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His phone buzzed against his thigh, and he pulled it out of his pocket before the vibration stopped.

Dom

Hey! Just got to the car. Should be home in about 25 minutes.

Gavin

Drive safe

Three dots appeared, then disappeared, then appeared again.

Dom

Might be a little longer. Lucky just threw up on me.

He laughed.

Gavin

Sounds like she’s happy to be home.

A picture arrived almost immediately. Lucia was buckled into her car seat, a smile making her impossibly round cheeks even more pronounced. Dominic posed next to her, his own smile wide and happy.

Dom

Even if she’s not, I definitely am.

Gavin reacted to the photo with a heart, then slipped the phone back into his pocket before he could stare at the picture any longer.

This had to stop. Not the texting but the…whatever this was. For the last few weeks, every morning had started with a text to Dom, whether he needed to or not. He’d made himself stop a couple of times, but Dom had only started texting him instead. Sometimes they were links to Pinterest boards of ideas he had for the house. Most of the time, the texts were pictures of Lucia being absolutely adorable. Every afternoon ended with progress photos of the house. Somewhere between discussions about flooring and paint color or stories about impossible clients, they’d stopped being homeowner and contractor.

Now they were…friends? Probably. Hopefully. Despite trying to keep a professional distance, Gavin had found it difficult not to be drawn in by the younger man. Now, if a day went by without hearing from Dom, it felt strangely incomplete, and that was dangerous. He’d made enough mistakes in his life to recognize familiar terrain. His marriage hadn’t collapsed because Ethan was a villain. Life had simply become too heavy. One catastrophe after another until all either of them could see were the things they’d lost.

Gavin had promised himself after the divorce that he wouldn’t build another future around someone else. Especially not someone whose career guaranteed travel, media attention, and a schedule that belonged to thousands of fans before it belonged to him.

Not that Gavin was interested. He wasn’t. It didn’t matter how nice Dominic’s eyes were. Nice eyes weren’t a reason to make bad decisions. Dom’s mother had already tried to play matchmaker that first afternoon, and Dom had shut it down so fast Gavin had almost gotten whiplash.

There had been an awkward text conversation later that night, where Dom had apologized for his mother before he made it clear where he stood.

Dom

I’m sorry if my mom gave you the wrong idea. Just so we’re on the same page…I’m not looking for anything.

Gavin’s response had come almost instantly.

Gavin

Me neither.

Clear. Simple. End of discussion. So why was Gavin suddenly checking the clock every five minutes? Why had he spent entirely too much time wondering if Dom would look different when he got back? Why had he caught himself smiling at pictures of a baby who wasn’t his? He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. He needed to get it together. He was thirty-one years old and divorced. He knew better than to mistake kindness for possibility.

“Get a grip,” he muttered to himself.

It was going to be fine. They were friends, the house was finished, and Dom wasn’t going to hate it. He had already seen photos and said he liked everything, but pictures didn’t fully capture the way the afternoon light could change a room or how the whole house felt settled now that it was finished. Dom had trusted him to turn an empty house into a home while he was a few hundred miles away. Seeing it through a phone screen wasn’t the same as standing in it.

Gavin ran his hands through his hair and headed to do one last walkthrough. Just to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

He’d barely reached the top of the stairs when tires crunched over the gravel outside. Gavin stopped, and for half a second, he simply listened. An engine shut off, followed by a car door shutting. He stood there for a moment longer before shaking his head at himself. No point making Dom ring the bell while he wandered around upstairs pretending there was something left to inspect. He headed back downstairs to unlock the front door and stepped onto the porch just as Dom rounded the back of the SUV and opened the rear passenger door.