"Nest egg?" she said. Thanking him with a hug, Sammy took the egg and ran over to show it to Mitch. "Look, Daddy."
"It's nice. Be careful with it, OK?"
"I will," she promised then ran off to show her treasure to the kittens.
Mitch eyed Enrico. "What if it's valuable and she dents it or looses it?"
"Sammy? No way." He waved his hand dismissively then picked up a garbage bag. "I just have to take out this trash then I'll be back," Enrico said and went off.
By the time he came into the kitchen, Mitch already had the peppers cut up. He threw them in the pan as Enrico came over to look over his shoulder. His closeness was unnerving, and Mitch found himself wanting to lean back, make contact. He shook himself out of it and told Enrico, "Want to get the eggs for me?"
"Do I get to crack them too? I used to love doing that as a kid. That and licking the beaters were two of my favorite things." Enrico then hesitated at the fridge door and added, "Maybe I shouldn't talk about licking."
Mitch groaned, but Enrico was right. "You can crack them into that bowl," he said and sidestepped the whole licking issue.
Once the eggs were whisked, Mitch poured them into the pan and arranged the sautéed peppers to look like smiley faces.
"So that's why she calls them smiley peppers," Enrico realized. He was leaning over the stove right next to Mitch, their shoulders touching.
"Peas, carrots and peppers are the three vegetables Sammy is willing to eat, so I make them a lot," Mitch said and gulped at having Enrico so close by his side.
Enrico must have noticed his reaction because he asked, "I'm not bothering you, am I?"
"No. You're helping me make dinner," Mitch said as matter of factly as he could.
Mitch didn't want to admit how rattled he was by his nearness, by how Enrico made him feel, but he didn't want to deny himself his company either. Mitch wanted him there, but he didn't dare get any closer to him than this. If he did, there would be no going back.
Chapter 13
Ever since that day in the basement, Rico had been trying to wrap his mind around what happened. One minute it didn't seem real, more like a fever dream. The next moment the memory of it was so real and hot, like it was happening right now. That's when an intense arousal washed over him and he was instantly, achingly hard.
Oh, yeah, Mitch did a number on him. His head, his heart and his body were a roiling mess, but every time he saw Mitch, he acted like nothing was going on.
Maybe he didn't feel anything. Maybe gay guys were going down on him all the time. Actually that didn't seem farfetched at all.
Of course Mitch had insisted on going down on him first. That wasn't very straight of him. But his silence left Rico to wonder if Mitch was deep in denial, or if he just needed more time to come to terms with this.
That Saturday Rico arrived at the house to find Mitch in the kitchen frowning over his clipboard while lunch dishes were drying in the dish rack. Sammy was off somewhere with the kittens.
Mitch hadn't made definite plans for their work schedule that day. He told Rico his dilemma. "I wanted to start on repairing the leak around that window in the third bedroom upstairs. And if that goes well, I want to start on fixing the wall and the floor. But I'm worried there might be mold hiding underneath all that. I haven't seen any sign of it, but until I'm sure, I don't want Sammy here. I'd like your help with the work, and I have masks for both of us," he assured Rico. "But now I'm thinking of having you take Sammy somewhere while I pull everything up."
"So you want me in two places at once. How about if you send Sammy over to Lara's or to Wyatt and Sam's place," Rico suggested.
Mitch shook his head. "I can't impose like that."
"It's not imposing. You can have their kids over for a playdate too. You want me to check who's free to babysit?" Rico offered since he knew them better.
"I guess but don't push," Mitch said reluctantly.
"Those words mean nothing to me," Rico said and he started texting. He texted and texted then he lifted his head from his phone. "This is getting involved."
Hearing that, Mitch was ready to drop the whole thing. "Don't worry if they can't..."
"But they can. That's the problem," Rico said then looked back at his phone as two more texts came in. "OK. We have a plan. Everyone is now going on a fishing picnic by the river. They'll be heading to Mr. Jasper's cottage. He's this nice old guy who likes to fish. It's Gloria, Lara, Lara's sister, who arrived yesterday for a visit and Lara already wants to kill her. Wyatt and the boys are going. Sam is joining them after his shift, and we're invited to come over after we're done here."
Mitch blinked as he tried to grasp it all. "That does sound involved."
"Sounds like fun. Sammy will have a good time. So you want to send her over?" Rico asked.
