“Slow afternoon, but I’ve got a few later in the day. Was planning to catch up on some sketches for next week, but I was also thinking of trying to get better at watercolors. I don’t really know.” Merrick rattled on and Holden rolled his eyes, staring at his cell phone like it was a bomb about to detonate.
“Smith said he was going to bring his best friend by the shop for a tattoo.”
“Let’s do it.” Merrick grinned and clapped his hands together. “What would he want?”
“No idea.” Riggs sent a message on his phone and returned it to his pocket. “Smith is with her, but I told them to come by whenever they were ready.”
“Perfect. I guess I don’t really have enough time to get into watercolors today then, but sketching will probably work.”
Holden’s phone vibrated with an incoming message and he sucked in a breath, his hand hovering over the device before he picked it up again. He shouldn’t have sent the message. It had been rushed and poorly thought out, and Bryce was going to hate the idea and probably break up with him for it.
That seemed dramatic as he played the scenario out in his head, but it was still possible. Maybe just not in this timeline. Bryce, for whatever reason, loved him, and he loved Bryce in return. Holden would have never picked a man like Bryce for himself, but maybe that was why he’d been single for so long. He’d been looking for the wrong people, or maybe he’d simply been waiting for Bryce.
His phone started to vibrate again, this time with an incoming call, not a text. He flipped the phone over to see Bryce’s name on the screen and he answered the call with his eyes closed. Holden stood and headed for the front of the shop, ducking under the counter before stepping through the door and onto the sidewalk.
“Hello.”
Holden leaned against the outside wall of the building, one leg bent and the other straight, his foot pressed against the plain wall of the shop. The stucco could use some color. It was a shame Riggs had left it unpainted for so long. Holden would have to talk to Riggs about a mural or something. It could be a fun side project for him and Merrick to do.
“You didn’t answer my text,” Bryce said.
“I’ve been scared to look at it,” he admitted.
“Why?”
“Old habits, I imagine.”
Bryce chuckled softly in his ear. “Do you want to read it while I’m on the phone or do you want me to tell you what I said?”
Holden closed his eyes and dropped his head against the wall. “You might as well tell me.”
It was a warm day, the sun already beating down on the top of his head, his legs warm beneath the black denim of his jeans. The nerves and the cold sweat didn’t help things either.
“I think your apartment might be too small for two people,” Bryce said, and Holden’s heart sank.
“You’re right, it was a stu?—”
“Holden, stop talking.”
He did, clicking his teeth together as he snapped his mouth closed. He could still picture Bryce on his couch, naked or nearly naked, sweat glistening on the center of his chest and the gorgeous pink flush he got when he exerted himself.
“It might be too small for two people,” Bryce repeated, “but maybe not for us.”
“What?”
“I don’t have a lot of things of my own.”
“Bryce.”
“I don’t think I’d take up too much room.”
“You can take all of it,” Holden said quickly, heart back in place and ready to run a damn marathon.
“I don’t want it all,” Bryce said. “Only enough.”
“It’s yours.”
Bryce paused. “Holden, we’ve only known each other a few weeks, are you sure you want me to move in with you?”