Ariel Tachna's Greatest Hits--Contemporary by Ariel Tachna

Author:Ariel Tachna [Tachna, Ariel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: contemporary gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-63476-619-7
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2015-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

THE NEXT day, they went to Home Depot, Sophie’s quilt in hand, and found a salesperson willing to help them match the color. He also armed them with rollers and brushes and pans and drop cloths, everything they would need, he said, to paint the nursery for their baby.

Once again, the reference caught Srikkanth off guard, but he didn’t want to embarrass Jaime by saying anything about it in front of the employee, and bringing it up later felt far too awkward, even between friends. He decided letting it go was easier. After all, it didn’t matter if Tricia or the Home Depot employee thought they were together. He’d had it happen multiple times when he was out places with Jill, even before she got pregnant. Once she was showing, it happened even more frequently. They’d gotten a good laugh out of it more than once. Except Srikkanth didn’t want to get a laugh out of it this time, he realized as they paid and started home. He wanted it to be real. That wasn’t going to happen, though, so he pushed the thought aside and focused on navigating the busy traffic. The last thing he wanted was to get in an accident because he was distracted by thoughts of Jaime and have Sophie or Jaime get hurt.

Sophie gurgled and kicked her little feet in her bouncer as Jaime and Srikkanth painted her room. They laughed as they worked, music playing as they teased each other and tickled the baby. Srikkanth could almost believe they were a family at moments like this. He knew Jaime wasn’t thinking in those terms. His friend had always avoided entanglements, preferring not to make promises he didn’t know if he could keep. Srikkanth respected that forthright attitude, so he knew not to expect more from Jaime than he already had. A best friend and help with the baby was already a pretty good deal. He’d be greedy to ask for more.

They had worked for an hour, getting the room almost done, when Sophie got fussy. “I’ll get her if you want,” Jaime offered. “I’m done with the walls. All that’s left is the edging.”

“Thanks,” Srikkanth said, trying to keep his hand steady as he painted along the baseboards. “Leave the roller. I’ll wash it out when I’m done here. I don’t think the room will need a second coat.”

“I think you’re right,” Jaime agreed, wiping his hands on a damp rag so he wouldn’t get paint on Sophie’s clothes. Glancing down, he realized he had paint blobs on the front of his sweatshirt. He stripped it off and tossed it aside before picking Sophie up, cooing to her as he left the room.

“Shit,” Srikkanth muttered under his breath as he watched Jaime and Sophie disappear down the stairs. “Get yourself under control, Bhattacharya,” he scolded. “Jaime is not interested in you.”

That didn’t make Srikkanth less interested in Jaime, his body’s reaction to the sight of that golden back undeniable as he shifted so the seam of his jeans wouldn’t cut quite so deeply.

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