Constructing the Soul

by Annabella Michaels

  “Thanks, Landon. I really appreciate that and I hope that you’re right.” His forehead scrunched up and I knew he wanted to say more, but I stood, making a production of looking at my watch. “I need to get going. I wanted to stop by the job site and see how things are going on my way home.” It took me a moment to realize why Landon’s face suddenly brightened, but then it hit me.

  “Hold your horses, Cupid. I’m not going there to see Morgan specifically, I’m simply doing my job.” Landon opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. “Besides, don’t you have things you need to finish up so you can go home and answer more pertinent wedding questions instead of getting laid?” I teased.

  “Don’t remind me,” he groaned and I laughed at the dejected look on his face. He stood as I gathered my things and logged off my computer then he walked me out of my office and to the front of the building. I turned and faced him before I walked out.

  “You guys are heading to Tennessee in the morning, right?” I asked.

  “Yes. We wanted to get there early so we didn’t feel so rushed and we could get settled in before the rest of the family invades the cabin,” he joked.

  Landon had told me about the huge cabin that his family owned. It sounded wonderful from everything he’d told me, but he had a very large family so I knew he wasn’t joking about them invading. From the sounds of it, there would be no empty rooms in the cabin once everyone arrived and several family members had chosen to stay at a nearby hotel just as I was doing.

  “Well, have a safe trip and I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

  “You be safe travelling too. Text me when you get there so we can meet up,” he said. We hugged each other and then I stepped out into the sunshine. I was halfway to my car when I heard him call out. “Tell Morgan that his favorite cousin said hello!” I turned around, walking backwards.

  “Okay, if you think that’s what Caleb would want me to say,” I joked. Landon looked up and down the street to see who might be around and then flipped his finger up in the air. I was still laughing as I climbed into my car and started the engine.

  My stomach was in knots on the drive over to the job site. It had been a little over a week since I’d seen Morgan, not since the night of our double date and I was nervous about facing him. We’d exchanged a few texts here and there since then, but we’d both been swamped with work.

  The team that Landon had put together to help him organize the worldwide tour for Carter’s Creed had done an outstanding job, but it was his first time taking on a huge project such as that without having my input and so he’d asked me to go over everything with him in great detail to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything.

  As it turned out, the team had double booked the band on two separate occasions and forgotten to set up the flights between the U.S. and England. While those may seem like huge problems to have overlooked, they were actually quite easy mistakes to make given the magnitude of the planning involved for such an event. It took us many days and a lot of compromising on the part of the venue operators and ticket sellers, but we eventually got it all straightened out and Landon felt much better about leaving on his honeymoon.

  Morgan, on the other hand, had been busy hiring the last of his crew and beginning the daunting task of knocking down walls, tearing out windows, and clearing away the years of debris left behind when the manufacturer had abandoned the old warehouse that would be made into the new Agape House. He’d mentioned a few times in his texts how tired he was and I worried that he wasn’t getting enough sleep. Then I’d stop myself when I’d remember that he was a grown man and didn’t need me worrying about him. After all, it wasn’t like he was mine.

  I repeated that fact to myself many times over the last week, almost like a mantra. Despite the way he’d smiled at me the morning after our night together or the way he’d kissed me goodbye, almost as if he were reluctant to do so, I knew that I had a tendency for getting ahead of myself when it came to guys and I always ended up disappointed.

  I couldn’t stop my thoughts from turning to Morgan in the days since, a couple happening at the most inopportune times. On those occasions, I was grateful that I had a desk between Landon and myself so he wouldn’t notice the effect my thoughts were having on me. The longer I went without seeing him though, the more I began to question whether or not the connection I’d felt with him that night had been real or imagined. I’d vowed to take whatever happened between Morgan and myself one day at a time and to be cautious with my heart, the same heart that began to beat wildly in my chest as I pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse.

  There were several trucks and a few cars in the lot and as I turned off my car, I could hear the distinct sound of hammers pounding and something that sounded like a drill or a saw running inside the old building. Workers moved about and someone sang loudly and very off-key to a song playing on the radio. The place was alive with activity, but it seemed to be an organized chaos which I could appreciate.

  I climbed from my car and slid my keys into my pocket as my eyes scanned the premises, searching for Morgan. I finally found him and my stomach did a little flip. He was dressed for the job in jeans, work boots, and a gray t-shirt that stretched tightly across his broad chest. He reached up and scratched the scruff along his jaw and my mouth watered.

  He was with two other men and they had their heads bent as they went over a blueprint that had been spread over the hood of his truck. Morgan ran a finger over the lines of the drawing as he explained something to them and a chill rushed over my body at the memory of that same finger trailing a path down my spine.

  As if he’d heard my thoughts, Morgan’s head shot up and his eyes met mine. A smile spread across his face and I smiled back, releasing the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. He said something to the two men and they glanced over at me before rolling up the blueprint and walking back into the building. Morgan walked towards me and I admired his swagger as I moved towards him as well.

  “Hey there! I didn’t know you were coming here today.” He peered down at me with those mesmerizing green eyes and I nearly forgot how to speak.

  “I wanted to see how things were going with the renovation. I’ve been meaning to stop by, but we’ve been really busy at work and it’s been dark before I’ve gotten out of there,” I explained, relieved when my voice came out sounding normal.

  “I’m glad you’re here. Come on, I’ll show you what we’ve done so far.” I walked beside him, trying not to read too much into the fact that he’d said he was glad I was there or the fact that he sounded like he really meant it.

  Morgan stopped at his truck and reached across the seat for something, coming back with a bright yellow hard hat. He grabbed another one off the hood of the truck and placed it on his head then held the first one out towards me. I stared at it stupidly, not sure what he wanted me to do with it.

  “Everyone has to wear one of these inside the building,” he explained and my breath caught in my throat as he stepped forward and placed it on top of my head. My eyes scanned the area, wondering if anyone had noticed the way he’d smoothed the wayward strand of hair out of my eyes.

  “I probably look ridiculous,” I informed him, convinced I resembled a child playing dress-up.

  “You could never look ridiculous. Besides, it’s about keeping you safe, not how you look,” he said before leaning down to whisper in my ear. “Just so you know, I’m picturing you wearing nothing but that hat and a toolbelt and it is sexy as fuck.” My eyes were wide and my skin felt hot as he winked at me then turned at the sound of someone calling his name.

  He told me to go ahead and have a look around while he spoke to his crew member so I headed into the building without him. Once my eyes adjusted to the lack of sunlight, I scanned the interior and what I saw was nothing short of amazing. Not only had the entire place been swept clean and unnecessary walls been taken down, but it looked like they were actually ahead of schedule.

  New concrete had bee
n poured to replace the cracked and uneven surface of the floors, the windows had been reframed so that once the glass was installed, it would look more like a home than an old factory and I could see that the electrician had been busy updating the wiring that ran throughout the building since what had been there previously was no longer up to code and deemed unsafe for children. Several of the new walls that would make up offices for the various staff members had already been framed in and were just waiting on drywall to be hung.

  The building had an old freight elevator, but I didn’t trust it, despite Morgan’s assurance last time that it was perfectly safe to use, so I chose to take the stairs instead. I wandered around the second floor, checking out all the latest developments and that was where Morgan found me.

  “Well, what do you think, Mr. Boss…man?” he asked playfully, eluding to the time he’d called me bossy in bed. I opened my mouth to reply, but cleared my throat instead as a man walked into the room we were in.

  “I’m impressed, Morgan. I didn’t expect you to be so far along already. It’s really coming along quickly and that’s a testament to your skills as a leader,” I told him.

  “Thanks, but let’s not get carried away. There are always problems and setbacks that go along with any job, I’m just here to make sure that those problems stay small and don’t turn into major catastrophes,” he said modestly.

  “Well, you promised me you were the man for the job and now that I’ve seen the quality of your work, I know that you were definitely not all talk.” My voice dripped with innuendo, turning the tables on him and I watched, delighted, as Morgan’s eyes darkened with lust. He waited patiently for the man to find what he was looking for and leave the room and then he moved quickly, backing me up against a wall and placing his hands on either side of my head, caging me in.

  “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he whispered, sounding surprised. “When can I see you again?” I felt my body stiffen as my self-doubts bubbled right under the surface of my skin.

  “You mean, when can we fuck again?” I snapped, hating the way my voice wavered.

  Morgan stared down at me, confusion written clearly across his face. I felt like I had something stuck in my throat and I was suddenly having trouble breathing. I needed to get out of there and far away from him.

  “That wasn’t what I meant at all. I mean, the sex was…” His eyes grew wide and he blew out a deep breath then grinned at me and I felt myself beginning to relax. “It was unbelievable, but I was actually referring to the date I asked you out on. A date where it’s just you and me.” I tried to hide my surprise, but the soft look on Morgan’s face told me that he’d already seen more than I’d wanted him to.

  “Oh, I uh…I’m sorry, I misunderstood,” I stammered. My gaze dropped to the floor, but Morgan cupped my chin and lifted my head, forcing me to look at him.

  “Make no mistake about it, I loved being with you that way and I would definitely not be opposed to doing that again, but I had fun with you on our double date and I’d like to go out with you again. I want to get to know you better.”

  I started to answer him, but my words were cut off as he slanted his lips over mine. His tongue swept in, exploring my mouth and filling me with the flavor of spearmint and Morgan. My legs felt shaky as he continued kissing me senseless and I threw my arms around his neck to keep myself from falling. He ended the kiss and we held each other as we tried to slow our heart rates.

  “I need to go,” I whispered and I felt his shoulders tense under my arms. “I have some things I need to take care of, but call me and we’ll set up a time for that date,” I promised.

  Morgan pulled his head back so that he could see my face and the smile he gave me was nothing short of dazzling. He stepped back without a word and took my hand in his, leading me down the stairs and out of the building. The sun had lowered while we were inside and the building made large shadows across the pavement. He walked me to my car and then opened the door for me.

  “Aren’t you worried about what your crew might think about you walking around, holding my hand?” I teased. Morgan shook his head.

  “I made it clear to every person when they were hired that I was a proud gay man and that the project we would be working on would be for an LGBTQA youth center. I told them that if they had a problem with either one of those things that there were probably plenty of other construction crews that would love to hire them. Only one person got up and left the interview at that point,” he said with a shrug. He acted as if it were no big deal and maybe someday it would be, but for now, it was a pretty incredible thing to do.

  We said goodbye and then I climbed into my car. Morgan leaned in through the open window and gave me another quick kiss before stepping back so I could leave. I waved out the window as I pulled away and I was halfway home before I realized I was humming the tune that had been playing when he kissed me. I wasn’t sure what it was since I never listened to country music so I looked it up as soon as I pulled up outside my apartment building. I smiled when I found it and immediately downloaded it onto my phone. I’d be able to listen to “In Case You Didn’t Know” whenever I wanted and remember that kiss, that moment when a man told me that he wanted to get to know me better.

  I tossed my bags into the back seat of my truck and shut the door. After one last search inside the house and my workshop to be sure I hadn’t left anything on, I climbed into the truck. I checked my phone for any missed calls or texts from the crew and smiled when I saw Akio’s name in the list of text messages. I’d texted him after he’d left that night, unable to stop thinking about that kiss or the way he’d clung to me when I’d backed him up against the wall.

  His reaction when I asked if I could see him again had surprised me to say the least. He’d acted angry when he asked if I meant that I wanted to fuck him, but I heard the shakiness of his voice and saw the look on his face that I was sure he didn’t want me to see. The look was a mixture of hurt, disappointment, and resignation and I wanted to know who had hurt him in his past. Who had made him feel like that was all he was worth? How could anyone spend any time at all with Akio and not see what a funny, intelligent, and caring man he was? I opened up the text thread between us and smiled as I read it for what was probably the hundredth time.

  ME: Hey! I was thinking…

  AKIO: That sounds dangerous.

  ME: Funny guy. You should do standup.

  AKIO: Nah, I’m holding out for the lead role in a movie.

  ME: Let me guess, a romantic comedy?

  AKIO: Hell no. I’d be in a thriller. I want to run down the street screaming at the top of my lungs as some guy wearing a mask chases me with a meat cleaver.

  ME: Well, you do have a great scream, if memory serves me correctly.

  ME: Hello? AKIO?

  AKIO: Sorry, had to pick my jaw up off the floor.

  ME: LOL!

  AKIO: So, you were thinking…

  ME: Oh, that’s right. I seem to get easily distracted around you.

  AKIO:

  ME: You’re going to Landon’s wedding, right?

  AKIO: Of course, he’s my best friend.

  ME: I assumed you were and I was thinking we should ride together.

  AKIO: Oh!

  ME: Unless you were bringing a plus one with you…

  AKIO: No, nothing like that. I was just surprised.

  ME: It makes sense if you think about it. We’re going to the same place, we could keep each other company on the way there and we’d save gas. Plus, carpooling is good for the environment.

  ME: Do it for the environment.

  AKIO: Ok. But only for the environment.

  ME: You’re a good man, Akio Forrest. Pick you up Thursday after work?

  AKIO: Sounds good.

  I closed the message and placed my phone in the cup holder. I checked the rearview mirror as I turned the truck around in my driveway and caught the excited look in my eyes. I was looking forward to going home, seeing my family, and ce
lebrating Landon and Micah’s wedding, but it was the eight hours of uninterrupted time with Akio on the way there that I was looking forward to the most.

  That surprised me because after the way things ended with David, I thought I would need some time before I’d be ready to even entertain the thought of getting close to another man. The thing was, I hadn’t counted on Akio coming into my life or the way he’d make me feel. If I had to describe the feeling in one word, it would be happy, which was something I hadn’t felt in a very long time.

  He was sitting on the bottom step outside his building when I pulled up, three suitcases at his feet. I got out and quickly went around to help him with his bags. I grabbed two of them and he followed me with the other, placing them alongside mine in the back seat.

  “You do know we’re only going for a few days, right?” I teased.

  “You don’t think all of this happens by accident, do you?” he replied sassily, brushing his hands down his body. My eyes followed, taking in the black, button-fly jeans that fit him perfectly, the gray long-sleeved shirt that looked really soft, and the darker gray sweater he had thrown over his shoulders. He looked perfect.

  “Three bags it is then,” I said agreeably. I heard his chuckle as I shut the door and then rushed to open the passenger door for him.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly as he brushed past me to climb inside.

  We made small talk as we left the city. He asked how my day had been and I listened as he told me about the various musicians he’d met while working. Some I’d never heard of, but a few surprised me because their names were always in the news and splashed across the covers of the magazines in the checkout lane. Akio laughed when he saw the stunned expression on my face, reminding me that I was related to one of the most famous musicians of our time. That shocked me even more because I never thought of Carter as being famous. He was just Carter.