“I agree. You want to make some online orders tonight?” He thought it would save them both some time. He liked the idea of a hot tub.
“I’m down. Let’s eat, then we can shower and settle in. Go put some pants on and check out the floor in the foyer.” Hudson sounded pretty excited.
“Pants. Right on. Open my beer, please?” He struggled into his jeans, leaving the fly open.
Hudson went to the kitchen to open his beer. “You okay, baby? You look exhausted.”
“Tired, but it’s a good tired. The barn’s looking decent. I’ve got work to do, but it’s simple, normal work.” And he felt like he’d put in a good day. “Look at this place! It’s glowing.”
The floors really did look better than he’d have guessed.
“Seriously. I thought the floors were going to need refinishing, but they look pretty damn good. I was pleasantly surprised. It made scrubbing them way more fun. Not that scrubbing is fun, really, but you know what I mean.” Hudson waved him over. “Come sit. You need to eat.”
Hudson uncovered chicken parts on a pan and a bowl of potatoes. “They’re still pretty warm, but I won’t be offended if you want to zap them for a second.”
“It looks great. You did a fine job. I mean it. I wouldn’t know how to start.” He didn’t care if it was cold. It was homemade.
“I can’t do fancy, but I can feed you.” Hudson chuckled softly. “I had all these alarms set on my phone so I wouldn’t fuck it up… I am not a natural.” Hudson fixed him a plate with a drumstick and thigh and a bunch of potatoes and set it in front of him. “Oh. Salad. In the fridge. Which dressing? I bought a garlic ranch, Caesar, Greek…”
“Ranch, please. I do love me some ranch dressing.” He didn’t wait, just dug right in. He knew from Mackey and Sid that it was important to show how good it tasted.
“You got it.” The salad landed on the table with the ranch dressing, and Hudson actually paused to watch him eat for a second. “Is it okay?”
“So good. Damn, man. I love it.” It was chicken and potatoes, and he was eating it all.
“Oh yeah? Cool. Thank you.” Hudson kissed his cheek, then went back to make himself a plate.
Score. He was so getting laid tonight if he could actually stay awake that long.
They sat and jabbered as they ate, talking about horses and kitchens and hot tubs, and Jack wasn’t sure what was wrong with him, exactly, but he was liking this.
“How are things coming in the barn? I have a contractor coming the day after tomorrow if you want him to take a look.”
“There’s nothing in there I can’t fix. A hinge here, a loose board there. It was mostly just gross.” And honestly, the mice nests were the worst of it.
“Okay, cowboy, if you say so. I’m having the kitchen demolished. Sid said we could borrow theirs or even stay there for a bit if we need to, but I think if we do it when the season starts back up, we can travel, and I can just fly back here in between to check on things.”
“You doing the bathroom too?” He wanted the fireplace checked and the chimney opened in their bedroom.
“God. The pink one, yes. For ours, I know the slate is dated, but I kind of love the shower anyway. I’d like a new toilet. What do you think about the floor and the counter?”
“In our bathroom? I like it. It’s a peaceful place, and it has history.” And he liked the age, to be honest.
“Okay, then we’ll leave it alone.” Hudson’s smile was sweet but tired. “What’s on your list?”
“For tonight?” At Hudson’s nod, he smiled back. “Sitting naked in bed with a bowl of ice cream and picking out hot tubs and grills.”
Work hard, play hard. That was his motto.
“Mmm. Okay. My laptop is charged and we have butter pecan and strawberry.”
“Mmm… Can I have some of each?” He liked them both. “I’ll help with dishes after we eat. You worked your ass off. I’ll be able to help in here tomorrow for the afternoon. I’m going to work the horses in the mornings.”
“I don’t need help, baby. You work in the morning and then…go fishing with Mackey or something.” Hudson patted his hand.
“Bah. You want to go fishing tomorrow?” They could take a walk down, drop a line.
“Yeah? You want to teach me?” Hudson started clearing plates.