I'm back! Sorry for the long absence guys. I went on vacation earlier in the month and have been catching up with work ever since, so no time to sit down and write. Thanks again to everyone who takes the time to review and read my stories, I can't say enough how flattering you all are. I try to say thanks to everyone who comments, but if I miss someone just know that I appreciate all the kind words. Also, thank you to all of you who follow me or my stories. Cheers to you all! Hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll try to get the next one up quicker! RTR!
"I'm bored. Can we go eat lunch now?"
"Can you please stop whining? You've been bitching since we got here." Will complained.
"Well you guys lied to me, what do you expect?"
"Lisa, we didn't lie to you." Sonny told her, "We said we were going shopping."
"This is not shopping," Lisa said condescendingly, "Where are the racks of clothes, the purses and jewelry, the complimentary drinks and stuff? All I see is work machines and floor pieces."
Abigail chuckled and corrected her. "Tools and tiles, sweetie."
"Whatever." Lisa pouted.
The four of them walked through the aisles of the home store. Will was leaning on the handle of a pushcart, guiding it along behind Sonny and Abigail. Lisa shuffled along behind him in heels way too tall for a home store, grumbling to herself and annoyed at being there altogether. As she walked behind him she noticed Will's eyes never left Sonny. Every move Sonny made, every step he took, Will was watching and smiling, just gazing at him.
They stopped in the flooring aisle and Sonny picked up a sample of each of the two tiles he and Will had narrowed their choice down to. He handed one to Abigail, "Okay, that one is the travertine," he motioned to the tile she was holding, "and this is the porcelain one." He held it up to show her. "What do you think? Which one do you like?"
Lisa kept watching Will as Sonny and Abigail talked. She smiled at herself knowingly as his expression never changed. His blue eyes were bright and clear, focused intently on Sonny, and a slight smile plastered on his lips.
"They look like the same tile to me." Abigail said, "What's the difference?"
"The travertine has a little more grey in it and is more polished. See?" Sonny tilted the tile toward the light.
"Oh, I see it now." Abigail said. "I don't know though, which one do you like?"
"I like the travertine but Will likes the porcelain one." Sonny told her.
"I like them both, Sonny." Will said, "I just said that the travertine is softer and has to be sealed like once a year or it will stain. The porcelain is more durable and since we're putting it in the Kitchen, it's a better choice."
"I don't know…" Sonny pondered the two tiles again, unable to make a decision.
Will smiled again at him. "Well, it's your house, your choice." He told him. "I'm going to go get the grout and mortar and stuff. I'll be back."
Sonny looked up and nodded at him, "Alright, I'll wait for you here." then turned his attention back to the tiles.
Will walked off, pushing the cart in front of him and looking back to Sonny as he left, gazing again. Lisa watched him curiously. "I'm going with Will." she said, then hurried off after him.
"Okay." Abigail responded then turned back to Sonny, still examining the tiles. "So, I haven't seen you in a while, Cuz. What's new?"
"Nothing really, been busy with school. Plus, Will and I have been working on the house pretty much in all of our free time the last few weeks." Sonny examined the tiles some more, not looking up and answering nonchalantly.
"Annnd?" She asked.
"Annnd, what?" Sonny mimicked her tone.
"Come on, Sonny." She said with exasperation "What's up with you and Will, how's that going?"
"How's what going? We're friends."
"That's it? Just friends?"
"Yes. We decided that we're better that way and… it's been really good."
"So, you don't have feelings for him anymore?"
Sonny ignored the question and let out an annoyed sigh. He laid the tiles on the floor and stood over them, looking at them from different angles. He looked up and smiled at the girl with a smock and nametag approaching them.
"Hi, I'm Christine. Do you guys need any help?" she asked them.
"We're good, thanks. Just looking." Sonny replied politely.
"Okay." She said cheerily. "Let me know if you change your mind." He smiled again at her as she walked away.
"Sonny?" Abigail waited for an answer to her previous question.
Sonny glared at her, his face imploring her to change the subject. "We're friends, Abi, that's it." He said emphatically, hoping he was convincing enough.
Abigail held her hands up in surrender. "Okay, I'll drop it."
Ryan stacked tubs of drywall spackle on the shelf, carefully lining them up with the labels facing out. He turned his head to see Christine standing next to him, smiling and swaying back and forth like she was keeping a secret. "What?" he asked curiously, returning her smile.
"There's a really cute guy in flooring looking at tiles, and I'm pretty sure he's gay." She told him, singing the last part of her sentence.
Ryan chuckled at her and shook his head. "And how do you know he's gay? You're gaydar kind of sucks."
"Well, he didn't look at my boobs. So…"
Ryan rolled his eyes, "Can't argue with that logic." he teased her.
"Trust me, he's gay. I'm wearing my push up bra, if he was straight he would have noticed these puppies." she adjusted her breasts, opening her shirt up to expose more cleavage.
"Classy" he teased her again. "What do you want me do exactly?"
"Just go ask him if he needs help, flirt with him a little." She said impatiently, "God Ryan, haven't you ever hit on anyone before? You are like the worst gay guy ever."
"Here, finish this." Ryan handed her the tub of spackle he was holding, knowing her well enough to know that she wouldn't stop bugging him until he at least talked to the guy. "I'm going to go help a customer because that's my job." He said sarcastically.
"Wait." She put the tub of spackle on the shelf and turned to him. She straightened the collar on his shirt and played with the front of his hair.
Ryan slapped her hands away from his face. "Would you stop!" He walked away mumbling under his breath "Pain in my ass." Ryan walked down to the flooring aisle and turned the corner, stopping in his tracks when he saw Sonny. He watched as Sonny walked around the tiles lying on the ground and smiled at the sight of Sonny's bicep flexing as he scratched the back of his head. "Wow, he is cute." He blew into his hand to check his breath, crossed his fingers behind his back and walked over to them, repeating silently to himself. "Please be gay, please be gay."
"Hey. Need some help?" He asked Sonny.
Will picked a bag of mortar off the shelf and set in down on the cart, noticing that Lisa was staring at him strangely. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Just looking." Lisa said.
He grinned at her and picked up another bag of mortar. "Well stop it, you're freaking me out."
Lisa watched Will loading the cart up with supplies, smiling and humming to himself. "You're in good mood, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess. Why?"
"No reason." She watched him again, studying his expression then figured it out. "So, you and Sonny seem to have gotten pretty close."
"Yeah, we've been spending a lot of time together, you know, working on the house." Will pushed the cart a little down the aisle, searching the shelf for the color grout Sonny wanted.
Lisa followed him along, still trying to read his expression.
"You're doing it again." He grumbled to her. "Stop staring at me."
"Sorry." She said, but still stared at him intently.
Will stopped and turned to face her, giving her his full attention. "Alright, what?" he asked in frustration.
"Huh?" she feigned innocence.
"You obviously have something to tell me or ask me, so just do it so you can stop eyeballing me."
"Okay, fine." Lisa conceded, her entire sentence came out in one breath. "You and Sonny slept together, but you haven't done it again, and now you've spent like every day and every night together for the past month."
Will shrugged at her with confusion "Was there a question in there?"
"YES! The question is why aren't you two dating?" She blurt out.
Will let out an aggravated sigh and went back to searching the shelf for the grout. "We're better as friends." He said dismissively.
"Really?" She replied, unconvinced of his explanation. "And you're okay with that? Just being friends."
Will disregarded her question, knowing full well he wanted more with Sonny. He'd regretted ever telling him they should just be friends, but his fears and insecurity kept him back. However he felt about Sonny though, he knew better than to share that with Lisa and her big mouth. Will grabbed a bag of grout off the shelf and put it on the cart with annoyed thud. He picked up another bag and dropped it with another thud, glaring at her crossly.
"Well?" she questioned.
"Lisa, how is it any of your business?" he snapped at her.
Lisa spoke matter of factly, "It's my business because you two are my friends and you should be together, you're perfect for each other."
Will ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Can you just stop, please?" he pleaded her, "Sonny and I are friends, and that's all we're going to be."
"You know I'm right, Will. I've seen the way you look at him. You get this stupid grin on your face every time he's around."
Will couldn't help himself when she said that, his thoughts went right to Sonny. Suddenly, a stupid happy grin spread across his lips.
"See!" Lisa shoved him playfully.
Will shook his head from thoughts of Sonny and back to Lisa. "Look, it doesn't matter, anyway. That window has closed. We're friends, and I'm good with that." He tried to convince her. "Why am I telling you this anyway?" He turned back to the searching the shelf for supplies.
"You can tell yourself whatever you need to, Will" Lisa told him, "but I know you want to be more than friends."
Will looked over the cart, making sure he had everything he needed. "Alright, I've got everything. Let's go." He pushed the cart along, heading back to the flooring aisle and Sonny.
"You need to tell him how you feel, Will."
"Lisa, I'm not going to say it again, drop it." He said harshly.
"All I'm saying is Sonny is a great guy, if you wait too long; it's going to be too late."
Will shook his head at her, "Thanks for the advice, but I'll take my…" they turned the corner to the flooring aisle, Will looked up to see Sonny talking and flirting with a cute store employee. "…chances."
Sonny grabbed some more of each of the tiles from the shelf and laid them on the floor in a pattern, taking up most of the space in the aisle.
"What are you doing?" Abigail asked, somewhat embarrassed, looking around to make sure no one was looking.
"I want to see what they look like all together." He said, arranging them like the pattern in Will's sketch.
"I don't think the store wants you to do that." Abigail complained.
"I'm not buying all this tile without seeing what it looks like on the ground." Sonny stood in the middle of the tile and stared down at them, scratching the back of his head.
"Hey. Need some help?"
Sonny jumped a little, startled by the employee. He looked up to see a cute face behind bright green eyes staring back at him, smiling. His tousled wavy brown hair shone in the fluorescent lights above and a dark five o'clock shadow halfway hid a small scar on his perfect chin. Sonny was suddenly taken aback by the stunning guy in front of him. "Um… what?" he managed to get out
"Need some help?" Ryan asked again, smiling and motioning to the tiles on the ground. "Or do you just go around redecorating random home stores?"
Sonny cheeks flushed with a tinge of embarrassment. "Sorry, I'll put them all back, I promise. I just wanted to see what they looked like on the ground, you know?"
"Sure, I get it." Ryan crossed his arms over his broad chest and stood next to Sonny, looking down at the tiles with him. "You don't want to buy all the tiles first and not know if it's going to work in the space when you get home."
Sonny nodded with surprise. "Exactly."
"What room are you redoing?"
"The Kitchen." Sonny told him.
Ryan rubbed his scruffy chin in thought, staring down at the tiles. "Alright, come with me." He said to Sonny then started walking off. When Sonny didn't follow, he stopped and turned back around, waving him over with his hand. "Come on." Sonny looked over to Abigail and shrugged with confusion. Abigail shrugged back, equally confused. Ryan turned around again to Sonny, "Seriously, come on."
Sonny followed the cute guy two aisles over to the Kitchen displays. Ryan stopped in front of a display of Kitchen islands, and stood on one end of one of them. Sonny stopped at the opposite end of the cabinet, across from Ryan. "What are we doing?" he asked him.
"Pick up that end." Ryan told him and bent down to pick up his side.
"Why?" Sonny asked, still confused.
"We're going to put it with the tile you laid out so you can see it with a cabinet, it will give you a better idea of the finished room."
Sonny thought about it for a second. "That's actually a really good idea."
"I know." Ryan replied with a smile and a playful cockiness to his tone. "You gonna pick it up, or should I get someone who can handle it?"
Sonny bit the inside of his cheek and grinned back at Ryan, finding himself surprisingly charmed by the guy's confidence. "No…" Sonny shot back at him with a cockiness of his own. "I got it." Sonny bent down and picked up his side of the cabinet, it was heavier than he imagined but there was no way he was going to put it back down. They walked the cabinet carefully back over to the flooring aisle and set it down on top of the tiles. Sonny let go of his side as the laid it on the grown and could feel his muscles twitch as he let go.
"You good?" Ryan asked.
"Piece of cake." Sonny said through heavy breaths, rubbing his upper arm.
Ryan smirked at him again and they turned their attention back to the tile and cabinet. "Well, what do you think? Does that help your decision?" Ryan asked him.
"I still don't know." Sonny said, walking around the cabinet. "Abi, what do you think?"
Abigail walked around the cabinet herself, examining the tiles again. "I still don't see a difference." She said.
"Can I make a suggestion?" Ryan interrupted.
"Please."
"It's for the Kitchen right?"
"Yeah." Sonny replied.
"I would go with the porcelain. It's more durable and less expensive." Ryan fixed his green eyes on Sonny as he talked. "The travertine looks great but it chips easier if you drop something and it can stain. Plus, with the porcelain, you don't have to seal it."
Sonny nodded absentmindedly as Ryan talked, fixed on the lights reflected in green eyes. "You know, that makes a lot of sense." Sonny agreed. "You convinced me, I'm going to do the porcelain." Sonny stuck his hand out to him. "Thanks…um?"
Ryan took his hand and shook it, "Ryan." He told him.
"I'm Sonny. Thanks Ryan."
"No problem, I'm glad to help." Ryan turned to Abigail and stuck his hand out to her. "And you are?"
She shook his hand. "Abigail."
"Girlfriend?"
Abigail and Sonny chuckled at him. "Cousin." They said at the same time.
"Oh." Ryan let out an internal sigh of relief. "So, Sonny, a kitchen remodel is a big job. Are you doing it by yourself or do you have any help? You know… a girlfriend… or a boyfriend maybe?" he asked somewhat bashfully.
Abigail snickered again under her breath, "Subtle."
"No, I don't have a boyfriend right now." Sonny told him with a toothy smile. "My best friend Will is helping me with the house. He's really good at this kind of stuff." Sonny swallowed nervously and scratched the back of his head again, trying not to look directly at Ryan. "Um, what about you? Do you have anyone that...helps you out… you know… with stuff?"
Ryan grinned at Sonny's nervousness, "Nope, single." Their eyes connected, exchanging an unspoken attraction.
"Who the fuck is that?" Will and Lisa stood at the other end of the aisle watching the exchange between Ryan and Sonny.
"I don't know, but he has an apron on, so I'm guessing he works here." Lisa answered.
"Is he seriously flirting with Sonny?" Will asked, incredulously.
"Why, are you jealous?" Lisa teased.
Will let out an annoyed breath. "No, I'm not jealous." he replied feebly, "It's just…Umm." He was at a loss for words, "It's just it's… um… It's.."
"It's what, Will?"
"It's…unprofessional!" He exclaimed. "That's what it is, it's unprofessional. I mean the guy is at work, he shouldn't be flirting with customers."
"Oh, yeah. You're totally right." Lisa crossed her arms and made a sarcastic angry face. "How dare a cute single guy flirt with another cute single guy? It's appalling. I mean doesn't he know that his best friend has a secret crush on him? I mean the nerve of some people."
Will gave her another cross look, "Shut up." He spat at her and quickly pushed the cart toward Sonny. He pushed and ran down the aisle too fast and built up a little too much momentum, having to pull the heavy cart to a quick stop before it crashed into the shelves. "Hey, what's up?" Will asked breathlessly, coming up behind Sonny. "Are we done here?"
Sonny turned away from Ryan's eyes as Will jumped up behind him and wrapped his arm around Sonny's shoulder. "What?" Sonny asked.
"Are we done?" Will repeated. "Did you decide on a tile?"
Sonny stepped slightly to the side, shrugging Will's arm off of his shoulder. "Um, yeah, I did. Ryan here said," Sonny paused and turned to Ryan. "Oh, sorry" he started, "Ryan this is my friend Will. He's the one I mentioned earlier; he's helping me with the house." Sonny turned to Will. "Will, this is Ryan."
Ryan offered his hand to Will, "Nice to meet you, Will."
"Hey." Will said coldly, ignoring the gesture and not shaking his hand. "So which one did you decide on?" he asked Sonny.
"The porcelain." Sonny told him, turning back to Ryan. "Ryan pointed out that it was more durable and was better for the kitchen."
"Yeah, I've told you that like ten times already, Son." Will reminded him.
Sonny was again paying attention to Ryan, not hearing Will. "Hmm? What's that?" he asked Will, still facing Ryan and smiling.
"Nothing." Will sighed.
"Sonny, why don't we go over to the flooring desk and I can put the order in for your tile." Ryan suggested.
"Sure." Sonny pulled out his wallet and handed Will his credit card. "Here, you guys go pay for that stuff and I'll meet you at the car. Cool?"
Will took the card from him. "Yeah, cool." He said dejectedly.
"You alright, bud?" Sonny asked him, sensing something was off.
"Fine…pal."
Sonny gave Will a curious look then turned and headed off with Ryan to order the tile. Will watched them walk away, listening to their conversation.
"All we need is your address and phone number and we can deliver the tile right to your house." Ryan said, "And if you want I can give you my number, too. That way if something goes wrong with the delivery you can call me personally. Or you can just call me if you want to hang out, if you'd like to, I mean." Ryan nudged him playfully on the shoulder.
"Yeah, I think I'd like that." Sonny said, nudging hem back.
Lisa walked up behind Will, watching Ryan and Sonny over Will's shoulder. "You need to tell him how you feel, Will. Before it's too late."
