"Come on. Let me have it." When Sam didn't speak up, Wyatt prompted him, "Is this about what I said about Mrs. Del Rio's grandson?"
Sam wouldn't confirm it but he looked even angrier now, so Wyatt knew he was on the right track. "I didn't mean it."
"Then why did you say it?" Sam said through gritted teeth. Wyatt could tell it really hurt him. It was a big deal to him, but Wyatt had just blurted it out on impulse.
"I got jealous when I saw you together. You looked chummy, but..."
"And what if we were chummy?" His eyes flashing, Sam snapped at him, "If I want to hang out with Rico, I will."
"Of course you will. Why wouldn't you?" Wyatt said, ready to take it all back.
"You said..."
Not wanting to be reminded of it, Wyatt hurried to say, "I didn't mean it. I might feel some pangs of jealousy, but..."
"When have I given you a reason to be jealous?" Sam asked, angry and hurt, his voice breaking.
Wyatt hated that he hurt him like this. "I wasn't accusing you of anything. I just got worried that I could lose you. You're both cute. You're the same age. I bet you would hit it off. I just got insane with jealousy. I never meant to hurt you. I know you didn't do anything wrong. This is all me. I'm sorry."
"So are you the jealous type?" Sam asked, and Wyatt could tell that it wasn't a casual question. His brow was furrowed and his voice was rough.
"Not usually," Wyatt said. "Rico is just a little too cute for my liking and he gets to spend time with you at the cafe. But I know I'm being unreasonable wanting to keep you all to myself. I never meant for you to take it seriously."
"I did. It reminded me of how Brian used to get. I couldn't be friends with anyone or he would accuse me of betraying him and beat me. Nothing would convince him I wasn't guilty. But I think he just used that to prove I deserved to get hit," Sam said and his whole demeanor was pure pain.
Wyatt felt wretched. He went over to Sam and offered him his hand. After looking into his eyes for what seemed like forever, Sam took it. As he resolved not to act like a jealous idiot ever again, Wyatt told him, "I'm so sorry. I would never want to remind you of him. I..."
"You're nothing like him. And anyway, I was jealous too when I saw how you smiled at Rico when Mrs. Del Rio was introducing you. I could tell you thought he was cute," Sam said and now he glowered at Wyatt accusingly.
"Oh, did I say he was cute? I meant he's nothing special. I didn't even notice him. The only man I see is you," Wyatt told him with an apologetic smile.
Sam rolled his eyes. "It's not like you're not allowed to smile at anyone but me. That would be insane."
"It's an insane feeling," Wyatt said. Right then he was experiencing the insanity of being happy that Sam was jealous too and that he might forgive him.
"Do you think you can give me another chance?" Wyatt asked with a lump in his throat.
Sam smiled sweetly at him, melting his heart, and said, "Yes."
Wyatt kissed his hand about a dozen times before Sam pulled it away. "Stop that. We need to do some work."
Chapter 21
"I'm just so happy. And I promise to do better. Too bad you have to go back to work after this," Wyatt said as they picked up one of the pieces of plywood and set it up on the worktable.
"They need me for the lunch rush. And I only have this time off because Mrs. Del Rio is so civic-minded," Sam said.
"So she'll give you more time off so we can work together?"
"She said she would," Sam said. "Rico is going to help out in my place." As he said his name, Sam eyed him dangerously.
"I was worried you might get assigned to work with him, but I was hoping Lara wouldn't do that to me," Wyatt confessed.
"He can't be assigned to volunteer at the same time or he can't cover for me at the café," Sam pointed out reasonably, but there was a warning in his eyes.
"I'm just happy that we can do this together," Wyatt told him.
Looking down at what they would be working on, he saw that the plywood had been painted with quite a few layers of paint. The current layer was painted with peach blossoms and leaves, but the paint was chipping. Wyatt and Sam got some scrapers and sanding blocks and got to work.
