Chapter 8

Point Pleasant – or The Pleasant as everyone around here calls it hadn't been so bad lately. It's weird how you can hear the capital T in the The when everyone refers to this place. It's also a good way to separate the locals from the tourists. I was honestly surprised by the number of tourists this little town gets. They keep me hopping at the coffee shop, and they rarely leave a very good tip. The locals, however, always tip at least twenty percent. It's amazing.

I've been going out with Crystal's gang a little more often and having a great time with them. Danny especially had become an actual friend. But it's not Danny that I think about. I shouldn't be thinking of anyone. That path of thinking was full of danger. The Pleasant was nice enough, but I don't want to stay here and build a life here, even if it has become quite pleasant.

Being stuck in a place makes you put your whole life on hold. I mean, maybe I could get a job at the high school working with the athletic department if a position became available once I got my degree. It wouldn't be a bad life, I'm sure. But I've always dreamed of working with a pro team. The closest thing Point Pleasant has is a minor hockey team that has a fairly terrible record and an even worse name. The Point Pleasant Pheasants. I mean, they had to double down on the irony since, in hockey, a pheasant was slang for bad.

But this place did suck you in. It's idyllic and incredibly beautiful. I had spent part of my summer here and enjoyed basking in the sun by the lake when my parents first moved here. I enjoyed skiing this winter, but there was more to life than recreation, right? Eventually, my brother would leave for grad school, and I'd be here with Mom and Dad, which wasn't horrible, but… It wasn't what I wanted. Was it? Every day I stayed here, a little piece of me reconsidered my future.

If – which right now felt like a very big if – if I graduated and there might be a job here, I could get my own place. I liked my new friends. They were a lot more together than the friends I left at the frat. Maybe being around them would help me get my shit together – keep it together. Who knew? I was twenty-three years old – I didn't have to know everything right at this second. But after failing so stupendously in my senior year, I also felt like I needed to. What would I do when I finally graduated?

I had already decided that I would finish school remotely since it had all been set up for me. I might as well save the money on the frat and room and board. I had grown to kind of like online courses, even if I did miss my old life… sometimes. It no longer felt like an ache or some kind of FOMO that I was experiencing. I didn't want to go back to that way of life. I had already proven to myself that I didn't excel in it. I became a version of myself that I may have enjoyed – even loved at the time – but looking back at what I had gone through because of it made me see it all very differently.

I guess.

Why did my asshole twin get all the brains and I the brawn? It would have been nice if we could have shared our gifts. It was cool to be around John again, and we had really started to re-cement our bond. It was easy to finish classes and walk into his room to shoot some zombies as we laughed at each other. He kicked my ass every time, and I thought I was pretty good at video games. He was better. He was usually better at everything except socializing and sports. Those were the genes I got in the genetic lottery.

"Your phone is buzzing, hon." Mom brought it over to me. "Looks like someone needs some help."

"Fuck." I groaned.

"Language," she smirked as she handed me my phone from the dining room table where I had left it.

I sat up from my lounge position on the couch and stared at the screen. "I hate task rabbit. I wish Crystal could hire me full-time."

"If you worked at the coffee shop full time, when would you take classes and study? Besides, she's already been so sweet to work around your class schedule. It's just another thing I love about this town." She hummed as she turned and walked back into the kitchen.

"Me too," I sighed as I felt the hook of this place pull a little deeper into me. "Fuck!"

A garbage disposal… Super fuckity-fuck! I really should say I'm busy and deny the work, but I really needed the money, and this would be a hundred bucks. I needed it. I ran up the stairs and threw on a tank top and a pair of old shorts. I grabbed my toolbox from the closet and carefully walked back down the stairs to put on my work boots. I hated anything that had drainage, but it was much better money than most of the repair or cleaning work I usually got.

Dad had really tried to teach us as much as he could when it came to being handy. John did not pick it up very well, but I'd always enjoyed it. The time I spent with Dad fixing the car or repairs around the house were some of my favorite childhood memories. I was quite handy, but plumbing could be tricky… I mean, it's a garbage disposal, and people installed them all alone, so I figured I could handle it. If I couldn't, I wouldn't charge them – but a hundred bucks was a hundred bucks!

I opened up the app and grinned. I had gotten lucky and wouldn't lose my parking spot! The job was here on the street. That made this whole thing a little easier, hopefully. It also meant that I might make a fool out of myself in front of my neighbors. Not that it mattered. I needed the money that badly.

I walked a few condos down and knocked on number six. The yap of a small dog quickly exploded behind the door. I loved dogs, but one running under my feet when I was there to do a job could be annoying. The door cracked, and there stood David with an exasperated look on his face and Liza in his arms.

"Justin? I'm… oh, God, I… What are you doing here?"

"I think I'm your handyman." I flexed. I couldn't help it. There was just something about him that made me want to show off. It was easy to see that he had a crush on me, and it made him even cuter.

He instantly blushed. It was adorable. "Oh, God… Really? I'm… I didn't know you were doing that. I mean, I don't know everything about you or anything. I'm not a stalker, but…"

"Well, we're both surprised, I guess. I'm only part-time at the coffee shop, so I do this kind of thing between classes and work whenever I can accept a job. There are a lot of task requests in The Pleasant, believe it or not."

"Oh, I believe it. Task Rabbit has saved my ass a few times. I'm incredibly unhandy. I can barely change a lightbulb half the time. In fact, the ones in my kitchen I can't change at all. You have to slide it in and twist it just the right way. I have two bulbs burned out because I can't get them to go in and snap in place. Why do they make changing a lightbulb a seminar in futility? I should replace them, but… I'm rambling, aren't I? Did I say that I'm completely unhandy?"

"It's cute. Lucky for you – I am incredibly handy. So, do you want to show me what the problem is?"

"Oh, well, I mean, the lightbulbs are… I've gotten used to living without them." He glanced all around the house – anywhere but looking at me.

I grinned. "You called me about an issue with your garbage disposal."

"Oh, yeah." He was so flustered it was too cute – sexy even. "This way."

"Hi, Liza." I scratched her head as I stepped inside, and she wiggled in David's arms. "You can put her down if you want. We're old friends."

"No belly scratching until you get the disposal fixed." He narrowed his eyes at me and set Liza down on the ground. She immediately ran up to me and lay down before rolling over onto her back.

I quickly bent down and rubbed her. "David? I can't say no to this, can I?"

David shuddered as he watched me giving Liza the best belly rub of her life. His eyes widened as he stared at me. It was… heartwarming. The look on his face as he watched made me feel warm and fuzzy. It was like he was looking at a memory and remembering something that he once loved.

"She really seems to like you." He whispered as if it cost him something.

"I like her, too. Her dad, though – he seems pretty… unhandy. He's cute, though. Even if he is a little hard to read sometimes." I winked.

He gulped -out loud. I grinned wider.

"Well, he has issues." He snorted.

I stood back up, and Liza whined. "Sorry, sweet girl. I need to fix the disposal that daddy has apparently fucked up." I winked at him, and he went instantly red. I liked it. I liked knowing that I had this power over him. I hadn't felt like myself in a while, and I didn't mind the attention. I actually quite liked it. If I had a type – and I did – it had always been studious, older men who looked like they could be a professor. David fit that to a tee.

"I was… uh… trying to… I put some pasta down it."

"Bad boy. You know that you're not supposed to do that, right?"

"Yes, sir." He glanced down at his feet. I felt the flush of blood as I blushed. I liked him calling me sir – a lot. It was empowering and filled me with strength. It was dangerous. David was very cute – too cute - and I found the way he acted adorable. Most people would probably have thought of him as handsome in a total dadbod way. I found it very sexy and always had. But the age gap between us – well, it hadn't been my friend before. It had taken me a while to get over the last guy that I had this same fixation with. That had been very different, I understood that. But my heart was warning me that I had been down this path before to my own detriment. My scars still ached.

"All right, I better get this working for you then. Your place is great. I love the open floor plan." I did. Our condo was newer than David's, but he had a much better layout. Why did designers ever compartmentalize rooms? Open and airy was always a better move.

I walked past the corner bar that separated the living room from the kitchen and stared down into the sink. I ran some water and flipped the switch. The grinding sound was deafening as the blades tried to spin. I flipped the switch and water off. The water sat pooled in the bottom of the sink.

"I'll do my best, David. But, uh… I've never fixed one of these before. But I think I can figure it out. No worries if you want to call an actual plumber to fix it. He'll charge you triple what I do, but he'll know exactly what to do." I shrugged and looked over at him as he clutched Liza to his chest.

"I'm… uh… fine for you to do it," he said hastily – the blush exploding on his face once again for me to see. He didn't want me to leave. I didn't really want to, either. I wasn't surprised. I knew I had developed a little crush on hot professor David, but… here we were in his house, and I was being manly, so… Instant hardening.

I unbuckled my tool belt and took it off. David exhaled sharply. Power… It was intoxicating. I placed my tool belt gently on the marble counter, being careful not to scratch it. "All right. Let's see what you've done."

I opened the cabinet doors underneath the sink and found that the cabinet was completely empty except for a sponge and a small bottle of dish soap. I picked them up and placed them to the left of the sink.

"I told you… It was pasta."

"Yes. You're a very bad boy – we've already confirmed that. But what did the pasta do to the disposal? I can tell that it is clogged because the water is slowly draining. It's not completely clogged – that's some good news." I grabbed my wrench and bent down to find the best way to loosen the connectors.

"I didn't think it was enough to cause a problem," he whined as he walked over to the counter's edge and watched. I could feel his eyes on me.

"This is in a… this is connected kind of crazy." I scooted back and rolled over to my back so my head and shoulders could fit into the cabinet. The top connector was way up there, and I had never seen anything like it. "Whoever put these pipes in was a fucking masochist," I grunted as I wiggled my wrench between the insanely placed drainage pipes.

I wiggled the wrench a little more and finally got it around the top connector. I managed, between grunts and annoyed hisses, to tighten my wrench around the pipe. Liza decided, right at that time, to crawl up on my belly and lay down on my chest.

"Liza!" David giggled. I felt his fingertips through my T-shirt as he scooped her up.

"She knows what she wants." I tried to loosen the connector and hissed through my teeth. "Damn, this is tight." I felt it finally give as I pulled harder on it. I scooted further in so I could get a better purchase on it.

I was stupid.

I was uberly aware that David was watching me as I fixed his sink. I liked it too much. So much that I hadn't thought about the job enough. Instead of scooting out and placing a bowl or anything underneath, I kept twisting until…

"Fuck!"

All of the trapped water and shredded bits of pasta fell out of the pipe that connected to the disposal and directly onto me. Thankfully from the angle I was in – it missed my face. I might have barfed if that had happened. Instead, my t-shirt was covered in bits of pasta and gooey water. I quickly scooted out and sat up.

"Do you have a big bowl and maybe some towels?" I asked quietly – sitting there looking like I had just been involved in a food fight.

"Oh, God! Yes." I heard a cabinet open, and a few seconds later, a large red bowl was placed in my hands. I scooted back and made sure to put it right under the open pipe that was still dripping slowly. I scooted out and turned around to look at the damage. Most of the water had soaked into me, but the pasta bits had fallen into the cabinet and off my shirt onto the floor.

David hurried back in with a handful of towels.

"Sorry," I muttered as I glanced up at him. He was flustered, and so was I. I took the towels and made sure to clean the floor and the inside of the cabinet from the debris that had fallen out. I didn't want Liza to eat any of it and get a bellyache.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah," I chuckled. "I didn't realize I was coming over here for a wet t-shirt contest, though. Sorry, I wasn't thinking about the… I do know what I'm doing – sort of. I promise." I bundled the dirty towels in a ball and laid them down next to the open doors of the cabinet.

"You want me to take those?" David asked, and I glanced up at him and nodded.

"I wouldn't wash those in your… I'd make sure to shake the pasta out into the trash before you wash them. We don't want you to clog that up, too." I winked, and I handed them to him.

He left the room quickly – Liza in one hand and the dirty towels in another. I stood up and looked down at my disgusting shirt. Well, I was already in the grime. Why not? I pulled the gooey shirt over my head and wadded it up on my tool belt. I used one of the extra towels to wipe my wet torso clean and heard a gasp from behind. I turned to find David with his mouth wide open and his cheeks about as crimson as they could get. I flexed my pecs as I put the towel down. I couldn't help myself. It was intoxicating.

"I was very dirty." I felt the flood of blood up into my cheeks. Standing here in front of him, knowing what I thought I knew, made me feel something that I hadn't felt in a while. David was exactly my type, and from the expression on his face – which was adorable as fuck – I was his. "Looks like someone"s mistake made me a mess. Someone did a bad thing."

"I'm sorry." He almost panted. "Would you… uh… like me to throw that… that in the washer for you? Your shirt?" He stammered so fuckingly cute that I felt a throb down below.

"It's fine. I'll just throw it back on and…"

"No. You can't wear that… I… I'll wash it." He walked over and picked it up in his hands so gently that I smirked.

"It is very dirty." I stared at him, and the pit of my stomach dropped as I watched his face scrunch up. "If you want, I would appreciate it, David. That would be my good boy if you'd clean it for me." I dropped my voice and felt instantly guilty. What was I doing? If I kept this up, something was going to happen unless I was an idiot, and this was not what I thought. Maybe he was just a very nice guy who blushed a lot and stared at me more than normal. Maybe he did that to everyone?

"I'll take care of it for you. It was my… gross stuff that fell all over you. I'll… I'll wash it." He decided and glanced down at my torso. I made my pecs bounce once again. The flush that exploded over his face – Yeah, I was not wrong. He turned and ran into his hallway.

So? What was I going to do about it? I was here. David was here. He seemed like a great guy from our few encounters, and he seemed like he was way into it. I was, too. But this would… could change everything. Was I ready for this after what happened last year? I was still pretty fucked up from the last older guy I fell for. Not to mention, David lived in Point Pleasant. Worse – he lived a few doors down from my family. If I allowed myself to feel…

Hadn't I punished myself enough? How was I supposed to know about…

Thinking about this now wasn't going to get me anywhere. I did have a job to do. Why did it have to be fucking drainage? I pulled out my phone and pulled up YouTube. That was how anyone and everyone learned how to fix anything these days. How the older generation lived without this wealth of knowledge was beyond me.

"It's in the wash."

"Shh… Just a minute." I held up my finger as the person started speaking on the video.

"Are you really watching a how-to video?"

"You know it."

"I thought you said you were handy."

"I am. I'm very handy." I looked up and winked. "But being handy doesn't mean you know everything. I'm just making sure I'm fixing it and not leaving you with a mess someone else has to clean up. I like to clean up my own messes, thank you very much."

"Should I call someone else?"

"Shh… I totally got this, David. Now, if you don't mind, let Daddy watch this so he can fix the disposal that a very bad boy messed up. Trust me."

"Weirdly, I do. Ok." He held up his hand, and Liza yipped. He pulled her back to his chest.

"Why don't you go sit down and pet Liza while I fix this for you? I mean, unless you really want to watch." I flexed. He blushed. I felt powerful.

"I… I mean… I'll just go in here and…"

"You can totally see me from in there. You know, just in case you want to keep an eye on me." I flexed again. I was going into this deeply now, and I was surprised that I wasn't freaked out. David was a great guy. That was easy to see.

"I…"

"How about when I finish fixing this, you take me out for a drink? I'd like that."

Liza barked, and David shuddered as he stood there slack-jawed as he processed what I just said. "You would?"

"Yeah, I would. Why not? I'm an adult, and I think you are, too. Seems like fate threw us together this time, so… Let's go have a drink and… talk. Besides, you never called me."

"All right. I can… do that. If you really want."

"What do you want? I think I would like to go with you for a drink."

"Sure. I'd like that too."

"Good. Then it's settled. You go pet Liza and watch me fix this disposal, and then I'll get cleaned up, and we can go have a drink and get to know each other. Ok?"

"Yes, sir. That sounds great."

"Damn, I like when you call me sir."

"I… I'm not…" He melted as he processed.

"Sit, David. Watch."

His eyes never left me as I watched the video. I could feel his gaze on me as I worked under the sink. I finally got the disposal loose and was able to clear it from the debris that was blocking it. Putting it back together was easier than I had expected, and within thirty minutes, I stood up from the sink and crossed my arms.

David gulped, and I admit I liked the way he looked at me. It reminded me of another older man who had enjoyed every inch of the body I had worked hard for. I didn't like remembering him, but I did like the way David made me feel. I was a dirty, filthy mess, but I knew that if I walked in there right now and threw myself on top of him – he wouldn't say no. The way he couldn't stop looking at me told me everything I needed to know. He was smitten. He was lustful, and he was trying so hard to hide it. It was good that he hid it badly.

I had suffered in my own silence and loneliness enough.

It was time I allowed myself to feel something again.

Maybe David and I crossed paths for a reason. To hell with all the red flags.

"So, a drink."

"I thought you wanted to shower first?"

"Is my shirt clean?"

"You finished so fast… I think it's about to finish in the washer."

"How about this? I go home like I just got off a shift at Abercrombie and Fitch, and you throw my shirt in the dryer. I'll meet you back here in about thirty minutes." I almost asked to use his shower, but if I did that, I would be getting naked in his house, and I didn't trust myself to not jump headfirst into something I wasn't a hundred percent sure about. If I was going to affect both of our lives, I needed to be sure.

"Ok…"

"I'll be back in thirty David."

I grabbed my tool belt and held it up in my hand. My bicep bulged.

"I'll be ready." He looked like he was in total shock. It was endearing, as had been every encounter that we had. I grinned and walked out without looking back.

I felt lighter walking home. It felt good to have something to look forward to. Someone to… maybe look forward to.

Besides, I already loved Liza.