“Hi, Zack. Where are the guys?”

“Chad is down already, and Stan is on his way, I suppose. Where is Kyle?”

“No idea. But he's usually late.”

“Right.”

Something was bothering him. He didn't say it outright, but I could see it in the way he looked at me.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“So it's your turn now?”

He looked confused.

“Nevermind. What is going on?”

“I saw you Wednesday.”

“Okay... Does this story have a happy ending?”

He said it like a poorly-written character in a fairy tale.

“Seriously, Ross. He is getting married in like three months.”

“And?”

“You had him sitting in your lap, for god's sake.”

“And?”

He shook his head in frustration and closed his locker.

“Just make sure you know what you're doing.”

“Right. Thank you for the heartfelt advice.”

My mood was gone by now, and I just ripped my clothes off and put them in the locker when Kyle came in.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” we both said in a grim tone. Zack looked at him with sad disappointment and just left.

“What’s up with him?”

“Nothing.”

“Did you ask him why they ditched us Wednesday?”

“Don't see the point, but I have an idea.”

“And?”

“They didn't want to disturb us.”

He looked confused.

“They saw us?”

I expected him to either not get it or feel threatened. Yet he understood between the lines perfectly, and he seemed chilled.

“Only Zack.”

“Right.”

“You okay?”

“Bro, we hadn't done a thing. The worst he could see was me sitting on you as I fell.”

“That's ok?” I smiled.

“Don't grin like that. It's not, but it's nothing I feel the need to stress about. Karl would never even consider coming here, and the chance they would meet and know it's them is so slim I can't really be bothered.”

“Damn, big guy, you just opened a whole new door for me.”

“Hold your horses, bro. I said I was not bothered by Wednesday. I didn't say you get a free pass for sexual harassment,” he smirked at me.

I was about to answer when Stan opened the door. So I just left that there between us, smirking. He knew I was not done. He just made sure of that.

We had the usual warm-up and chatted with guys, but then Kyle asked me if I would spot him.

Zack graciously said he could do it so I could climb as well and calmly pointed out that I could not do much other than spot him on that wall. Neither of us had much to say about that, and I tried to make my peace with watching them leave. The enormous frustration was eating me alive. I wanted to see him make that transition. I wanted to be the one he would be bouncing around, proud of himself. Fuck! There was no logical reason to go to that corner now, and I hated that! If I went now anyway, it would look desperate, and I would be in a way. Fuck! Fucking Zack! He knew perfectly what he was doing!

“You're right, Zack, but I kind of like the way Ross is thinking about it. Ross, would it be okay if we would be changing spots? I need to make longer breaks anyway; my arms were killing me yesterday. I can spot you on some v8. Zack, you can join us if you want; it could be fun.”

I just beamed!

“I don’t need to be the third wheel. Just be careful, guys.”

“Always.” We smiled at them and left.

I could kiss him now, just take him in my arms and kiss him! I was so happy. I get to see him make it. That alone was worth it for me. I was so grateful I didn’t even think about making some remark about him liking my way of spotting. I took him around the neck and shoulders and playfully pulled him to my side.

“Thanks, bro!”

He smirked.

He didn’t send it that day, but we had a lot of fun. We sat under the problem for some time and watched it, talking and working out the route. He then tried it a couple of times, and then we went to find me a suitable challenge. Close by was one easy-looking v9, and even if it was not easy for me, I was already invested in sending it one day! Kyle was spotting me in the regular boring and safe way, but I had a blast even without sexual innuendos.

“You come after to my place?”

“Sure, I brought some old clothes that can be destroyed, so I am ready.”

I looked at him playfully. He realized how that could be taken and just laughed at me.

“You and your sick mind, Ross.”

“You thought it also,” I winked at him.

“Maybe,” he looked at me with a grin.

What a fucking tease!

. . .

When we came to my place, we cooked again and ate while discussing the plans for the basement. I showed him my drawings, and he had a great laugh looking at them. Well, my drawing skills are not the best, but I can manage with it. I know, thanks to that, where everything should be.

“What is this supposed to be?” he was pointing with a shaking finger at one thing as he was laughing. I didn’t find him offensive, I liked how amused he was, but sure, it stung just a bit.

“That’s me on the push-up bar.” I had to laugh as well. It looked weird.

“You are beautiful,” he wiped a tear from his eye as he laughed.

“Thank you. You are not so bad yourself.”

He grinned at me.

“Did you measure these?”

“Yeah, here.” I showed him another piece of paper.

“Right, why don’t you make one coherent sketch? It would make better perspective.”

“Couldn’t be bothered, I suppose?” I shrugged my shoulder.

“Hand me that thing, please,” he pointed at the pencil on the counter behind me.

“What you going to do?”

“I will make you a better sketch. One I won't burst laughing at every time I see it, and we will be actually able to do something, bro,” he said, grinning.

“You can draw?”

“Yeah, if you want, you can stand me model for your push-up bar,” he chuckled.

“Damn! That’s good!”

“Man, you are easy to please. It’s just the basic lining.”

“Maybe you are just so impressive.”

“How charming. Let me work for a few minutes, Ross.”

I watched him in awe as he worked his way over the paper. It looked amazing. I could hang it somewhere… Maybe I am easy to please, but the difference between my doodle and this sketch was enormous.

He then started talking as he looked closer at the measurements and was about to add details. He pointed out some discrepancies, and I told him more about my vision. We talked about it for a while, tweaked it here and there, and then we went down and measured some areas again. He looked like he knew what he was doing, which looked hot.

The rest of the afternoon, I hadn’t made any move on him as I was so impressed with how he worked. It was fascinating.

“Can I borrow this over the weekend?”

“All of this?” I suppose he could see I didn't want to part with those papers. And I may have pressed them against my chest, protecting them when he said that.

“Yeah, if you need, you can use your sketch,” he grinned.

That piece of paper was now obsolete scrap in my mind after seeing his.

“Why do you need it?”

“I want to work on that.”

“Why? It’s amazing,” For some reason, I wanted to hold on to that beautiful piece of paper like some weird treasure. I have no idea why. It just seemed right.

“Ok, you know what? Fine, here, let me take a picture of it.”

“Here. Thanks.”

“So, you are going?”

“Yeah. Is that okay?”

“Sure, sure, thank you.” I waived with that few sheets of paper in front of him in gratitude.

“No problem, it was fun. We can actually do something Monday. After gym?”

“Yeah.” I stood there, just watching him, a bit restless.

“What? You need a goodbye kiss?” he said with a smirk reminding me of when I did that to him. I chuckled.

At first, I wanted to say, Why? Are you offering? But then I got a better idea. I just leaned in and kissed him lightly on his closed lips. I stayed then like that, an inch before his nose, looking into his eyes with a smile.

“Thank you, goodbye.” I leaned back, stepping away, watching with amusement him standing there shocked. He blinked again; this time, it took him a couple of seconds to shake his head and laugh it off.

“Don’t do that, Ross.”

“You asked for it.”

“No, I was mocking you for acting like a wife awaiting a goodbye kiss as her man goes to work.”

“Then that’s what you get for mocking me,” I said proudly, putting my hand in my pocket.

“You are playing with fire, Ross.”

“And you like that, bro.”

“Careful, you may get burned.”

We were now staring at each other; the tension between us was palpable.

“Okay, bounce, or I will heat it up here, man.”

He smirked for the last time, took his things, and went to the car to wait for me. I followed and, without a word, drove him to the gym as I did Wednesday. He didn’t want me to drive him to his house, and I was more than okay with that.

“Seriously, I appreciate that. You have a good eye.”

“For what exactly?”

“For whatever we did there. I never thought about it so planned out; I just did it as I went.”

“It will be easier when we know what we will do.”

“I can see that now.”

“I am glad to help. I love the potential of that place. And I am looking forward to cutting and drilling.”

“Well, with that, I can help.”

“Good. Bye now, bro. No goodbye kiss this time, though.”

“Shame.”

With another chuckle, he left.

“Monday?”

“Monday.”

. . .

Over the weekend, I haven’t done that much. Mostly I prepared things I thought we could get to Monday with Kyle. I loved that sketch of his and the ideas he put in place. I could now imagine this much more clearly. Maybe I should have hired an architect. No, then what would we be doing with Kyle? This is perfect.

Monday morning went pretty much the same as Friday, Kyle managed it through the next section, and his dyno was now nearly flawless. I progressed a bit, but it may be because we kept going the same routes so many times that we knew it by heart now. Maybe we should switch it up from time to time, but we were both so invested in our little projects that it seemed perfect to us for now.

We cooked and ate when we got to mine, and Kyle pulled out a tablet.

“Here. I don’t have your email so that I couldn’t send it to you sooner.”

“You could have used that number I gave you,” I winked at him and pulled the tablet closer.

I looked at it, and it was a 3D model of my basement with all equipment I had, those I wanted, and a boulder wall. It was perfect. I looked at him, stunned.

“I didn’t know the exact type of those. I looked at average measurements based on what we talked about.”

“What is this?” I pointed.

“Ventilation.”

“When had you measured that?”

“I asked you if you counted on that in your budget?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think about it that much.”

“It’s kind of an important thing. You have here only these windows.”

I looked at him like he was some magician.

“And how do you know this?” I pointed to one.

“It’s a standard model, I looked up the best ratio price and quality, and I have three options for you. Each should fit here.”

“What is your occupation, Kyle?”

“You didn’t know?”

“I am getting some idea now.”

He chuckled. “Really? Well, guess,” he looked meaningfully at the 3D model.

“Architect?”

“Why do you think I was so excited seeing your basement?”

“Cos there’s lots of space and equipment for the workout?”

“Mostly, there is rubble, a pile of logs, and a big open space now, but yeah, I see the potential.”

“Are you really an architect?”

“Currently unemployed, but yes.”

I smiled so widely; I couldn’t help it! Damn! My hot architect!

“But you said you never did anything like this, and I need to be patient with you. Now I feel like I should be the one listening to you.”

“Well, you should, in some aspects, but I never built anything, even held most of the stuff you have in your workshop. I think most of the building I did was putting together pieces of furniture from a shop.”

“Well, then, this could be a fun project.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“So, when we finish, it will look like this?”

“It can, but rarely all goes according to plan, Ross,” he reached for his glass with a smile.

“Tell me about that, I've known you for about two months now, and I still haven’t fucked you.”

He nearly spat out the water he had just drunk and started laughing and coughing. He was amusing.

“You okay?”

“Asshole.”

“If you are not dying, come. We should do something today.” I grinned at him and stood up so I won't kiss him.

We got down, and it went well. He pointed out areas that should be dealt with first. I showed him how to actually do what he said needed to be done. We were a great team. I enjoyed doing this alone, but it was nothing compared to the fun the two of us had doing this together.

There were times when we were teasing one another for asking stupid questions and other times when it felt more natural to explain the problem simply. It went so good we forgot even to have lunch, and just when Kyle’s phone started buzzing, we realized it was past five.

“Missus?”

“Yeah,” he looked at me with a soft smile and went up to take the call.

“Everything okay?”

“Sure, he will be late.”

“Good.”

“I should go.”

“Sure.”

“I need to take a shower.”

“Right, me too.”

“Good. Can you take it after I leave?”

“Can’t I take it with you? I have a big shower.”

“Okay, never mind, I will shower at home.”

“Okay, okay, you can shower by yourself.”

“Thank you.”

We got to the bathroom, and I stood there watching him.

“Get out.” he started laughing.

“Why? I already saw you naked.”

“Good for you. Then think about that on the other side of that door.”

“Okay, here.” I rolled my eyes in disappointment and handed him a towel before stepping out.

The truth is, I really did think about him naked. I thought about it a lot these days. Hell, I thought about it when I was fucking someone… What a tease!

I roamed in my bedroom and picked up new clothes for me to wear when I heard the shower stop and his “Damn.”

“Everything okay in there?”

“Yeah, I left my clean clothes in the hall.”

“That gym bag?”

“Yeah.”

“I will bring it to you, shy boy.”

“Thanks.”

I should have knocked as I brought him that bag and opened the door. Damn, I should have. He stood there bent, just drying his toes with a piece of that towel, and I would take him right there if I could.

“Ross! Knock, damn it.”

He could see it in my eyes. I would hunt him! It took everything in me not to grab him now. I would pin him against that sink behind him hard.

We stood there like that. He was naked, I was dirty and sweaty in clothes that needed to be washed days ago by their state, and we just stood there. I wanted him badly, he knew it well, and the situation also aroused him. He came to the door, took his gym bag from my hand, and put it in front of his semi-hard dick.

“Thank you.”

I just growled and stormed out of there in frustration. I heard the door close, and I ran to the basement shower to get under some cold water.

I washed and managed to calm down. Stepping out with a towel around my waist as I left my clothes upstairs for change. We are not smart today, are we?

He looked at me like that and checked me out with a smile.

“No goodbye kiss.”

I smirked. “I am going to get dressed.”