Page 85 of Fish Out of Water

Robbie nodded, sniffling. “They want it finished by the holidays,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Jesus, that’s quick. Is that realistic?”

“If they get the right workers in, probably. They’re still waiting for approval from the town council, but considering my dad is one of the members, that shouldn’t take long. I’ll run a sale here to clear out as much inventory as I can, and then I’ll start packing up and moving everything out.”

Robbie turned, letting Jake hug him fully. He leaned against Jake, resting his chin on Jake’s shoulder. It was warm and hard and so painfully familiar. Jake ran his fingers through Robbie’s wet hair. It smelled like coconuts and was as soft as strands of silk.

The rain outside was still coming down hard, so he led Robbie over to one of the chairs that didn’t have Jake’s wet pants draped over it.

“I’ll drive you home as soon as it’s cleared up a bit,” he said.

“You really don’t have to. I’m used to walking.”

“Come on, Robbie, it’s the least I can do. Besides, I barely got a decent tour yesterday. You owe me dinner, I told you. What good is knowing how to cook when you don’t flex your skills on guys to get them into bed?”

“I didn’t have to with you,” Robbie said. “You’re just too easy. Maybe if you hadn’t begged me to fuck you the moment you got into town…”

“I managed to stay away from you were a couple of weeks,” Jake insisted. He sat down on the arm of the chair, letting Robbie place his hand on the small of his back. “If it were up to me, we would’ve hooked up and never seen each other again; no dinner necessary.”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember. You can spare me all your whingeing about the lack of guys around here. Although, if I recall correctly, you had some guys willing to hook up with you in Oxygen.”

“I did,” Jake said reluctantly, “but those didn’t work out.”

“Uh-huh.”

“They didn’t.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Jake looked down at his hoodie, the name on it seared permanently into his brain. Soon this place would be erased from the town, left to nothing but a brief, forgettable mark in the history of Eventide. He sighed. It was never Robbie’s Book Nook. It was always Eaton’s, and not the Eaton that Robbie was. He should have realized that as acutely as Robbie had always been aware of it. Maybe then he wouldn’t have been so surprised by people he barely knew.

“Do you have any more of these hoodies?” he asked.

“Plenty, and I’m going to have to get rid of them all soon. Why?”

“I wanna get one for my sister. She’s supposed to be coming here soon for a dinner with my aunt, and she would love something like this.”

“Oh, sure. I’ll go get one. What size does she wear?”

“Small, I’m pretty sure, but I’ll come with you. I’ve never been in the back before.”

Robbie got up, and Jake followed him. “It’s not exactly exciting back there. It’s just a storeroom.”

“Still, this might be my last chance to see the wild Robbie in one of his natural habitats.”

Robbie laughed in spite of himself. “I’m feeling better now, so you can stop teasing me.”

“Never.”

In the storeroom, boxes upon boxes stood stacked on top of each other. Jake peered into the open ones and saw books, tote bags, and more of the hoodies that he and Robbie were wearing now. Robbie held one up and double-checked the size tag before handing it over. “There you go,” he said. “It’s on me, obviously.”

Jake smiled. “Thanks. She’ll like it more than anyone else here—she loves cats and… books. Reading.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah.”

Jake glanced down at his shoeless feet. He was dreading putting on his wet sneakers again. They would never have enough time to dry out before he left the bookstore. Then, before he could look up again, Robbie had him pinned against the wall, cardboard boxes and stale air surrounding them.