Chapter 24

Connor

I was so close to having every bloody thing I’d dreamed of, and yet was no closer to getting it. We stood in line for our morning coffees, not at Kendall’s bakery, because I needed time to think, when an older woman edged closer. I looked up, wondering if she needed the time or directions, but instead, she just shot us that kind of soft smile only grandmas seem to master.

“I just wanted to say how proud I am of you.”

“Sorry?”

That came out without even thinking.

“You’re very brave,” she continued. She looked so hopeful, and yet when I glanced at the others, I knew she was just a stranger, so I waited to see if this was a dementia thing or what. “When I was growing up, boys like you had to be very careful about expressing themselves, otherwise they’d risk getting shunned or worse.” She reached over and patted Van’s hand, while I just stared. “But now you can be out and proud about who you are.”

Oh fuck, she thought Van was gay.

The pink glitter was probably what was tripping her trigger. Van had jumped back in the shower once Kendall made a hasty retreat, and while he looked slightly less like Barbie vomit, there was still enough glitter clinging to him and his clothes to make the lady think my best mate liked driving stick.

“And is this your boyfriend?”

Jesus, now she was looking at me.

“Connor?” A grin spread across his face, giving me a little warning, right before his arm was slung around my neck. He pressed a rough kiss to the side of my face, right before I shoved him off. “Ouch, babe.” He danced out of reach when I growled at him. “No need to get aggressive this early in the morning.” He leaned closer to the woman. “He’s a total animal, but Gage…”

The man himself crossed his arms and glared at Van.

“He’s the tall, silent type but really possessive.”

“Two boyfriends!” Her eyebrows shot so high I was beginning to think they’d jump off her face. “I didn’t realise people did that sort of thing nowadays. I mean, there was a bit of friskiness when I was young. Husbands tossing their keys in a glass bowl and then…”

Her hand fluttered as it came to rest on her chest, and then she smiled.

“But you don’t need to know about that. Now, my grandson has recently come out as queer, and I’m still trying to get the terminology right. Are you what they’d call a twink?” she asked Van.

“He totally is.” I moved in and rubbed my hand through his hair roughly. “Our little twinkie. Sweet and with little nutritional value.”

“Oh, well—”

“He’s a wolf,” Van shot back, thrusting a thumb my way. “And Gage is totally a bear.”

“Right, so—”

“Mavis?” the barista said, holding up a to-go cup.

“That’s me,” she said, then smiled brightly. “It was lovely talking to you. I’ll have to talk to my grandson and see how many boyfriends he has. I thought it was just the one, but maybe… Anyway, have a lovely day.”

“What the fuck was that?” I asked Van as she walked away.

“Spluttering that you’re not gay as loud as you can is shit and homophobic,” he said with a shrug. “As long as she wasn’t trying to set me up on a date with her grandson, I’ll be fine.”

“Fabulous even.”

We both stared at Gage, his deadpan delivery alerting us that something was up. His lips quirked up just slightly as he clicked his fingers through the air in the way we’d seen the drag queens do on reality TV shows.

“Gage?” the barista said.

He sashayed over to the counter, paid for our drinks, and then we all walked out of the cafe at a much more sedate pace.

“So, the fact that Van looks like he got a facial from a pink unicorn aside,” I said as we got to the car, “what do we do? We were supposed to let Kendall know how we felt last night and she was asleep. I wanted to give her flowers.”

Van’s smile faded.

“I was going to make her breakfast.”

“And I think we just need to let her work this out of her system.” Gage settled against the side of the van. “If she didn’t give a shit, she wouldn’t bother pranking us at all. She’d just hang out in her room until she found somewhere else and moved out. Fuck, she would’ve already done that.”

“She had that call about the place,” I reminded him.

“On the weekend.” Gage was always such a serious prick. This smug look was a whole other thing. “We need to persuade Kendall to stay by the weekend, and today is…”

“Tuesday.” I said, feeling a wave of disbelief. It couldn’t have just been two days since Kendall moved in, but it had been.

“We need her to decide to stay by Saturday, and I’ve got a plan,” he replied.

“What?” The other two cracked up the moment I barked that word, but it didn’t stop me asking again. “What plan? Gage?” He walked around to the driver’s seat of his van and got in, but I just jerked the door open. Gage looked me up and down with a faintly amused expression. “Gage—”

“Just don’t be home when Kendall finishes work,” he said then jerked the door shut. “You either, Sparkle Tits.”

Van took a surreptitious look down the front of his shirt as I stood there, fucking fuming. Gage threw the van into gear and took off, waving as he went.

“I’m gonna hear the words Sparkle Tits a million times today, aren’t I?” Van mused.

“I promise to enforce a beer tax every time someone says it if you get on board with this.”

A ‘beer tax’ wasn’t the actual government excise, but a building-site tradition where if you committed one of the many agreed to sins, you had to pay for your crimes in beer for the rest of your crew.

“On board with what?”

But as Van asked, I put a call through to the bakery where Kendall worked. I’d already got the contact details of the baker himself, and when Chris answered the phone, I smiled.

“Chris’ Bakery.”

“G’day, Chris,” I said. “This is Connor Woods. We talked yesterday.”

“The bloke from the building site up the road? What can I do you for?”

“I wanted to put in a big order. It’s my turn to feed the crew, and after we sampled some of your lovely food yesterday, I thought you might be the man for the job.”

“I usually get people to put in big orders at least a day in advance, so I’ve got enough time to make extras.” I could hear his barely suppressed sigh. “As I told you yesterday.”

“I understand that, and I’m prepared to pay double to make it worth your while.”

I used to prank Kendall to get her attention, but now I was prepared to be a little more sophisticated in my pursuit. If I threw money at her, trying to get closer, she’d had tossed it right back into my face, but if we made a massive order for the entire building site—

“Righto, mate,” Chris said, “what did you want to order?”