Instead he drank half of the beer in one gulp, silently cursing Cindy for putting him in this position. “Thanks. Grilling’s thirsty work.”
“Yeah, it is.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and slid her hands in her pockets. “So. You’re from Red Rock?”
“Born and raised. My father and Gavin were friends.” He picked up the tongs and prodded at the steaks, mostly to give himself something to concentrate on other than the smooth line of her neck. “It’s a nice place.”
“Everyone has been great.” Abby stared at him for a moment longer and looked away. “I’d better get back inside. I can’t make Cindy do everything.” She ducked her head and walked away.
Dylan watched her until she slid the door home behind her, then pinched the bridge of his nose. After a silent moment, he gulped his beer.
Keith dragged in a breath and released it on a hoarse sigh. “She doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing, does she?”
“Not in the slightest.” He flushed a little. “She never had to deal with it with just me around.”
“I know. I know, Dylan. And it’s not something you could have taught her.” Keith stabbed one of the steaks and flipped it over. “Hell, maybe it’s not something anyone can teach her. But until she picks a Guide, men are going to be circling.”
Dylan hesitated before rising. “Is there anyone… I mean—” He exhaled. “Is there anyone in town, anyone she might pick, that I need to be worried about?”
“No.” Keith turned to meet Dylan’s gaze. “I’m not saying everyone in town’s perfect, but Gavin and Sam are pretty damn particular about who gets that honor. And they’re the only ones who can perform the ceremony.”
“Okay.” The younger man’s shoulders sagged. “I didn’t mean anything. I worry, that’s all. I mean, I can’t stop her. She’ll walk right over me, and she won’t even realize she’s doing it.”
“No, it’s okay.” He smiled and reached out to pat Dylan’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re worried. I’m glad you care. She’s lucky to have that.”
“Yeah.” He sat again, this time on the edge of the picnic table. “I just wish I could do it myself. At least I’m familiar. But I don’t even know half of the stuff she needs to learn, not really.”
Keith turned back to the steak, not wanting Dylan to see the pity in his eyes. “It’s okay,” he said, his voice a little gruff. “You won’t be the first person who came here from a screwed-up pack. Or even from Matthews’ pack. You can learn too.”
“I know.” Dylan laughed a little. “It’s just weird. I never thought about what I’d do if I made it. I was so convinced I’d die getting Abby out of there that I didn’t make any plans for myself.”
And if Sam’s contact hadn’t called, he would have died. Abby would have ended up back in Alan Matthews’ less-than-tender hands. Keith forced himself to take a breath and let it out as he stared at the steaks. “Well, you’re both alive and you’re both safe. So…time to start thinking. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. Work, I guess. It’s all I’m used to.”
“What kind of work?”
“I’m a carpenter,” he revealed, stretching his legs out in front of him. “I do mostly restorative work, but Gavin said a lot of people in town are building, so…”
And if he knew Gavin, he’d suggested Keith needed some help. Gavin’s hints that he needed to get his ass back into his parents’ house had grown less and less subtle over the past few weeks.
One look at Dylan’s face proved his assumption correct. Keith grinned. “So, I guess you heard I might need a carpenter.”
Dylan flashed him a sheepish smile. “Gavin mentioned it at lunch.”
Thus ensuring that Keith would be getting his ass out of the motel and spending a lot of time with Dylan—and possibly, by extension, Abby. Keith shook his head and reached for his beer. “He’s meddling, but he’s right. I’ve inherited two houses. Both are in pretty sorry shape.”
“Oh yeah?” Dylan tilted his beer back, finishing it in several long gulps. “Who’s he meddling with? You or me?”
“All of us. Get used to it, my young friend. Sam and Gavin meddle. We’re just lucky they mean well.”
“Mmm.” Dylan thumped the empty bottle lightly against the weathered table. “Abby said you helped her out last night.”
“Yep.”
He stared at Keith for a moment, his expression inscrutable, and straightened. “I’m going back inside to see if they need any help. I’ll bring out another platter for the steaks.”
“Dylan.” He waited until the younger man met his gaze and nodded once. “If she wants me to help her, I will. I can. But she deserves a choice, okay?”
“I know you will,” he answered quietly. “I have eyes. But you were right. I don’t think Abby knows—understands—” He looked away. “I’m worried she might be confused about what it means. What it doesn’t mean. It’s just such a foreign thing.”
He looked beaten down, defeated, and Keith hated it. He hated it enough to admit to Dylan what he’d struggled to deny even to himself. “If you really had eyes, you wouldn’t be worrying about her reading too much into it.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He passed the bottle back and forth between his hands. “Now that we’ve both done our threatening, protective friend routines…” He grinned. “Yours is better, by the way. Very scary.”
Keith turned his attention back to the steaks. “I have some money. I could pay you to help me fix up the house. But if you’re interested…” C’mon, make this sound casual. Make it sound like you’re just being friendly. “Like I said, I’ve got two houses. The one my parents left me, and a smaller one that belonged to my uncle. I don’t really need two houses, and you and Abby need some place to stay…”
“You want us to stay there while I renovate them both?”
“Well, you can’t stay there yet. It needs some serious help.” He nudged at the steak and carefully didn’t look at Dylan. “But if you decide to stay in town… Well, there’s not exactly a booming real estate market here. I can’t sell it. But you could have it. In exchange for your help.”
“I see.” He spoke cautiously. “I don’t think Abby wants to stay. Not past her Initiation, anyway. But I don’t really have plans to—to go anywhere.”
Keith jabbed at the steak so hard the tongs went through the meat, and he swore and tried to work them free. So much for being subtle. “That’s fine. The house would be yours. I just assumed that if she stayed, if she didn’t want to live in the motel—” Or with me… “—there’s enough room there for both of you.”
Dylan hesitated. “I’ll have to talk to her. But it sounds like a great deal.”
It probably did. Dylan had no way of knowing that he’d rather sleep on the sidewalk than return to living in his uncle’s house. The memories of the year he’d spent living there with Kelly should have faded during the five he’d spent in Europe, but it had taken less than three minutes of standing on the porch after his return to realize he would never willingly spend time there again.
He composed his expression before turning to Dylan. “Well, why don’t we go look at the house tomorrow? Both houses, if you want. Might as well see what you’re getting into before you make any agreements.”
He nodded. “All right. It’ll give me a chance to look them over too. They might not need as much work as you think.”
“Not really my area of expertise,” Keith told him. “Steaks are pretty much done, if you want to go grab a clean tray.”
Dylan picked up the soiled one and gestured to the house. “I’ll be right back.”
Stop staring, damn it.
Abby lowered her gaze to her mostly empty plate and cursed silently. Cindy and Dylan had kept up most of the conversation through dinner, while she’d apparently been able to do nothing but drool over Keith.
“What about you, Abby?”
Cindy’s voice drew her attention away from her plate and her thoughts. “I’m sorry?”
Dylan raised an eyebrow, and she recognized his expression. You’re being an ass, it said, as clearly as if he’d spoken the words. “She asked what your plans are for tomorrow.”
She forced a smile and picked up her wine glass. “I don’t know. I don’t have any.”
Keith cleared his throat, speaking for the first time in nearly twenty minutes. “You could come with Dylan. Check out the houses.”
She didn’t really have a good reason to accompany Dylan, but she nodded as she sipped her wine. “Sure. I’d like that.”
Cindy made a face. “Well, if you get bored hanging out with the boys, come by. I’m doing some house calls in the morning, but I should be done by afternoon.” She grinned. “I thought you might like to go out tomorrow night. Meet some people.”
If she hadn’t been acutely aware of him already, Abby wouldn’t have caught the quick glare Keith shot in Cindy’s direction. Before she could answer, Dylan spoke up. “Abby’s not much for the bar scene, Cindy. She’d rather stay in.”
She tore her gaze away from Keith. “It’s true. I’m not really good with new people.”
Keith looked like he was engaged in some sort of personal struggle. After a moment he spoke, his tone a little bit grudging. “The bar…isn’t bad. It’s not really like a bar in a city. It’s the only place for adults to spend time after dark.”
“I know,” Abby said immediately. “Sam told me. I just don’t really— I mean—”