Clang (20 page)

“Cathy and Don? Great to meet you,” Jackson smiled, pumping their hands. “You live next door, huh? Sorry for my brothers' ugly mugs.”

Cathy laughed and accepted the hamburger he handed over. “Thank you. It's nice to see some more life in this neighborhood. We haven't been a tightly-knit neighborhood in so long.”

“Yeah?” Jackson frowned, stepping back from the grill for a moment once he gave Don a burger, too. “I don't know much about the neighborhood. I lived on the other side of downtown for a while, but not over here.”

“Oh, it used to be a little closer. Since the suburbs started growing, a lot of families have moved there. Downtown is full of students now, not so many young families.”

Jackson nodded. “But this is the best place to raise a family, right in walking distance of everything.”

“Exactly,” Don agreed. He was a heavyset, greying man with a small beard. He licked the ketchup off his fingers. “It was wonderful for our family. When our sons moved out, we decided to stay here because we knew the area, if not the people.”

“If only we'd had these barbecues at the start of the summer,” Cathy shook her head.

“Next summer,” Jackson promised firmly. “We're planning on redoing the yards until the snow falls, and then as soon as the ground thaws in the spring. It might look very different by next time you're over! But you can come over anytime if you need anything,” he added. “To any of my brothers'.”

“Thank you. You, too – I hate running out of things while baking,” Don laughed.

“So you're all brothers?” Cathy added. “You're the one with the forge?”

“Ah, you know about the forge,” Jackson grinned. “Hard to miss, I suppose. I am. I'm the oldest. My brother Cam there's a beekeeper, in semi-retirement until he has surgery in December. And that's Thomas, my little brother. He works at a bank.”

“Are you all seeing anyone?”

The way Cathy asked, Jackson was certain they already knew the answer. Nosy damn neighbors. He kept a lid on his first response, reminding himself that a hot temper wasn't the best way to make friends. “Yes. My boyfriend there is Chase, the one with the tattoos.” He had his sleeves rolled up and he was making another bowl of salad under Noah's directions. “And Noah, next to him, is Cam's boyfriend.”

“Thomas isn't, then?”

“Not yet.” Jackson laughed. “We've both started dating since moving in here, though, so there must be something in the air. Many young singles here, or mostly couples and families?” At the barbecue, it was an even mix of people. Some young professionals, a couple pairs of roommates, two families, and some older couples.

At least nobody had been too weirded out by them. Canada was nice sometimes, especially small towns. Jackson thought they got a bad rap sometimes, but sometimes they were the best places. Sometimes people didn't judge you, or they'd known you since you were a kid. His old math teacher turned out to be living quite close and had dropped by earlier.

All four of the others – Cam, Thomas, Noah, and Chase – kept glancing at him as he talked with Don and Cathy. He got the feeling
something
was up. Eventually, he excused himself under the pretext of asking them to run inside for more meat.

“What are those looks for?” he asked, leaning between Noah and Chase.

Noah glanced at Cam, who returned the glance.

“Okay, spill.”

“Uh,” Cam spoke up, clearing his throat. “A week or two back,
someone
called the cops for a noise disturbance. And complained about the wood smoke.”

Jackson's eyebrows shot up and he heated up. “But the regulations--” He tugged at his collar.

“I know,” Noah assured him. “That's what we told him – he agreed and left us alone. But we don't really want people asking the city to come investigate. It'd just be a pain in your ass...”

“What, you thought I'd bite their heads off if I knew?” Jackson rolled his eyes. Probably true, but still.

“Uh...” Cam swapped glances with Thomas, both trying not to laugh.

Jackson snorted. “Fair point. I'll play nice. More burgers, please.”

“On it,” Chase told him. He pecked his cheek and ducked away to head inside.

When Jackson returned to the grill, Don and Cathy were still standing nearby. Jackson forced himself to smile again.
The bastards, calling the cops on me. I clearly had contractors do the work specifically
so
it would be up to code. And I don't run the forge out of hours, and I even dampened my damn anvil...

“So, do you do railings?” Don asked.

Jackson resisted the urge to groan.
No more fucking railings.
“I've done a lot of them, yeah.”

“We need our back porch railings done...”

Jackson glanced back at Cam, who was nodding to him. Well, it was a small price to pay for peace on the street. He looked back at Cathy and Don and nodded. “I'm sure we can work something out at a 'friends and neighbors' rate. I'll have to come see the railings to write down the specs.”

“Anytime. How about next weekend? We can have you and your, er, boyfriend – Chase, was it? Have you two over for a barbecue before the weather turns. Our son will be visiting that week. I'm sure he'd like to meet someone his age who's... who shares certain things more in common with him.”

Jackson quirked his eyebrow.
If he's gay, just say it.
“You mean...?”

“He, er, came out to us a few years ago,” Cathy nodded.

Jackson smiled. “Oh. Cool. How old is he? I don't think I know him.” It was more pleasant than he expected to talk to these two, especially since finding out they knew someone else he had “more in common” with. It turned out their son was a little younger than him and had gone to the French school, not the one he had. That explained why he didn't know him.

He was out of burgers, though. Where the hell was Chase?

When Jackson turned to find him, he saw Chase chatting to a handsome man with dark stubble and piercing eyes. They were squared off, but Chase seemed to be getting on fine.

Jackson laughed under his breath. Chase had been skittish even as recently as the art exhibition, sticking to the walls and forcing Jackson to approach him to talk. He was blooming quickly now, socializing with everyone. He got along even better with Noah and his brothers now.

Chase looked up and caught his gaze, and Jackson pointed to the grill. Chase laughed and said something to the man, who cast a quick glance around the party. Chase came over to bring him his burgers, and Thomas approached the newcomer instead. “Sorry. I got distracted.”

“You're a social butterfly,” Jackson teased, sliding the burgers onto the grill one at a time. He took the plate from Chase's hands and pecked his lips. “You'll be proud of me. I'm doing railings for Cathy and Don.”

Chase couldn't clap his hand over his mouth in time to hide his snort. “More railings? I'm sorry.” He looked mostly amused, though.

“And I didn't even take any cheap shots about calling the cops for stupid petty things.”

“Good.” Chase patted his arm. “It's too nice a day to get into that.”

“How did you know about them doing that, anyway?”

Chase shrugged. “Uh, I was chatting with Cam and Thomas and Noah earlier.”

“You getting on fine?”

“Stop worrying about me,” Chase teased, straightening out Jackson's collar. “I'm getting along with your family just fine.”

Jackson blushed and swatted Chase away. His collar had been just fine. “I'm not
worrying
. I'm just checking in.”

“Mmhmm,” Chase winked. “I appreciate you 'checking in' on me.” He took the plate again to bring it inside.

Jackson smiled. When he looked back at the stranger Thomas had been talking to, he was gone. Two new people were approaching him, though. “Hello! I'm Jackson Riley.”

Life was good. No, life was fucking
great
.

***

“Ohhh, god,” Thomas groaned, expressing all of their feelings. He stooped to gather up the last few napkins and scoop them into the bag.

They'd only just shooed the last few neighbors back to their homes. It was dark – which, in August, meant it was late at night. The beer was gone and the barbecue had used a tank of propane. Don had brought over a portable stereo system to play music throughout the evening. Jackson had even resisted quipping about noise ordinances. Chase had had to elbow him hard when it had nearly slipped out once, though.

All in all, the neighborhood block party had been a stunning success. Everyone was talking about the next event. Something this big, with every house on the block, could only happen every few months. They'd promised to try to arrange some kind of potluck for Christmas, though.

“They only interrogated me
every other minute
about why you two have boyfriends and I don't,” Thomas rolled his eyes.

“So, why don't you have a boyfriend, Thomas?” Cam smirked. “Or a nice lady friend?”

“Yeah, Thomas. Why don't you?” Jackson chimed in.

“Lady friend,” Thomas groaned, tossing the bag of recyclables aside. “If I hear that phrase one more time...”

Noah and Chase were inside washing dishes. With just the brothers, Jackson felt a little freer to ask. “So, seriously...”

Thomas sighed and leaned on the table. “No, I'm not seeing anyone.”

“Well, if we're teasing you too much, just tell us to fuck off,” Cam shrugged. “Or if you're asexual, or aromantic, or both. Or quirkyalone. Or--”

“Or a celibate who wants to abandon us all and live in a monastery,” Jackson added. “Read books all day long.”

“No,” Thomas laughed. “I'm not any of those things. I just... don't have someone.”

Jackson winked. “Maybe you're next.” He closed the barbecue lid. “Love is in the air...”

Thomas was blushing and shaking his head, but he didn't say anything.

“Oh?” Cam pressed, noticing the same thing. “Is there someone you're interested in?”

Thomas waved a hand at them both. “You're nosy bastards.”

“You
know
we are,” Jackson agreed. “Who is it? Is it that guy I saw you talking to earlier? Or... Or someone at the bank? Someone you met here at the barbecue?”

Thomas sighed, looking vaguely irritated but still smiling. “It's someone I've been turning down for a while now. I don't want to say who it is yet. But I might not be turning down the next date.”

Jackson caught his breath, then punched Thomas's shoulder lightly. “You go,” he grinned. “See? I knew there was something going on.”

“But no interfering or spying.” Thomas waved his finger at them both, just like he was little again and lecturing both of his big brothers while they played school with him. They'd always thought he'd wind up a teacher, but a steady bank job had attracted him.

“No interference,” Cam smiled. “So, Sunday breakfast tomorrow?”

“Okay,” Jackson nodded. “Whose place?”

“Mine,” Cam offered. “Noah's got this killer pancake recipe he just found. It's actually really good.”

Thomas nodded and raised a hand to wave to them both. “See you tomorrow morning.”

As he left, Cam and Jackson swapped
told you so
grins. “See you,” Cam echoed his little brother and followed Thomas and walked beyond, through to his own yard.

Noah had already headed into Cam's house, leaving Chase in Jackson's. Chase was wiping down the counters and tidying up the kitchen. Jackson smiled, standing there for a few moments. Chase's lips moved as he sang something and moved in time to his own unheard beat.

No way. He'd just told his brothers that he was probably going to see someone, breaking a roughly ten-year streak of silence around his love life.

This was the beginning of the end of his stupid self-imposed secrecy, and Thomas wasn't sure how to feel.

He couldn't be
too
vocal yet, though. There was one huge problem. If they found out
who
he was probably going to let take him on a date, they were gonna be pissed off. And frankly, Thomas was pretty pissed off himself.

Still, he pulled out his phone the moment it rang, then waited a couple rings so as not to seem eager before picking up. “Hello?”

Thomas would know that number and the sexy rumbling voice anywhere. “Thomas? Hi.” The way the name rolled off his tongue made Thomas shudder.

“Still can't believe I gave you my number,” Thomas grumbled, playing it cool as he closed the blinds across his back door. “But go on, ask again.”

“Can I see you?”

Thomas paused for a few long moments, his eyes sliding closed. He leaned on the kitchen counter, drawing out the silence for a few long moments just to make him sweat.

“Okay. You can come over now.”

“I'll be there in ten minutes.”

Thomas hung up and pressed his phone to his lips, then shook his head. It was a stupid move, but maybe his brothers were right.

Maybe there
was
something in the air. Jackson was the happiest he'd seen him around Chase. Cam and Noah were practically engaged.

He had to take a step – whether forwards or backwards, he didn't yet know. Either way, he felt emboldened by coming at least a little bit clean. It was his turn, and there was no better time than now.