelled nice, her lips were soft, but Seth wasn't mad when she ran off laughing.

He wasn't mad because she didn't have him going, but he wasn't quick to get mad in any case. His feelings were locked down so as to keep him out of trouble, or at least worse trouble than he already had.

But in the truck with Theo, with the rain pouring down, it was like someone unlocked his chains, let the shackles fall. Who knows what might have happened if Theo didn't let him know how it was. He didn't think of Seth like that, only as someone who might use him.

That's why when he was done with his shift, he sure as hell didn't expect Theo to show up to pick him up, but he was right out in front with Ace sitting next to him and waving.

If he expected anything it was to have to make his own way to the house and then find his duffel bag dumped on the porch, letting him know to clear out and never show his face again.

Going to the truck with a bag of leftovers, Seth could only see Theo in profile behind Ace's smiling face.

"Seth, we have a truck. It's loud," Ace yelled over the rattle of the truck as Seth opened the door.

"Are you getting in?" Theo asked seeing that Seth only hung onto the door.

"I guess so." Seth was back in that truck and all he could think about was kissing Theo right there. Good thing Ace wouldn't stop talking about the dogs at the Hayes place.

"He's got dog envy," Seth said to Theo while smiling at Ace.

"We can't afford a dog," Theo said.

"Not even a little one?" Ace asked.

"We need to shop for furniture. That's what we're doing tomorrow. We're going to Ashbury. You coming with us?" Theo's voice was flat and kind of angry so he had to be talking to Seth, not Ace.

"Sure," Seth said. He didn't need to do any shopping. His job was temporary and he wanted to save as much money as he could. "You'll need help loading in furniture, right?"

"Not planning to buy anything heavy. I asked you because we're supposed to share the truck," Theo told him, and Seth was sure he didn't want him to go.

But all of a sudden Seth had that same feeling he had back when he first saw Theo at the house and he tried to get rid of him. For once Seth wasn't going to let himself get pushed around. That feeling was back, so he told Theo, "In that case, I need to come along to make sure you don't plow the truck right into a ditch."

That got Theo to turn and glare at him. He was pretty sure it was the first time he looked at Seth since he kissed him.

"I drove here fine," Theo claimed.

Ace backed up his brother. "He did."

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