hanging out with Austin and finding more excuses to hang out with Austin, often calling him whenever I went to lunch and casually inviting him back to my room for the night whenever I knew that he was done with his shift. Being around him was starting to feel second nature to me, so much so that not spending my free time with him caused a weird gap in my day, one where I was thoroughly aware of just how not close to Austin I was at that same moment.
“Yep. This is it.” Austin nodded as he spoke. “I got the map from Eddie. He drew it out himself, from memory.”
“From memory?”
“Yeah, apparently he and Sean spent some time in the cabin when they got caught in a rainstorm and mudslide situation,” Austin explained.
“Got it,” I replied, making my way up to Austin, soon walking right by his side. “I hope that means that it’s at least structurally sound, then. It’s one thing to renovate a place and mostly stick to the exterior. But if we have to fix the interior, too—”
“We?”
“The royal we,” I clarified. “I know fixing up a place is a huge task, and I wouldn’t expect you to—”
“I can help,” Austin cut me off with a grin. “If you want me to.”
“Really? You would do that?”
“What makes you think I wouldn’t?”
“It’s just going to take a lot of time,” I went on. “I know you’re busy with the Bed & Breakfast. Just seems like a lot to add to your plate.”
“Okay, first of all, you know I’m not that busy with the Bed & Breakfast.” Austin chuckled. “Besides, there’s no way in hell you’re going to get the cabin fixed up in time for tourist season without me. Unless you hire a bunch of people to help out, which is going to cost you a shit ton of money because there’s no such thing as a cheap handyman in Park City.”
“There’s no such thing as a cheap handyman, anywhere, not if they’re good at what they do,” I replied. “And… thank you for the offer, Austin. It’s going to make things go a lot faster.”
“Anytime.”
“Make no mistake, though, if you’re volunteering to help with the cabin, that means that you’re officially on my team.”
“On your team?”
“Yep.” I grinned. “Which means, I’ll be picking up the tab if we’re having a working dinner or lunch. And I’ll be sending you a self-evaluation form, at the end of the quarter.”
“Right. A self-evaluation form.” Austin hummed. “And how am I supposed to grade myself? Am I basing it on how much I help with the cabin? Or how often I let you hook up with me?”
“Let me?” I couldn’t help but chuckle at his response. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were doing me such a huge favor. I was pretty sure you were enjoying yourself, too.”
“Hey, I’m just trying to make sure I get good scores on my evaluation,” Austin joked. “If sleeping with the boss is going to help me make a lasting impression with the company, I’m all for it.”
“God. I hope you don’t approach your real work the same way.”
“Uh, how do you think I made detective so fast?” Austin let out a burst of laughter. “Fuck. Could you imagine? I wish being promoted was as easy as sleeping with the hottest guy in the office.”
“You’d consider me the hottest guy in this imaginary office we work in together?”
“I’d consider you one of the hottest guys, period.” Austin offered me a small smile.
I happily returned his expression. “Hey, when we’re done checking out the cabin, do you want to grab BBQ for dinner—”
“We’re here,” Austin interrupted, pointing just further up the trail.
I turned my head in the direction he was pointing, my line of sight soon locating the cabin just up the trail.
“Oh shit.” The phrase tumbled out of my mouth as I eyed the cabin up and down. It looked like someone had once tried to decorate its wooden panels with delicate light fixtures, although the decorations now looked like they’d been caught in several storms. I also noticed a welcome mat right in front of the door, completely caked in mud and grass.
“Maybe it looks better on the inside?” Austin suggested, taking a few steps toward its structure.
“Yeah. Maybe.” I inwardly groaned as the potential cost of renovating the cabin’s exterior started to add up in my head.
“Okay. This has Parker written all over it.” Austin chuckled as he looked around the room,