Shifting Gears (Crossroads Series Book 2) (2 page)

That left him here, sitting on his childhood bed, alone, with his mom in the next room. How in the hell did this become his life?

He looked around the room. The posters of half-naked girls were long gone, thank God. It didn’t resemble the way it looked when he was eighteen, but it felt the same—stifling and lonely.

A knock came at his bedroom door, and Landon tossed the lube under his pillow like he was again that eighteen-year-old kid. Jesus, how was he going to do this? He definitely had to get a job and get his own place. He could handle living at home again, just not in the same fucking house. “Come in.”

His mom pushed the door open. “Hey you. What are you up to?” She looked completely put together, with her brown hair in a bun and makeup on her face. She smiled, pulling the strap of her purse up her arm.

“Not much. You heading out?”

“Yes. Are you sure you don’t want to go with Shanen and me?”

They were going dress shopping. He definitely didn’t want to go. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“You can meet us for dinner afterward. Jacob is taking us out to a steakhouse.” She smiled ear to ear, very happy about Shanen’s fiancé. His mom had always been a romantic. She’d had these big ideas about her relationship with his dad, friendship that had turned into love. What she hadn’t expected was how things had gone from there. He thought maybe she saw Shanen as a second chance.

“No, thank you. I’m just going to hang out tonight.”

She gave him another smile. He wished it could always be like this, that she could always be happy this way. “It’s good to have you home, Landon.”

He tried to return her smile, wishing he felt it. “It’s good to be home.”

The door closed with a quiet click. Guilt made him wish his words had been true.

“I’m in love,” Rod said the second Bryce picked up the phone.

Bryce laughed. “Shut the hell up.”

“What? Why is it so hard to believe that I’d be in love?” He crossed his arms as though Bryce could see him pouting.

“Because I know you?”

Rod winced; Bryce’s words stung. He didn’t even hesitate in his disbelief that Rod might be interested in someone. But then he remembered he liked being single and getting to do who and what he wanted. He didn’t need anything else. “Okay, maybe you do know me, but I could be in love if I wanted to. I could fall in love every fucking day, but this guy, I’ve seen him three times and I’m still in love with him.”

Bryce paused for a second. “
Seen
him, seen him. Like dating? Or fucking?”

Shit. “Well, neither actually…”

Bryce barked out a laugh and Rod considered hanging up on him—the asshole. “He’s a motorcycle mechanic. Let me talk to Nick. He’ll understand. He obviously has a thing for that kind of man. He’ll have my back on this one.”

“Well, men like me are irresistible…”

Rod heard Nick scoff in the background and realized he was close enough to Bryce to hear Rod speak. “Ooh… Did I interrupt something? Let’s video chat and you can continue where you left off. You’ll never know I’m there.”

This time both Nick and Bryce laughed. Rod couldn’t help but smile himself. He liked the men a lot. They’d become really close since the first time the couple had stumbled into the store he used to work in while looking for their first dildo. Being with each other had been the first time either of them had been with another man, and apparently Nick was very well endowed. Bryce was a lucky man.

That had been over a year ago. Nick and Bryce were out to their families now and they’d moved into a new house together, where they had Rod over for dinner every once in a while. He and Bryce enjoyed making Nick blush.

“Funny man. So what else is going on?” Bryce asked.

“Do you happen to need any help at the shop? Landon mentioned just moving here and he’s looking for a job. I told him I’d ask you.”

“Actually…this is perfect timing. We just had someone give his two-week notice yesterday, so we will be looking to hire. He’s welcome to fill out an application. I can’t make you any promises. I’ll have to see what kind of experience he has and how he’ll fit in, but tell him to apply. You really had a gay motorcycle mechanic come into Rods-N-Ends? I thought I was the only one.”

Rod laughed. “Aww, are you feeling less important because you’re not the only gay motorcycle mechanic who likes to buy sex toys from me? Does it help that he’s bi? But then I guess you are too. Hmm…does it help that he only buys lube? And you were my first. You’ll always be special to me.”

Nick laughed loudly in the background.

“Fuck you both,” Bryce said, which only made the two of them laugh louder.

Once it finally died down, they chatted again for a few minutes before Rod told them he had to go. He needed to call and save the day for Brown Eyes.

He got up and walked into the kitchen for a glass of water before he went back and sat in the living room chair. The TV was on low in the background. He had a small, two-bedroom house that he could only afford because he’d bought it with the money he got when his dad died—money he only received because his dad had probably figured leaving Rod the old house in Oklahoma would be more of a hassle than it would be worth.

He’d been sure to cut Rod out of getting anything else when he died—not that he’d wanted anything from the bastard—other than an old house with major foundation problems, that went downhill as you walked through it. That had been the least of the problems.

He hadn’t wanted any part of the house or anything else, but then he figured the man owed him something for making Rod’s life hell, so he’d sold it for whatever he could get, and put the money down on this place. So now he was in debt with a house and sex-toy shop. Wouldn’t his God-fearing, gay-hating father be proud?

His past was the last thing Rod wanted to think about, so instead he pulled out the card with Landon’s number on it and called him. He answered on the third ring. “Hey, Brown Eyes.”

He was rewarded with Landon’s laughter again. “That what you call all the guys or should I feel special?”

“You should feel special.” Rod smiled. “And you recognized my voice.”

“It’s distinct and there’s no one else I know who would call me brown eyes.”

Rod put his feet up on the table. “Well, now I can feel special too, but I find that hard to believe. You must not be hanging out with the right kind of men.”

Landon groaned through the line before saying, “You can say that again. But then, I guess I’m okay with that. I don’t really believe in the right kind of partner. I don’t belong to that whole,
there’s one special person out there for everyone
camp.”

This was getting good. He hadn’t really called to get to know Landon better. Okay, that was a lie. He wanted to get to know Landon a whole hell of a lot better, but he’d been thinking sexually. Still, he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. “Tell me more.”

“What? No. I don’t even like talking to people I do know. I like talking to people I don’t know even less.”

Didn’t Brown Eyes know the more mysterious he was, the more Rod would want him? It was an unspoken rule. “I sell you lube! I talked to my friend about getting you a job. I know you like both men and women. We’re practically best friends.”

“You’re insane. Has anyone ever told you that?” Landon asked.

“Of course.” Was that really a question?

Landon sighed, and Rod couldn’t tell if he was really frustrated or not. “Hey, I’m just giving you shit. I don’t expect you to tell me anything you don’t want to tell.”

“No, it’s not you.” It sounded like Landon yawned. “I’ve just had a long day. Like I said, I just moved back not long ago. I’m still…adjusting, I guess you could say, and I’m going batshit crazy. I’m thirty years old and I live with my mom in Small Town USA, when I’ve been in Orlando for years. Add to that, I don’t have a job and the fact that I’ve reverted to jacking off every day and hiding my lube under the bed like I’m a kid. Let’s just say it’s been a shitty month.”

Rod frowned, feeling the frustration behind Landon’s words. “That’s understandable. Big changes.”

“I had a job I loved and left it behind. It’s not that I miss the place as much as the freedom in my life. Shit…how did you do that? You just got me to say things I normally wouldn’t say.”

The frustration was still there in Landon’s voice, but not as heavy as it had been before. Crazy as it sounded, it felt good to think that maybe he’d had a hand in that. “It’s part of my charm. You don’t stand a chance against me, so you might as well give in now.”

***

Landon wasn’t sure what to think of Rod. Hell, he wasn’t even sure what they were doing on the phone right now. Yeah, he’d asked Rod about a job, but it had almost been a joke. He didn’t make a habit of telling people he was jobless and asking for their help. And now here they were talking and…he really should ask the man about the job again. He’d lose his mind if he didn’t get back to work. “What did your friend say?”

“I think it was fate you needed lube and stumbled into Rods-N-Ends, that’s what I think. Bryce said someone just gave their notice. His last day is in two weeks, so they’re looking.”

Landon let out a deep breath. It was as though half of the weight in his chest floated away with it. He had no doubt he could get the job if he applied. He was good. He had been trained at the best motorcycle mechanic school in the country. If someone was hiring, he’d get the job. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

“No problem. It’s not a guarantee, but—”

“No, no. I get it. If someone needs help, I’m confident I can get the job, though. I’m good at what I do.”

Rod laughed. His statement probably made him sound conceited, but he didn’t care. He had faith in his ability. There was nothing wrong with that.

“I’ll text you the information…. Good at what you do, huh? I bet you get all the guys with that kind of talk.”

“Girls too,” Landon reminded him, though he wasn’t sure why.

“I can appreciate women. I don’t want one. Never have and never will, but I’m not scared of vagina, so stop trying to push me away by reminding me you don’t only like ass.”

“That’s not what I was doing.” Although he was pretty sure it was. “So, how’d you get into the business of lube and dildos?” As soon as he asked the question, he wished he hadn’t. He wondered why he had. He didn’t know Rod. What reason did he have to chat on the phone with him? Hell, he didn’t talk on the phone with anyone. He hated the damn thing.

“They say to do what you know…”

Landon chuckled. “Well, yeah, there’s that, I guess.” But there was more to it. He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did.

“I needed a job when I was in college. I wanted to piss my dad off, so I figured what better way than to sell evil, dirty things? Especially if some of those things were for
the gays
.”

Rod spoke like it was a joke, but Landon could hear the underlying anger in his words. He felt bad for the man. Maybe the people he’d grown up with wouldn’t have accepted his bisexuality but he always knew his mom and sister would. His piece-of-shit father had been gone by the time he’d realized it, so he hadn’t mattered.

“I was going to be a teacher, if you can believe that,” Rod chuckled. “But halfway through school I realized it wasn’t for me. So, I kept selling sin. Why not live up to my obvious worthlessness? It was stupid, staying around just to piss him off, but on the other hand, I like what I do. I’m a people person and I enjoy sex. I meet interesting customers while doing my job and don’t laugh, but I’m bringing them pleasure, in a way. Nothing wrong with that. So after my dad passed, I stuck with it. Even though I liked what I did, I knew I wanted more. Took some prodding from Nick and Bryce, but finally I applied for a loan and Rods-N-Ends was born.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Landon told him. There were unresolved issues with his father. He’d made that apparent, but losing him still had to hurt. Landon wouldn’t know. He had no idea if his own father was dead or alive.

When Rod didn’t reply, he knew it was time to pull some of the heat off of him. It wasn’t as though Landon wanted to talk about dads anyway. He had enough unresolved issues of his own to deal with. “You’re doing what you love. That’s what matters. I feel that way about working on bikes. I thought about opening my own shop, but I guess it’s good I didn’t since I ended up moving back here.”

“And now you’ll get a job with Bryce and do what you love again.”

Landon nodded as though Rod could see him, not sure what to say next. Just as he opened his mouth to announce that he should probably go, Rod said, “I’ll make ya famous.”

No. He didn’t just say that. “
Tombstone
?” Landon asked. He loved that movie.

“Yeah, it just came on. This is one of my favorites. Val Kilmer is sexy as hell in it.”

“Agreed. Jesus, he used to be gorgeous. What channel?”

Rod told him and Landon turned it on. Somehow they ended up watching the whole damn movie while on the phone with each other, discussing all their favorite scenes as they watched.

What are you doing?