John, who knelt and met her, placing the cooler and container on the sidewalk next to him.
“Hey, pretty girl. You been a good girl for your daddy?” He rubbed at that spot on her neck just above her left shoulder that she really liked and laughed at her antics.
“Of course. She’s the best doggy in the whole world.” Lukas gave her a little scratch on the head, then reached down and picked up the stuff John had set down. “What’s in the cooler?”
Before he could answer, Lukas was peeking inside, then shooting John a happy look.
“Please tell me that’s your famous Greek chicken and I get to eat it!”
Standing, he laughed. “It is and you do. If you don’t have other plans for dinner…”
“Nope!” Lukas darted back into his house, Ruby barking and following behind, obviously excited by his enthusiasm.
Shaking his head, John followed after them and closed the front door. He took a moment to just breathe in the soothing scent of Lukas’s laundry detergent and whatever candle he had lit somewhere. He’d never been in Lukas’s house for a nonwork reason, so he took his time actually checking out the place.
It wasn’t a very big house, but it was in decent shape, and Lukas had told his dad when he’d bought it that it was all he needed at the time. As John wandered into the cozy-looking living room, he wondered if Lukas had meant he’d need more space when he had a family someday. Did he want a family?
“Do you want me to start the grill now? How hungry are you?” Lukas asked from behind him, startling him a little.
Turning around, he shrugged. “Totally up to you. I grabbed a snack when I got off work a few hours ago, so I’m not starving or anything.”
Lukas scrunched up his face in thought. “I can’t remember if I had time to eat lunch today. We were kinda busy.”
He shook his head and started toward Lukas, briefly squeezing his arm before slipping past him. “Well then, we’ll eat now. The grill’s out back, right?”
There was a pause before he heard Lukas hurrying after him. “Oh, I can make dinner. Why don’t you go relax in the living room?”
Not bothering to respond, John shot him a look and kept going. There was a door in the kitchen that led to Lukas’s small back patio and fenced-in yard. He hadn’t been out there since right after Lukas moved in, as the basement egress was on the side of the house.
“Wait, John—”
He was opening the door when Lukas’s panicked voice stopped him. Turning, he narrowed his eyes at him. “Do you have a dead body back here or something?”
Lukas rolled his eyes and smiled but then wouldn’t meet John’s gaze, glancing at his bare feet. “No, it’s just… I haven’t had time to, uh, work on the landscaping back there lately.”
Seemed like a weird thing to get so upset about, but John just shrugged. “I promise not to judge you for your messy backyard.”
As he finally pushed the door open and stepped outside, he thought he heard Lukas say, “Messy’s an understatement.”
He may have spoken too soon about not judging.
The grass looked like it hadn’t been cut all summer, and there were overgrown trees and bushes everywhere.
He felt Lukas step out onto the tiny patio next to him but didn’t take his eyes off the disaster of a backyard. As he stared, Ruby followed them out and went off into the grass that was almost as tall as she was in some spots.
“How… Why…?” He was stumped. The inside of Lukas’s house was so well-kept, and the front had some flowerpots and beds—though they were a little weedy and had looked like they could use a drink. Still, he couldn’t wrap his head around why Lukas would let the back get so overgrown. John took such pride in his lawn and the appearance of his house, having worked his ass off for it, and he knew Lukas felt the same based on the well-loved inside.
“Oh my god, you are so judging!” Lukas cackled at him and moved over to the grill to get it going.
“Okay, yes, but—” He had to stop when Lukas only laughed harder as he pressed the ignition button to start his… gas grill. “Wait, you don’t have a charcoal grill?”
Lukas had to step back as he started wheezing from laughing so hard, half bent over and arm around his stomach. “You sound so scandalized,” he said, once he