Second Hand (Tucker Springs) (23 page)

“That’s Stacey,” I told him.

He snorted. “You can so do better.”

I shut my eyes and leaned into him. “I already have.”

Mom and I went back to El’s place that night. My landlord, who’d heard from the fire department that it had all started because of faulty wiring, looked very pale and kept trying to put us into a nice hotel. But El wouldn’t let go of my arm, and my mother couldn’t stop cooing over MoJo, who’d been very put out to be left in El’s car while he’d run through the chaos to find me. Mom wouldn’t take the bedroom, either, insisting she wanted to sleep on the couch so she could stay up and watch TV. When I pointed out El didn’t have one, she swatted me on the butt and told me to go make things up with my young man.

I did as I was told.

It didn’t take much effort, since as soon as the door closed behind us, El had me in his arms, kissing me so hard I couldn’t breathe.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he said for what had to be the fifteenth time.

“You didn’t,” I assured him, and held him close.

“About tomorrow.” He stroked my hair as he spoke. “My family has this big picnic, and I’d love it if you came with me. You and your mom both.”

“Okay,” I said, smiling, and kissed him.

He blinked at me a minute, almost as if I’d surprised him. Then he let out a breath that almost sounded like relief. “And stay here for now, okay? We’ll get a better bed for your mom, but—just stay, Paul, please.”

I wasn’t sure when I’d been this happy, and this was speaking as someone whose house had just burned down. “Yes,” I said. Then I pushed him onto the bed and reminded him as best I could that I was right there and not planning to go anywhere.

That night I dreamed about Bo and Luke Duke doing a striptease for me, but when Luke took me into his arms, he turned into a beautiful woman, then into El, and we made love all night long. At some point the dream turned into reality, El crushing my mouth under his as he drove into me again and again and again. After that my sleep was deep and dreamless, probably the most peaceful sleep I ever had.

Even so, I woke early, just after dawn. El was dead to the world, and so was Mom. I should have gone back to bed, but I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and padded around the kitchen, not sure what to do with myself. It was almost like something was nagging at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t grasp what it was. When MoJo danced around my legs, I took her outside, and once I was there, I realized what was bothering me and what I had to do to fix it. When she was done with her business, I took her back upstairs, left a note on the kitchen counter, and went for a walk.

Bill was outside when I got to the ruins of my house, assessing the damage to his own property.

“Is everything okay?” I asked him, frowning at his ruined flowerbed. “Outside of this, I mean.”

“It’s all good,” he assured me. “They soaked the garage pretty well, and everything smells a little like smoke, but it’s all going to be okay.” He grimaced. “Sorry you can’t say the same.”

I waved the worry away. “I guess we’re both out of the contest now, huh?”

Bill looked confused. “Contest?”

“The Curb Appeal contest from the neighborhood association. For $500? You know, what Lorraine has been helping you with?”

When I said Lorraine’s name, Bill’s eyes darkened and he glanced back at his house. “What about Lorraine?”

Lorraine, I realized, was watching us from Bill’s front porch, in what looked to be a borrowed robe.

Pieces of the puzzle fell finally into place, and I had to swallow a laugh. Bill didn’t know about the contest. He hadn’t been competing with me. I remembered the way he’d gloated at me that one day, how Lorraine had been hanging out with him all that week, defecting from my yard.

Well, he’d been competing with me, but not for $500.

“Nothing,” I said at last, and smiled. “Just that I hope the two of you are very happy together.”

The clouds left Bill’s face, and he smiled too. “You take care, Paul. I’ll let you know if I hear of another rental in the neighborhood.”

“Thanks,” I said, eyeing the wreckage of my house, identifying what I hoped was the remains of my bedside table. “But I’m kind of hoping to be living somewhere else.” I nodded at him. “If you’ll excuse me, there’s one thing I’d like to see if I can find.”

El woke to the sound of someone knocking on his bedroom door. Blinking in confusion, he sat up and looked around for Paul. He wasn’t there. “Yeah?”

The door opened, and Paul came in, looking like a hot mess, covered in ash and grime and stinking of smoke. He had a funny look on his face. “I can’t go with you to the picnic.”

“Oh.” El tried not to give away how disappointed he was. “Well, that’s okay,” he lied.

Paul shook his head. “I can’t go with you, not until I take care of something. Because I have something to pawn.”

“What?” El said, coming to full attention.

Paul sat down beside him and held out his hand. El frowned down at the molten mess for several seconds, but just when he was about to ask what the fuck was going on, he saw the gold smear across what looked like the remains of a cellphone. What could only be a diamond glinted from the center of the keypad.

El bit his cheek to stop his smile. “Are you selling or pawning?”

“Well, I don’t want it back,” Paul replied, not even bothering to hide his grin.

El took the melted mess from his lover and pretended to consider it, in part to let himself savor the moment. “I don’t know how much it’s worth. You held onto it too long, and the value’s gone way down.”

Paul’s hand slid up El’s leg. “If I can’t sell it, maybe I could work out a trade?”

“Maybe.” El set the cellphone and ring merger onto the bedside table and drew Paul onto his lap. “I could take it, but in exchange, you have to go to the picnic.”

“Well, yes, that was what I meant—”

“I’m not done,” El said, holding him off. “You have to come with me, and I get to introduce you as my boyfriend.”

Paul was smiling now. “Okay.”

“And then later we’re going to go to Lights Out, and I’m going to wear you as arm candy all night and introduce you to my friends. Then I’m going to make out with you on the dance floor again, and on the patio, and probably we’ll steal Jase’s key so I can do you in his office. Then tomorrow I’m going to close the shop and spend the day getting to know your mother, because I really, really like her.”

Paul was beaming. “Fine with me.”

El’s throat threatened to close, but he swallowed hard, and took Paul’s face in his hands. “You’re going to stay with me at least for now, and if you want I’ll help hook you up with a reasonably sized apartment, but it’s going to be close to the shop, and you aren’t moving out until your mother has gone and I have fucked you and you’ve fucked me in every square inch of this place, and maybe down in the shop too.”

“It’s a deal.”

The last bit stuck in El’s throat, but he pushed it through. “I’m sorry I was such a dick about the ring, about making you rush. I kept worrying you’d come to your senses and ditch me.”

Paul caught El’s hand and kissed the back of it, holding El’s gaze as he spoke. “All I want is to be with you, Emanuel. You aren’t my first choice or my second choice. You’re my only choice.”

If Denver could have seen El right then, he’d have laughed his meaty head off at what a sappy moment he’d found himself in. It wasn’t just happily ever after—it was the schmaltzy Disney ending, the old-school kind with the warbly-voiced opera singers and tinny orchestra swell.

El loved every moment of it.

Paul’s expression became mock-serious. “So, about this trade. I really need to unload this. Tell me what you need. I’ll agree to whatever terms you want, El. Just so long as I get to be with you.”

“That’s enough for me,” El said, drew their mouths together, and sealed the bargain with a kiss.

Thanks to Hillari Hoerschelman and Jill Sorenson for Spanish help; and to Dan, Signy, and Rowan Speedwell for being the ultimate betas, as usual.

Sweet Son

Special Delivery

Double Blind

Nowhere Ranch

Dance With Me

Hero

Miles and the Magic Flute

The Wounds in the Walls

The Seventh Veil