Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“That…” August started, letting the word drag out. “Jesus, that makes a lot of sense. You just came up with that on the spot? Here I’ve been losing my mind, and you jump right in and make everything make sense?”
Clint laughed, enjoying this, enjoying having August back in his life. “Guess I’m just good like that.”
“You’re cocky like that.”
“Would you expect anything different?”
“Nope.” August rocked slightly and nudged Clint with his shoulder the way Clint had done to him. “Thank you. I’m sure it’ll still be hard to deal with, but you put my situation in a new light, and I appreciate that. I still feel like a loser for unloading on you that way.”
“Nah, don’t,” Clint replied, wondering if maybe August had opened up to him so quickly because he knew he could, because he knew Clint would be there for him, the way Reese knew August would.
“We’re all wet.”
“That’s what happens when you sit in the middle of a creek.”
“I still can’t believe I did that. When I was younger? Yes. But not now.” He climbed down, then held his hand out for Clint, who took it. August helped him down. When he let go, Clint missed the contact instantly. “I never asked you what you do. I was too busy talking about myself.”
Clint shrugged. “I’m a welder. I take jobs here and there, less than I used to because my shop keeps me pretty busy. It’s on my property, and I make—here, let me show you.” He tugged his cell phone from his pocket. “Shit. I’m lucky this didn’t get wet. I forgot it was there.”
August patted his shorts. “I forgot mine in my car.” He walked over, and Clint pulled up his website, showing August some of his designs. He was proud of what he did, always had been, but it felt slightly insignificant in that moment compared to what August had done with his life. He was a vet, and he’d been married and had a son. He’d lived a whole lot more life than Clint had. “Damn, Clint. These are incredible. You’re extremely talented. Reese would love these. It’s your form of art.”
It was, but he hadn’t thought of how it might compare to what Reese did. “Thank you.”
“I’m serious. This is incredible.”
“Stop being obsessed with me.” He tried to play it off as if August’s compliments didn’t mean as much to him as they did.
“I’ll have to get you to make something for the house.”
“Of course. And I can show Reese around the shop if you think he’d be interested.” When August’s forehead wrinkled, concern in his eyes, Clint said, “It’s not something he has to do. I don’t know if that’s dumb. I’m sure he’s not interested.”
“No, no. It’s not that. He’s just…” August chuckled. “I think he was worried you and I would date. With all the upheaval in his life lately, the move and now Lewis moving a boyfriend in, he’s…well, if I’m being honest, he’s a bit of a brat. And I would hate for him to take that out on you. You know what? Never mind. Forget I said anything. We talked about a cookout and stuff already. Plus, I’m allowed to have friends.”
“I don’t want to cause any issues.” The last thing he wanted was to be another wedge between August and his son.
“You’re not.” August grinned at him, little lines bunching up beside it. Clint wanted to taste him, really fucking bad, which would be a mistake. He definitely needed to get himself laid. “Maybe it’s actually a good thing and will get him interested in something else.”
“Do you guys want to come over for dinner tonight? You can bring Butter. I’ll show Reese the shop, and if he’s interested and you’re comfortable with it, I can even show him how to weld a little.” The second he finished speaking, Clint felt foolish. He was pushing pretty quickly to spend time with August when the man had a son to worry about, but he just…hell, he missed his friend. He hadn’t realized how much until he saw August again. Maybe it didn’t make sense and maybe their connection didn’t either, but Clint couldn’t help what he felt.
“I’d love to, but can I get back to you? I know that doesn’t give you much notice, but I think I should feel him out first.”
“Yeah, of course. Or we can plan it for the weekend. I was just rambling, really.”
“Can we do that? That way I have time to talk to Reese. Plus, the two of us haven’t really had much time to spend together since we arrived, so I’d like to do something with him first.”
Clint could already tell that August was a good dad. He hated that his friend didn’t see it or trust that he was making the right decisions where Reese was concerned. Not that Clint knew a lot about teenagers. His brother had twin daughters, though they were younger than Reese, and he was around Scout, Sean, and Wyatt, but that was the extent of it. “That sounds good. We’ll be in touch.”