Pawsitively in Love (12 page)

Evan shrugged. “I don’t really get it either, other than in a historical context.”

Cole wasn’t answering, so Austin buzzed again. He answered that time. It seemed pretty loud in the background, and Cole was breathless. “Hey, babes. Door’s unlocked. Come on up.”

The front door clicked, and Austin pulled it open. “Follow me. Let’s take the elevator. They’re on the top floor of course.”

“Of course.”

THE BUILDING
only had five floors, but the elevator wasn’t especially fast. Austin stood, crowded close to Evan, but Evan didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he rubbed his shoulder up against Austin’s like he wanted to get even closer.

“So, my sister’s going to be in there.”

“Yes. You said earlier on the phone.”

Austin sighed. “She’s a bit… curious.”

“What does that mean?” Evan sounded as wary as Austin felt.

He cringed inwardly. “That means no matter how many times I’ve told her that you’re not my boyfriend, she thinks we’re hiding some secret dramatic relationship.”

Evan bit his lip on a grin. “Why would we do that? If we were together, wouldn’t we just tell everyone?”

Austin shrugged. “I don’t get Mary Beth. She has these crazy-ass ideas, and she sticks to them no matter how much I tell her they’re not true. I guess there’s a romantic in there. She wants everyone to be in the middle of some epic love just like she is with her boyfriend.” Austin made a face. “Who I hate.”

“Yikes.”

“Very.”

What Austin didn’t say was that he wished there
was
something else going on behind closed doors, epic or even just moderately nice. That after a night of hanging out and watching movies with everyone, he’d take Evan home and to bed, pull his clothes off, and taste every part of him. Austin ground his fingernails into his palms. He’d had too many thoughts like that lately. Evan wanted to be platonic. Austin wasn’t the type to push him into doing something else.

He only wished he could stop himself from thinking about it nearly all the time.

Austin could hear the noise from Cole and Peter’s condo before they even got to the door.

“They’re going to get in trouble with the condo association,” Austin said with a low laugh. He’d already heard a million stories about the “prissy trophy wives with sticks up their medically contoured asses” from Cole—even before they’d moved in. Austin simply handed Cole fliers and cards for Pawsitively Purrfect and hoped that the wives had designer dogs to go with their enhanced boobs and edited noses.

“They’re here!” Cole called as soon as Austin clicked the front door shut. He believed he and Evan were the last to arrive. It was shocking how few of them there were to make so much noise. Mary Beth, without The Chad for once, thankfully, Cole, Peter, Colleen, and no more than four other friends were gathered around the kitchen table. It looked like they were making caramel corn. Caramel corn and a huge racket.

“Why are you guys always so loud?” Austin asked.

“We pride ourselves on it,” Colleen said with a snarky grin. She waved at Evan, who was in the middle of greeting Cole and Peter. Colleen could be trusted for the most part. She’d met Evan before and hadn’t managed to humiliate Austin. He wasn’t worried about her. Mary Beth on the other hand—

“Hey, Bro. Some of us have never met your gentleman friend. Care to do introductions?” What was that he’d said about Mary Beth not embarrassing him? Right. It was never gonna happen. Not in a million years.

“Um, Ev, this is my twin, Mary Beth, and our friends Geoff, Denny, and Braden. I think you’ve met everyone else.” Austin didn’t know Geoff very well. He was one of Cole’s arty friends. But he’d known Denny and Braden for years. Longer than he’d known either Cole or Peter. His friends greeted Evan with handshakes and big grins.

And then it was Mary Beth’s turn. Austin decided before she even spoke that he was probably going to kill her.

“You’re pretty hot,” she finally said. “Little bro’s got good taste.”

Jesus.
Austin wondered if it was unintentional or if she was dealing him a hand of retribution after all the times he’d gotten on her case in public for The Chad and his predecessors.

“I thought you two were twins” was all Evan said in return. His tone was mellow and laid-back. Like he’d totally missed the part where Mary Beth had insinuated he and Austin were a thing. Or at least that Austin wished they were.

“Somebody’s gotta pop out first. In our case, the honor was mine. I’m fifteen minutes older than baby Austin here.” She curled her arm around Austin’s neck and rubbed his hair. It wasn’t exactly gentle. Austin got the message. She was in sister-torture mode. He was getting the hell away from it.

“Hey, Ev. You want to see the condo?”

Mary Beth snorted. “Maybe you can ‘show him Cole’s paintings.’” The air quotes weren’t even implied. She actually stuck her fingers in the air and made the gestures. Austin thought he was going to sink into the floor and die. After he dipped her in a vat of boiling acid or something first.
I wish I was an only child.

“Knock it the hell off. Do you remember what happened the last time you started with me?”

It had ended up in some rather humiliating Facebook posts made by him on his sister’s behalf. Mary Beth might be smarter than Austin, but she wasn’t very good at password protecting her phone. Like, really. Their birthday? Austin had figured a password that easy was an invitation. One he’d happily taken. He cocked his head to the side and waited for the moment where she’d give up.

“Fine.” She turned to Evan. “Sorry. Sibling stuff. We really do adore each other most of the time.”

“Most of the time.” Austin snorted and gestured toward the living room. “Come on. I’ll show you Cole’s paintings before the movie starts. Like, actual paintings. Not whatever my sister was implying.”

Evan, to his credit, only chuckled before he followed Austin out of the kitchen area.

OF COURSE,
with as many people as there were, seating space was limited. By the time Austin got to the couch, there was only a tiny little space left. Right by Evan.

“Come sit,” Evan said. He lifted his arm as though Austin was supposed to duck under it. He had to know that it would be torture. Or maybe he didn’t. Maybe he thought Austin had just moved on after Evan had told him he was only looking for a friend. Well, obviously that was bullshit. Still, Austin didn’t know what else to do. So he sat in the narrow space, practically on Evan’s lap, and tried not to outwardly react when Evan’s arm slipped over his shoulders.

“Mmm what is that?” he asked.

“Pizza nachos. I only make them when I come here. They’re not exactly healthy.”

“What’s on them?”

“Three kinds of cheese, tomatoes, pepperoni, green peppers, and a bit of pizza sauce.”

Evan chuckled. “Those sound ridiculous. Can I try?”

“Of course.” Like he was going to say no. He held the plate closer, and Evan grabbed one with his free hand.

“Oh my God.” Evan moaned as he chewed. Austin didn’t bite his lip at the sound of Evan’s moan. Not at all.

“What the hell?” Colleen said from across the room where she was sitting on the floor with her shoulders between Vanessa’s legs. She’d just shoved her blonde hair up into a ponytail and was about to dive into her plate of snacks. “How come you always wait until everyone else has food and then make a better snack for yourself.”

Austin rolled his eyes. “Like you’ve never had these before. You’re welcome to come get one.”

Colleen made a face. “Nah. I’m already sitting.”

“That’s what I thought.” Austin chuckled. “I’ll make you more later if you don’t pass out during the movie.”

Colleen always passed out during the movie.

Cole used a remote to dim the lights. Seriously. Then he clicked on their enormous entertainment system.

“What are we watching?” Austin asked.

“We voted while you were in the kitchen. It’s
Devil’s Peak
.”

“Isn’t that a horror movie?” Austin hated horror movies. And they always outvoted him when he wasn’t paying attention.

“You’ll be fine.”

He scoffed. “Which one of you wants to come sleep in front of my bedroom door tonight?”

Evan squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll do it.”

Austin nearly choked on the saliva in his mouth. Mary Beth and Cole both gave him significant looks.

Shut up. Both of you.
They hadn’t actually said anything, but still. He knew.

Cole pushed Play, and Austin settled into the couch with his nachos. If he could concentrate on eating, then it wouldn’t be so bad.

“Are you really afraid?” Evan whispered.

He knew. It was a total cliché. But a lot of people didn’t like horror movies. Right? Austin grunted. “Not my favorite. Everyone else seems to like not sleeping.” He figured he’d spend the next hour and a half designing his ideal apartment in his head. Then he’d have fun chatting and playing cards after the movie was over.

“I’ll cover your eyes on the bad parts.”

Austin nearly turned and looked at Evan like he’d lost his mind. What had happened to Evan in the past forty-eight hours? The last time they’d been alone, he’d done just about everything he could to make it not romantic. Hell, they’d been playing video games, and Austin had wanted to jump all over him. Now he was being all flirty and putting his arm around Austin’s shoulders? It was disorienting, to say the least.

“Thanks,” Austin said in reply. What else was he supposed to say? Why the hell are you acting like you want to touch me all of a sudden? It was easier to not bring anything up.

Luckily the movie was more eye-rollingly cheesy and gory than scary. Austin was fine at the end. Or as fine as he could be after an hour and a half of being squished up against Evan. Of having Evan squish them even closer than was necessary. He felt like his skin was about to explode.

Austin jumped up as soon as the credits rolled. “Anyone want a drink? More snacks?” he said. “I’ll make something if you’d like it.”

“I’m glad you’re familiar with my kitchen,” Cole drawled. “But feel free to be a good host. I’ll just sit here.”

Austin made a face at Cole. “Please. You fridge dive at my place every time you come over. My cookies-and-cream ice cream always seems to disappear.”

“Who wants to play Texas Hold’em?” Peter asked. Probably to keep Cole and Austin from arguing any more.

Austin was surprised, though. Usually Peter waited until everyone had a few beers before he fleeced them of all their hard-earned cash.

“I’m in,” Mary Beth said.

“Austin, do you want to stay and play?” Evan asked.

Austin was almost afraid of what would happen when they got in his car alone, so he said yes. “Sure. It’s a ten-dollar buy in. I’ll cover you if you don’t have cash on you.”

“I’ve got it.”

Colleen stayed as well, but the others trickled out the door with various excuses. Austin found that he definitely didn’t mind the acquaintance-level friends disappearing. He also didn’t mind how Evan was slowly seeping his way into the inner circle. If only he weren’t giving out the most confusing of signals, everything would be perfect.

“Everyone good on the rules?”

“Do you have a cheat sheet of the hands? I never can keep it clear if a full house is better than four of a kind,” Evan said.

“Yeah. I have a card. Hold on.” Austin could nearly see Peter’s glee. Another innocent newbie to beat. Peter must’ve missed the gleam in Evan’s eye.

Austin hid a chuckle behind his hand.

“Shhh,” Evan said.

“I didn’t say anything.”

It actually took Peter a few hands to realize he had a very worthy opponent in Evan—after he’d already lost a ton of chips to him of course. Austin had to laugh, watching Peter’s quick slide from the con artist to the conned. It was time for someone to hand it to him. The game was fun, even if Austin had no chance of keeping his ten bucks. He laughed more than he’d laughed in months, cracked jokes, and felt like he was surrounded in warmth. And if Evan sat by Austin during the poker game and flirted outrageously enough that Mary Beth and Cole both pulled him aside as they were leaving… well, Austin wasn’t going to complain. So he didn’t.

“HEY, SCOUT,
do you remember Austin?” Evan said. Austin waved at the little girl and gave her a big smile. Evan really did like Austin’s smile. And the way he smelled, and how his hair was that funny mix between blond and sandy brown, and how when he laughed, his entire body joined the party and it was infectious and gorgeous.
Knock it off.

“I think I remember. Hello.”

“Hello, Miss Scout,” Austin said.

“Well, Austin has a dog too. She’s a lot bigger than Dexter, but she’s really sweet. Do you want to ask your mom if you two can come over and meet her and hang out with Dexter for a little while?”

Scout gave Evan a big grin and went sprinting back over to her own house. She was back in less than thirty seconds. She nearly shouted, “Mom says it’s okay!”

Evan laughed and ruffled her hair. “I’m glad.”

Peggy followed Scout out a few moments later. She smiled and waved at Evan. “How are you today, sweetie?” she asked.

“Not bad.” He’d painted his bedroom and done a bit of reading before Austin and Maggie showed up. All in all, a decent day.

“Listen, I absolutely hate to ask and don’t feel bad about saying no, but would it be okay if I ran to the market for a few minutes while Scout is playing with the dogs?”

Evan didn’t mind. He’d spent enough time with Scout that it shouldn’t be a big deal. Plus, he was in the middle of watching Austin melt all over the little girl. He wouldn’t mind more entertainment of that nature. It was absolutely adorable.

“That’s fine, Peggy. I’ll be here. Just come through the gate. It’ll be unlocked.”

Peggy slid into her car in the way that only a mother with a young kid who rarely had time to do anything ever did. Evan followed Austin and their tiny charge into the backyard. The moment they got out there, Austin was already running in circles with Scout and the two dogs. It was the kind of chaos that Evan would usually hate—dogs barking, the squealing laughter of a toddler, Austin making noises and chasing her. It should have annoyed him. It should’ve made him want to get all of them out of there so he could have some peace and quiet.