“I am.” He leaned back a little. “I was telling Mackey that we put an offer on the house.”
“It was more than an offer, baby.”
“There’s nothing better than good neighbors.” Mackey raised his beer and took a sip. “Congrats.”
“Thanks. I’m looking forward to getting to know you and Sid better. We have a lot of work to do on the house, and I can’t wait to dig in.”
Jack smiled at Hudson. They had a ton to decide, to discuss. A fucking ton.
He’d just bought a ranch with a man.
“Starting with satellite. I need Wi-Fi to work. And we might want a bed.”
“I have a truck.” Jack looked up at him.
“Funny, cowboy.”
“Hey, boys.” Sid poked his head out the back door. “Dinner is ready. You want to come in? Pasta gets cold out here.”
“You got it.” Mackey hopped right up and grabbed the tray to bring it back inside.
“Indoor dinner tonight.” Hudson waited as he stood, then took his hand.
“Sounds good.”
“You know you’re welcome here, right, Hud?” Mackey said. “While you’re working on the house and stuff. Even if we’re off working, you’re welcome with us.”
Hudson stopped and looked at Mackey. “Yeah? That would be helpful. I’ll be at the events sometimes, but in between, I could be here getting things done.”
“Sure. We’ll get you a door code of your own. No problem.”
Jack caught Sid’s gaze, and Sid winked at him, nodded.
“Thanks. That would be… that’s great. Thank you.” Hudson took a seat at the table.
“How long until you close?”
“Three weeks. Her family needs the property out of their names, you know?” Jack was coming with a bigger portion of the house price, and Hudson was covering the renovations.
“It’s livable, right? I mean apart from the kitchen?” Sid dished up spaghetti with meat sauce and meatballs and set a big loaf of garlic bread on the table.
Hudson laughed. “The kitchen works. It’s just fugly.”
“The one upstairs bathroom is worse, but I almost want to keep it like a museum.” It was so fun to tease Hudson.
Hudson slapped his shoulder. “I will lock you in there with all that pink and see how long it takes you to lose your mind.”
“Oh, Jack’s got a little glitter in him…” Sid drawled, and Jack pinned him with his best mock-mean glare.
“Jack is surprising that way.” Hudson offered him a bite of meatball on the end of his fork. “No pink potty, baby.”
He snapped the meatball up, intending to snark back, but the food was so good, he lost track of his thought.
“Mhm. It’s going to be a food coma night. This is so good, Sid.”
“Thank you. I’ve been practicing. I’ve always wanted to learn how to make an authentic meatball.”
Mackey rolled his eyes. “I keep telling him I’ve got all the balls he needs, but he’s not listening.”