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“You will. Now, how about we get started on the leak?”
I pick up my forgotten wrench. “I’m ready.”
Jake grins.
“That’s a big wrench you got there, sweetheart.”
“Size matters,” I quip without thinking, and he laughs.
“I seem to recall you mentioning that to me a time or two.”
I can feel the heat rise in my face, but I refuse to look away. “That was a lifetime ago.”
“Yeah, but it was fun,” he says, and I should let it go, but I can’t.
“It was,” I agree. “Until it wasn’t.”
His jaw tenses, and for some weird reason, I almost feel guilty. Before I can do something stupid—like apologize like an idiot—he turns his attention under the sink.
“You see this right here?” he asks while he takes his fingers and twists a part of the pipe with his fingers.
I guess that explains what part I’m supposed to tighten.
“Yeah,” I respond, doing my best to will my brain to soak up this information. Maybe Wiz is such a jerk because plumbing is boring as hell.
“This is called a union nut.”
“A union nut?” I blink.
“Yeah. It’s basically made of three parts. There’s a nut—”
“Okay.”
“There’s also a female end and a male end.”
“Wait, what?”
Jake grins. “It’s like basic anatomy, honey. When the female and male ends join, the nut seals when the two ends are pressed tightly together.”
“You’re making this up,” I grumble, glad it’s mostly dark under the sink and wondering why Jake has lowered his voice. It sounds like he’s made the tone more raspy and graveled—like he’s playing with me and reminding me of thoughts better left in the past—and it hasn’t slipped past me that he tacked on the word honey a second ago. He used to always call me honey, and while I loved it back then, I can’t allow myself to even notice it now.
“Nope. Basically, unions area type of very compact flange connector.”
“And with that you’ve basically gone over my head,” I complain.
He grins. “All you really need to know is that it needs to be tight because, when you deal with female ends, tight is better.”
“You didnotjust say that.”
He laughs, causing those lines to crinkle around his eyes. I can see them despite the bad lighting. “I did.”
“Men are such pigs. I guarantee they’re the ones that named all this crap, too.”
“I’m not sure I can deny that. I really have no idea,” he replies, still laughing. “You tighten this up, and that should stop your leak. Can I do it? Or would you rather have the honor?”
“I’ll do it.”
He kind of scoots over, and it’s then I realize how close together we are. I don’t know why it didn’t hit me before, but it is now—as is the scent of his cologne. I do my best to shrug it off and bite down on my lip as I move even closer to him and anglemy body so I can do what I need to do and get out of here…to safety.
