Defined By Deceit

Jack came up to him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Struck out again, huh?”

His friend wasn’t teasing him. He knew that he felt something for Llew. If he couldn’t be his lover, he at least wanted to be more than simply his employer.

“I guess so.” Shane huffed. “Come on let’s eat.”

They placed their order and sat down at their table to wait. “Smith Jr., are you the only person that hasn’t read any of the articles on Llew?”

“I was respecting his privacy,” Shane grumbled. “Unlike some people.”

“It’s public record. There were several news articles about—”

“Look.” He turned hard on his friend. “I don’t give a fuck what those articles said.”

“Well maybe you should. Then you wouldn’t have put your big foot in your mouth just now.”

Shane frowned waiting on Jack to elaborate.

“All that shit went down his senior year of high school. He was a huge deal at his school. He played football and had scholarships up the wazoo, but he also had an architecture scholarship to Virginia Tech, since he’d won the ASCA Student Design Competition in his district three years in a row. The house he designed is still on the—”

“Fuck me,” Shane hissed, bolting up out of his seat and through the door. He had insulted Llew. He had no clue what he’d been thinking. Damnit.

Shane ran the best he could in his large work boots. When he crossed over Jackson Street he yelled Llew’s name. He thought he might not stop, but he saw him turn and lean his large frame against the wall of the movie theater to wait for Shane to catch up.

Shane was huffing when he got to him. “Damn, you walk fast. I just wanted to see if I could walk with you.”

Llew just stared back at him.

“Jesus, Llewell. Please don’t look at me like that.”

Eyes darker than a night sky in Texas, Llew looked at him like he could devour him, and Shane had no doubt that he could. The hunger there was diluted by regret and disappointment.

“Llewell.”

“You think I’m stupid, Shane. You probably think I gotta get a damn book to know how to operate an excavator.”

“What?” Shane gripped the back of his neck. This was not going the way he wanted it to. “First of all, I don’t even know how to operate the goddamn excavator; I don’t prepare the ground… I build on it. Second, I don’t think you’re stupid, I just don’t know enough about you, because you won’t fuckin’ talk to me, Llewell. I swear, I don’t think you’re stupid.”

Shane watched him, waiting on Llew to tell him to go to hell, but all he got was that penetrating glare. Shane sighed. “Yeah, uh. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He’d only taken a few steps when Llew called out to him.

“I thought you were gonna walk with me.”

He’d take the slight quirk of Llew’s mouth. That was a great start. He nodded and said, “Sure. I’ll walk with you.”

He waited until they were through town before Shane decided he’d try to get to know Llew by maybe giving him a reason to talk to him. “I didn’t know about your architecture education. I didn’t want to read the articles or research you. I’d prefer to hear your story when you want me to.”

“So how do you know now?” Llew’s deep voice made Shane’s stomach flip.

“Jack told me just now when he said I’d put my foot in my mouth. He told me about your Collegiate School of Architecture awards. That’s… that’s impressive, Llew; especially for a high school student.” Shane watched Llew’s tanned cheeks turn a sexy pink shade as he turned his head in the other direction. Looks like someone blushes at compliments. “Maybe you can show me some of your designs sometime. I was never the best at that part. I’m a builder; I’ll leave the hard stuff to the architects.”

The neighborhood was quiet, as they got closer to Ms. Pat’s house. The narrow street was lined with large trees that sat in front of brick family homes. Many of the homes that his grandfather had built, many that had been remodeled by his father. Shane needed to hear Llew talk, had to think of something that didn’t require his typical head nod as a response.

“So do you like the work? Construction isn’t for everyone.”

“I like it.”

No. I need more than that. “I’m sure you do. Now that Jack knows how good you are, there’s no telling what he’ll have you doing.”

Llew continued to walk next to him with his hands deep in his pockets. Shane’s shoulder was at Llew’s bicep and it made his mouth water the way it strained under the thick wool jacket. Thank goodness the days were warming up fast with the approach of spring, because he desperately wanted to see Llew sweating in a tank top as he swung his hammer to build for him.