Hardwood - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,5

bed at night, you can have a full and happy life without a partner. And, secondly, maybe you need to take your foot off the gas pedal and take some time to reassess. You could be so desperate to find the perfect man that you’re settling for all the wrong ones.”

“You could be right,” I agree, shoving the rest of my donut into my mouth.

The first warning bell rings, and we both stand up.

“Thanks for the advice. I think you’re right, and it’s time I give things some real thought.”

“Glad to be of service.”

“Grab a drink tonight?” I ask.

“Duh.” She rolls her eyes at the stupid question, and we both head out to get to our classrooms before the kids descend.

Everett

On some level, I always expected that if I could get up the courage to admit the truth to myself, everything else would fall into place, and whatever comes next would be clear. Funny, apparently life doesn’t exactly work that way.

“You have everything?” I check with Livi as I pull up in front of her school.

“Yes,” she answers.

“Good. I’ll see you in a week. I love you. Be good for your mom.”

“Love you, Daddy.” She unbuckles and leans through the gap between the front seats to give me a kiss. My heart aches as she gets out of the car. Don’t get me wrong, there are upsides to having every other week off parenting duty, but it doesn’t stop me from missing her every second.

I watch until she makes it inside the school before I pull out and head to work.

There are already three cars and all four of our work trucks parked in the gravel driveway when I arrive at the Four Bears Construction office building. When I was thirty-four years old, it had never crossed my mind to be a business owner, but after a decade of hard work, and a hell of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Cole, Ollie, Stone, and I have built something worth being proud of.

“Tell me again how you broke your kitchen table?” Ollie’s voice travels down the hallway as I step into the building.

“The screws in the legs must’ve come loose somehow, I barely bumped it before it completely collapsed. I’m just glad Nards wasn’t under there when it went down,” Stone answers.

“Somehow, right,” Ollie teases. I round the corner to find them all gathered around the coffee pot in the hallway, as is our morning routine.

“Somehow,” Stone agrees with a wicked smirk.

“I’m guessing it was the combined weight of you and Dare fucking on it,” Cole offers helpfully.

“It was a blowjob, not fucking,” Stone argues.

West, Stone’s new apprentice, who also happens to be Dare’s nephew, wrinkles his nose, and shakes his head.

“Probably more information than anyone wanted,” I say, because I can’t imagine West wants to hear it, even though I’m sure he won’t complain out loud since he is the low man on the ladder around here.

I tug on the bill of my baseball hat, my hardhat under my arm, as I saunter over to the coffee maker and grab my favorite mug to fill.

“Sorry, Ev. Too much gay for you first thing in the morning, right?” he teases, and I tense, accidentally splashing coffee onto the small table instead of into my mug.

Now’s the perfect time to test out my newfound admission to myself. These are my best friends, and it just so happens every one of them is gay. I imagine the stunned, amused looks they all might wear if I set my coffee cup down right now and said I like dick. I’m almost positive Stone would reply with something along the lines of “join the club”, and Ollie would probably lament that this means another person is going to meet the man of their dreams before he does. They won’t care. I should just say it.

But something holds me back. After everything I put Val through during our marriage, letting her shoulder the guilt when I basically drove her into the arms of another man, she deserves to be the first to know. Once I get up the courage to tell her, it’ll be a breeze to tell the guys.

I finish pouring my coffee and take a sip, not saying a word as I head into my office and the four of them resume giving each other a hard time.

I sit down at my desk, setting my coffee mug down and logging into my schedule so I can see what I have going on