Page 16 of Nicks and Cuts

He’d lived in numerous rental properties growing up and had always been able to tell when his parents were doing well by the quality of the house and the neighborhood. When the house was halfway to falling down, his father had put in the work to make sure it stayed together. Shannon didn’t know if they got reduced rent for helping fix it up or if it was something his father had done off his own back. He knew his parents would never consider leaving LA, and that he’d broken some kind of unspoken family rule.

He would not return like a kicked dog the way they expected.

The longer he stood there, the more certain he was that he’d made the right decision.

Dante glanced at him. “Do you need anything explained, or are you familiar with everything?”

“I think I’ll be right.”

Dante pointed to the shelves. “Wipes and towels are over there.”

“You keep towels down here?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to bring down my bath towel. Just make sure you bring it upstairs and wash it with your laundry. The only thing not down here is water, so make sure you bring a bottle, though there is a tap just outside. And if the weather is nice, you can roll up the door.” He pointed at the roller door. “Just remember to put it down and lock it.”

“Will do.” Though he couldn’t imagine opening the door first thing in the morning… in the afternoon, maybe. It might be nice to work out while watching the trees.

Dante’s gaze caught his in the mirror. For a heartbeat, neither of them looked away. His pulse quickened, and his lips curved. It would be nicer to work out and watch Dante, but that was dangerous ground neither of them wanted to tread.

CHAPTER

NINE

It wasn’t that they avoided each other; it was just that they were busy. Dante told himself it was no different from any other lodger. Some of them he’d only seen once a week as they hadn’t wanted to cook or use the kitchen. The only sign that Shannon was living there was the soup mug in the dishwasher and the rotation of tubs in the fridge. Sometimes there’d be one with his name on it.

And he did the same, especially when Shannon was on nights. Dante would leave a container of food, so he had something for lunch or dinner or whatever meal break he took during the night. The next day it would be washed and sitting in the rack drying. He had no idea how Shannon moved about the house so quietly.

He felt kind of guilty running a class and banging away in the workshop while Shannon was trying to sleep. He half expected a text message begging him to shut up, but it never came. Shannon simply waved as he left for work at his usual time.

It was Monday when Dante saw him again. The garage door was open, letting the sun and breeze in. Not that it made any difference, as he was still a sweaty mess when Shannon walked in looking as fresh as a daisy, like he hadn’t been working nights and was switching back to days.

Shannon paused in the doorway, reluctant to come in. “Hey…”

“Hi. The only reason I knew you were still alive was the tubs in the kitchen.”

Shannon smiled. “I’m used to creeping about when I’m on nights.”

Dante finished his set and stood. “I hope the class wasn’t too noisy over the weekend.”

“I took your advice and got some earplugs. I also played some white noise, but I think I was so shattered, you could’ve been hammering next to my ear, and I wouldn’t have noticed.”

Dante wiped down the bench. “I’m almost done.”

“It’s okay, you can finish. I have time. Nights are over, so I’ve got a couple of days off before I flick back to days. I might warm up on the bike?”

“Go for it.” He tried not to watch as Shannon grabbed a towel. His shorts were only there for decoration; if he hadn’t been wearing the leggings underneath, they would’ve been indecent. He would not have complained about the view.

Dante pushed damp strands of hair off his face and moved on to his last exercise for the day. He always left chin-ups until the end.

In part because he hated them after being forced to do so many in the army, but also because by the end he was tired and he’d just keep going until he only had a few reps left in the tank.

He was aware of Shannon watching out the corner of his eye, as if he didn’t want to be caught. Just because they had slept together once didn’t mean it needed to happen again, and when they weren’t crossing paths, it was easy not to think about it. But when they were in the same room, something happened…it was like a charge in the air before a storm.

At least it wasn’t just him struggling to resist.

Dante was sure he felt the blood draining from his arms and filling his dick. He did not want to be walking out of here with a hard-on, as he wasn’t wearing fancy compression leggings with modesty shorts over the top. He was wearing baggy shorts, and they were not going to save him.

He dropped down from the bar and wiped his face with the towel. Get it together, Cutler.