I walked into the restaurant and looked around for my friends. I saw Walt waving at me and I headed over to their table and took a seat. My friends Walt, Chip and Byrne were already seated at the table waiting on me to arrive.
Walt is my best friend. We met the first day of high school. At that time, we were both closeted gay boys and we somehow gravitated towards each other. Walt has a mop of blond hair, which he dyes lighter than his natural color. He's always been a little outrageous in his style of dress. He's obsessed with 'Project Runway' and he's still bitter because he thinks that Carson from 'Queer Eye' stole his schtick.
Chip is very preppy. Blond hair and blue eyes. He looks and dresses like the all-American boy next door. Walt and Chip had a brief fling years ago and the three of us became good friends. Even after their relationship ended badly, we somehow managed to stay friends. Chip won't hesitate to point out Walt's diva behavior and it helps to keep Walt from being too crazy.
Byrne is your typical gym rat. He's got spiky brown hair and hazel eyes. Usually a day or two beard growth is not uncommon. He's got a great body. He hooks up with guys at the gym all of the time. Like the good friends we are, we pretend like we don't know that he's a huge slut. Byrne is Chip's best friend since they were kids and that's how he was brought into of our circle of friends.
"Sorry, I'm late, guys," I said.
"No problemo," Byrne said.
I raised my hand to the waiter and he came over and I ordered a cup of hot tea.
"I like your tie, Cliff," Walt told me with a flourish of his finger. "It really brings out the blue in your eyes."
My eyes are a grayish blue color. As for the rest of me, I'm 5'11" with a lean build, though my stomach is a little soft these days. I have short black hair, cut in a boring professional style. I wear glasses, which give me a little bit of a nerdy edge to my professional look. I'm 31 years old and I'm hopelessly single and hopelessly romantic. I have in the back of my head an ideal man, a Prince Charming who will sweep me off my feet and carry me to his castle on the back of his horse.
I looked down at my blue silk tie and ran my hand down it. "Thanks," I grinned.
The waiter brought the calamari appetizer for all of us to share and then took our dinner orders.
"Clifford. How's the house coming along?" Chip asked me as he spooned some of the marinara sauce onto his plate and pick up several calamari bites with his fork and set them on his plate. He used his fork to dip one of the calamari pieces into the sauce and then pop it into his mouth.
I sighed. "It's not. Between work and trying to finish up my master's, I can't seem to get anything done."
"I told you," Walt said. "You should never have bought a fixer-upper. What were you thinking? It's not like you can't afford to buy a decent house."
"This house has everything I wanted and it's in a great location in a fantastic neighborhood. It's just taking a bit longer than I expected."
"I don't know what possessed you to think you could do it yourself," Chip said.
"You watch too much of that 'do it yourself' crap on TV," Byrne added.
"They make it look so easy," I said.
I grabbed a piece of calamari with my fingers and dipped it in the sauce and popped it into my mouth. Chip frowned at me and I couldn't help but smile.
"Have you seen some of these construction workers?" Walt asked. "If those meat-heads can do it, you should be able to."
"It obviously takes skill," I said with a frown. "And maybe they don't have master's degrees, but that doesn't mean--"
"Yeah, whatever," Byrne interrupted. "Who cares? Besides, there's something to say about a guy who's dumb as a rock but good with his hands, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah, we know what you mean, slut," Walt joked.
I rolled my eyes. "That's so not cool, Byrne. But I do need help. I'm desperate about the master bathroom. Does anyone know a good contractor?"
"I hired this guy a few months back," Byrne said. "He did really a good job. Pretty sure he's gay, too."
"Oh yeah?" Chip perked up. "Did you do him?"
Byrne cringed and shuddered. "Hell no! Dude. He's disgusting."
"I'm not looking for a date," I said. "I want someone to fix my bathroom."
"I'll email you his info."
***
I called the contractor, Mr. Kent Barnes, on Friday morning and scheduled him to come out to the house Saturday afternoon.
I was sitting at my desk in my front office when I heard a truck rumbling in the driveway. I looked out the window and saw a huge silver pickup truck pulling in and parking in front of the garage.
I got up and walked out the front door and down the sidewalk towards the driveway. I watched him step out of the Dodge Ram 2500. He was really tall and beefy, but moved with the grace of a smaller man. I'd guess him to be about 6'5" and maybe 250 pounds. Brown hair with a closely cropped beard covering a square manly jaw. Juicy red lips. He looked a little older than me, maybe mid-thirties. He dropped a cigarette butt on the pavement and stepped on it with his giant work boot as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. He looked up and his blue eyes locked onto mine.
I gasped softly. Disgusting? No. He was freaking hot. A ruggedly handsome bear. He was wearing a blue cotton shirt buttoned down over a wife beater tank top. Tight blue jeans with a huge package and big brown work boots completed the outfit.
I was so caught up in checking him out, I guess I wasn't looking where I was going, because the next thing I knew, I tripped over my feet and fell forward onto my hands and knees. He rushed over to me and helped me to my feet. I felt his rough hands on my arm and the physical contact made my dick stiffen in my jeans, despite the fact that I was practically laying on the ground.
"You okay, buddy?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said as I blushed beet red.
Oh my god. Great first impression. I prayed that someone would kill me and put me out of my misery.
"Thanks," I mumbled as I brushed my knees off.
My right knee throbbed slightly as I straightened up. I glanced up at him and he was smirking at me, clearly trying not to laugh.
Just great.
He held out his hand to me. "I'm Kent Barnes."
God, even his voice was sexy. It was deep and rumbling and sent a shiver down my spine. I took his offered hand and shook it. "I'm Cliff Lowe. Nice to meet you. So... Um... So let me show you the bathroom."