"No, you won't have to change your name to Douglas," Wyatt told him.
"DJ hates being called Doug. Hates it. Dad said we could be RJ and DJ, but DJ was calling me Ry from when I was a baby, so that's what everyone else called me too," Riley explained.
"Should I call you Ry?" Wyatt wondered. So far he had only heard DJ call him that, but maybe that was because their parents weren't there to call him Ry.
"You can if you want," Riley said with a smile.
Once the boys were asleep, Wyatt went to the room he was turning into his office. He had ordered a desk and a chair to go in there. For now he sat in an old armchair and propped up his laptop on a dresser.
Though he sat down, he didn't get to work right away. Instead he thought about how much he didn't know. It worried him that the boys might miss out on things.
As he thought about his shortcomings, he remembered that Sam would be coming to help him with at least one skill he lacked. Of course once he started considering Sam, his thoughts turned in a completely different direction.
Sam was such a quiet guy and he stirred up so much excitement in Wyatt at the mere thought of him. How was he going to keep his feelings in check when the real Sam stood right in front of him?
Chapter 6
The pale light of dawn was intruding through Sam's small window, letting him know that his fight to get some sleep was well and truly lost. It was his own fault. What the hell was he thinking pushing himself on a hot guy like Wyatt? Why did he offer to teach him how to cook?
It was impulsive and out of character for him and now he was paying for it. Sam was a nervous wreck. He couldn't get any sleep all night. At least it wasn't nightmares about Brian keeping him awake this time.
Lying sleepless in his narrow bed, which was really more of a cot, he thought about coming to this place, settling on Peach Tree as the place to run away to, his refuge. Sam found himself thinking that maybe here it was OK to trust a little, even to hope a little.
For the rest of the day, Sam was distracted at work and that made Mrs. Del Rio worry about him. Finally he had to confess what was making him so jittery. "I'm going over to the Hayes's to help Wyatt learn to cook. Sorry. I guess it's making it hard for me to concentrate."
"Oh, if that's the reason, it's for a good cause," she told him with a smile. "You have fun, honey."
After work Sam went shopping. Who knows what ingredients he might get stuck with if he relied on what Wyatt bought. Shopping didn't cause any kind of crisis. With the boys in mind, he kept his choices simple.
But soon he was driving to the Hayes house and nervous all over again. The sunset was lighting up the clouds with orange and pink, and the fields along the roadside were gold and green with wildflowers bursting out in colorful streaks.
It would have been a nice walk to Wyatt's house even with the groceries to carry, but Sam didn't want to be stuck walking back in the dark. Not that he would be staying very late. He was sure it would just be dinner then going back to his room above the hardware store.
The picture of it made all his doubts come back. What was he doing going over there? He lived in one little room above Beatty's Hardware and Auto Parts. Everything he owned fit into one duffel bag and one backpack, which used to be his book bag in high school.
Sam thought about his great-grandmother and how she bought it for him when he started high school. She took the price tag off and threw it in the trashcan outside the store along with the receipt. She told Sam not to tell her boyfriend how much it cost.
"He'll say it's too much, but it's not. You're a good boy," she told him. "And just to make sure he can't make us return it, we'll write your name inside of it with a black marker."
It still had his name written in his great-grandmother's hand -- Liam James. Sam was his middle name, Samuel really. He had told Mrs. Del Rio that he wanted to call himself Sam and make it harder for his ex boyfriend to find him.
"Fine by me, sweetheart. New name, new life," Mrs. Del Rio told him.
She was the one who gave him this new life, and now he was being greedy and grabbing for even more. A peaceful life is all he should be striving for, not going to cook with a gorgeous man with beautiful eyes and a teasing smile.
He didn't have any reason to drive himself crazy questioning this. It wasn't a date, and Wyatt and the boys hadn't exactly made him feel like it was a high pressure situation. Just a little cooking with friends.
But maybe it was too soon to consider Wyatt a friend though he did make Sam feel like they might be on their way to becoming friends. That might be nice as long as Sam didn't ruin things with a panic attack.
When he pulled up in front of the Hayes' house, Sam was going to give himself a minute to just breathe. But the front door burst open and kids, a dog, and a gorgeous guy spilled out. So much for just sitting for a minute.
Sam got out to happy greetings and Barney jumping up and barking.
"Hi, everyone," Sam said and made sure to keep the shopping bag out of Barney's reach.
"You should have let me do the shopping at least," Wyatt told him as he led the way inside.
"One day maybe," Sam mumbled. First Wyatt had to prove that he could be trusted to do the shopping.
