by Trina Solet
Theo didn't take a breath until Seth dropped his hand. "I have more self restraint when coffee isn't involved," Theo told him but let him haggle for it anyway. Seth's low opinion of it did bring the price down though he stopped short of calling it a piece of junk.
"You did the trick," Ace said when Seth came back with the lamp. "You pretended you didn't like it."
"Pretended. Right," Seth said as he handed the lamp to Theo.
"You and Ace can pick one for the other bedroom," Theo told him.
"Me and you together," Ace said to Seth and they high fived. Ace stared hard at all the lamps they came across, but didn't find any that won him over.
He did see a trunk with lots of kids' stickers all over it as well as crayon marks. "I'm calling that well-loved," Theo said and told Ace he could have it.
"I'm gonna pretend I don't like it," Ace said announcing his plan in his version of keeping his voice down.
"Good job whispering. I don't think they quite caught that across town," Theo said to him.
In the end they got the trunk and picked up a rickety folding table and three lawn chairs that they piled in the truck with the rest and covered with the tarp.
Theo had their next stop planned but didn't mention what it was until they pulled up in front.
"Who's getting a cell phone?" Ace asked, getting his hopes up as he saw that they were parked in front of the cell phone store.
"Seth," Theo told him and watched his little brother's face fall. "According to their website, this place should be open. Let's get you a phone."
"Can I afford it?" Seth wondered as they got out.
"We'll see what they have," Theo said and he led the way inside. He knew he should let Seth take the lead, but this couldn't wait.
Of course Seth noticed how impatient he was. "You can't abide the idea of me not having a phone."
"The thought of not being able to look up whatever you want, whenever you want..." He shook his head and shuddered.
"Can't live without your research," Seth teased him.
As they went in, Ace had advice for him. "Get a cool phone with games."
Seth didn't though. He ended up with a low-end model with the cheapest plan. Seth and Ace didn't mind, or didn't know any better.
"Thanks," Seth said to Theo. "I don't know when I would have got around to it."
"I put my number in," Theo told him offhandedly.
"So I can text you," Seth said and then he sent a text thanking him again. It just said, "Thanks Theo."
Looking at it shouldn't have made Theo's heart speed up, but it did.
Next they hit a thrift store. Seth was an asset in there too. Any other guy would have been bored with the kind of shopping they were doing, but Seth was really smart and practical and knew what they needed.
He headed straight to the back and then returned to let Theo know, "There's a pair of mattresses they just got in. They are pretty thin but the lady who works here says they look brand new, no stains."
"That's how I like my mattresses – no stains," Theo said as he went to have a look. "They'll do. We just need one more."
He was looking over the other mattresses they had, when Seth asked, "One more?"
It was Ace who gave him the obvious answer, "There's three of us, Seth."
"I'm good on the floor," Seth claimed and Ace huffed.
"Theo, he's always saying that. 'I'm good. I'm good.' He always wants to leave himself out," Ace complained.
"Alright, alright," Seth said. "I'll get that mattress and I'll pay for it."
Now Theo objected. "That doesn't make any sense. It's not like you can take it with you if you have to move on for a job." He didn't like thinking of that, but it was a fact that Seth would probably leave.
"Look, Theo, I can't please everybody. So I'll get the mattress like Ace wants me to," Seth said.
"Ha ha!" Ace said celebrating his victory while Theo shook his head at Seth for twisting things around on him.
Theo made sure the mattresses were set aside for them then he saw that Ace was showing Seth a brass lamp in the shape of a long legged bird, its head hidden under an ill-fitting, black lampshade. Theo hated it, but he did tell them they could choose the other lamp. He left them to it and went to look at the shelf with used books.
His eyes were running over the spines, when he noticed another guy was also looking at books. Colorful canvass sneakers, dark purple skinny jeans, denim jacket with lots of patches sewn on the back. His hair was shaved to above the ears with the rest hanging over his face in platinum blond wisps. He was slim, and not bad looking.
The guy slowly reached for a book right in front of Theo and seemed to be studying his reaction. When Theo didn't move away, the guy smiled. "I know I haven't seen you around. I would remember," he said.
"I'm new," Theo told him. "If you're from around here, maybe you can tell me some good places to check out." Theo let him interpret that however he wanted.
The guy looked unsure so he stuck to the safe topic of thrift stores rather than good places to meet guys. "There's a thrift store on Marsh Street you should check out. That's the good one. Here it's mostly household stuff, but I've found a bunch of Stanislaw Lem novels here and some other decent stuff."
"I'll definitely check out that other one," Theo told him.
The guy smiled. "I can tell you about some other places. Maybe over coffee. There's a coffee shop down the block. If you..." He trailed off and stared just over Theo's shoulder. His smile turned from warm to cold and he started to back away.
"Sorry. I guess you're with someone."
Theo was about to deny it, but the guy was already walking away. Turning around, Theo saw why. Seth was right behind him and he was looking grim.
"What's your problem?" Theo snapped at him.
"What do you mean?" Seth seemed honestly confused.
"Were you just glaring at that guy?"
"I don't know. I didn't mean to, but he gave me a funny look. Like he was laughing at me," Seth said.
"Laughing at you?"
"Like, 'Look at this dumb loser,'" Seth said with a shrug.
"So you were warning him? Trying to scare the smirk off his face?"
"No. I didn't mean to. I don't pick fights," Seth said.
Theo sighed. He was mad that Seth chased away that guy, but if he was that quick to run maybe he wasn't worth much anyway.
"OK. But I don't think he was laughing at you," Theo told him.
"I am wearing my grandpa's old jacket. I thought we might have furniture to carry, and I didn't want to mess up my other one," Seth said and looked down at himself critically.
"You look fine," Theo told him and tried not to put any emphasis on the last word. Seriously, Seth could wear a garbage bag and look hot.
That kind of thinking got Theo to pick up a cheap, full-length mirror. "I want to make sure I look decent for work," he told Seth.
"You don't need an excuse."
"It's not an excuse." It's not like he wanted to make sure he looked good for Seth. "I'm not vain. I just want to look professional."
After the thrift store, it was a discount store where they got the cheapest sheets and pillows money could buy and some more stuff for the house, like kitchen stuff and light bulbs. Then Theo spotted a stack of t-shirts.
"The weather is going to get warm. You'll need these," he told Seth, but the reason he was staring at them was because he was picturing a tight t-shirt stretched over Seth's chest then peeled right off him. Damn it.
"If you think I should get some, I guess I should," Seth said, and then Theo couldn't help picking out two different blue ones that highlighted his eyes.
"Get these," Theo said like he didn't care if he did or not.
They had skipped lunch, but before they did any food shopping, Theo wanted them to eat so they walked around looking for a place. Ace had a few snacks already, but his eyes went wide when he spotted a pizza place.
"Pizza. Pizza," Ace was whispering.
"It's on me," Seth said. Seeing how Theo looked at him, he reminded him, "You put me in charge of food.
"I don't remember it that way."
"You can't be the boss of everybody, Theo," Ace told him.
"You said I could chip in for food. Pizza is food. We did some good shopping and worked up an appetite," Seth said and Ace agreed with a nod.
"You two need to stop teaming up against me," Theo told them.
As they sat down to eat the pizza, which was decent enough, Theo thought that they had a good day and how nice it was to hang out with Seth. But that kiss still pissed him off, made him think things could go somewhere with Seth when they couldn't.
"Thanks for the pizza," Theo told him afterward.
"Thanks for letting me come along," Seth said and he looked down shyly.
"You were a big help. You have a good eye for what we need."
"We just need some more food for me to cook up for you guys." Seth smiled like he was really looking forward to it, and Theo had to remind himself that all they had was a temporary arrangement. Seth's sunny smile and the warm look in his eyes meant nothing no matter how long they gazed at each other like idiots.
Chapter 8
Though they were going back to Peach Tree together, Seth was sorry to have their trip to Ashbury end. He didn't get to have a day like this since he was a kid and his parents were around. But there was something else too. It was Theo and what it felt like walking next to him, touching him just by accident, and getting the shirts he picked out.
On their way out of town, Seth saw a cardboard sign for a yard sale that pointed toward the storage rental place they were about to pass. "Do you want to check that out?" Seth asked. They were already stopped at a light and it would be an easy turn.
"It's probably not worth a stop," Theo said but Ace made a whining sound so he turned where the sign was pointing. "All right. A quick stop."
They parked just outside the storage place then walked until they found the storage unit that was set up like a garage sale. Seth spotted a chest of drawers, but it looked pretty bad when he got closer. There was nothing else worth looking at, and he had to admit Theo was right.
"Not worth stopping for after all," Seth whispered so the old man who was eyeballing them wouldn't hear.
Now only Ace was still looking at stuff. There were some toys all jumbled up together in a cardboard box and Ace reached for one.
"Don't touch that!" the old man snapped at Ace and made him jump.
Theo took Ace's hand and glared at the old man. "Don't worry about it. We won't be touching any of your junk or buying any of your junk."
"Buy?" The old man snorted. "All your kind does is steal."
"Keep your ignorance to yourself, old man," Theo told him, his voice harsh and angry.
"Is this guy bothering you, pops?" a big guy asked coming out of the next unit over. He set down a box and swaggered over to them.
Theo pushed Ace toward Seth and wheeled on the newcomer, getting right in his face. "You looking to start something with me?"
The guy looked tougher and meaner than Theo, but then some girl with flashy nails grabbed the guy's arm. "Ray, I swear to God, if you get into anything... Did you forget we're going to my sister's? You are not showing up with bruises and a split lip again. Come on." She dragged him away.
Once they were gone, Theo turned to glare at the old man one more time then they moved on too. "I'm done with this place. Let's go," he said keeping an arm around Ace.
"You could stand to examine your sense of self-preservation, you know," Seth said under his breath once they had gone a few steps. He had to get close so Theo could hear him but not Ace. He also found the press of his arm against Theo's comforting.
"I'm not letting anyone push me around," Theo said, and his voice still held an edge of anger.
"I could have handled it and you could have stayed with Ace," Seth told him.
"Let you fight my battles?" Theo said like it was unthinkable. "No, thank you."
That did sting, but maybe Theo was right. No matter how strong he was, Seth was never any good at fighting his own battles. He only got himself into more trouble that way. There was no reason for Theo to trust him to defend him and Ace.
But now Ace looked gloomy, staring at the ground and Seth hated that old man even more seeing how he spoiled the day for him.
"That old man was in the wrong, not you," Seth told him.
"I'll talk to my brother," Theo said and put both hands on Ace's shoulders and leaned down so their foreheads bumped. "What Seth said is true. You didn't do anything wrong. You're allowed to touch stuff that people have out for sale as long as you're careful and don't touch anything breakable. That old man had no right to talk to you like that. You're a good kid."
"That old man was like Jerry," Ace said.
Seth didn't know who that was but Theo did. "He was, but you don't need to worry about him any more."
"I was scared," Ace admitted. "Could you beat up that other guy, Theo?"
"I can handle myself," Theo said.
"Don't forget, I was there too," Seth told him and got a small glare from Theo like he knew he would.
"Like backup?" Ace said, his face brightening, so at least he liked what Seth said.
"Right," Seth told him, but Theo wasn't happy to hear him talk like that. He really did think Seth wasn't to be relied on. But then he remembered that Theo pushed Ace toward him, so at least he trusted him to keep his little brother out of the fray.
Ace was still looking down so Theo said, "Let's check out what's around here. We're not in that much of a hurry."
They left the truck where it was and walked around then Ace stopped and pointed. "Theo, what's that place?"
"Oh, no," Theo said seeing the sign for Ashbury Animal Shelter.
"Is that where they have dogs?" Ace asked, his spirits rising.
Theo grumbled then admitted, "Yes."
"Can't we just go and look at them?" Ace asked in a pleading voice.
"Looking leads to wanting, and wanting leads to whining," Theo said making Seth laugh, but Ace was already whining.
"Please. We can just looooook."
Theo hung his head then nodded. "Fine. Since we're here, we might as well."
As they headed for the animal shelter, Seth had an inkling that Theo agreed because he didn't want their shopping trip to end on a bad note for Ace.
Going inside, they heard barking from a back room and a lady sitting at a desk greeted them. "Hello there. I'm Devina. You here to make some new friends?"
"I am," Ace told her as he craned his neck eager to have a look at the noisemakers in the back.
"We're just looking," Theo told her. "We're not ready to take any new friends home with us." That was as much for Ace's benefit as for the lady's.
She showed them into the back anyway, and Seth couldn't hold back. He went right over to the dogs to meet and greet every single one.
"You're worse than Ace," Theo told him.
That was true. Ace was hanging back and just looking at the animals. He was a smart kid, so maybe he took Theo's words to heart, and he didn't want to get too friendly with a doggy he couldn't have.
But as Ace was smiling at the dogs, a cat jumped up and hung onto the wire mesh of the enclosure she shared with two other cats. At first, she startled Ace, but then he went closer to have a good look at her.
"He's sniffing at me," Ace said as the cat did just that.
"She's getting to know you. That's Butterfly and she's a girl," Devina told him. The cat was white with dark patches including one on her back that sort of looked like a butterfly.
"Is that where her name comes from?" Seth asked Devina.
"You got that right," she told him.
"She won't stop looking at me. Hi, Butterfly," Ace whispered as the cat's green-eyed stare had him hypnotized.
"Thought he wanted a dog," Seth said to Theo.
"That cat has other ideas," Theo said while watching his little bro
ther smiling at the cat and losing a staring contest to her.
"And what about you?" Seth wondered.
Theo slumped over and sighed. "I'll go find out what we need to do to take that cat home."
"For real?" Ace asked in a loud voice, startling the cat. "Theo, you said we couldn't afford to have a pet, not even a fish."
"Maybe we can have a pet. We have a house, and I have a job," Theo said.
"Really?" Ace was amazed. "Everything is different here!"
"Isn't that the truth," Theo said with a quick glance at Seth, but then he went off with Devina and busied himself with paperwork.
Seth stayed with Ace who was buzzing with excitement and trying to share it with the climbing cat. Then Butterfly was allowed out and the first thing she did was climb all over Ace.
"She sure likes to climb. Watch out for her claws," Seth said.
"They've been trimmed," Devina said. "It might not look it, but Butterfly does know the difference between a person and a tree. She won't dig her claws into you."
"She's an outdoor cat?" Theo said.
"I want her to stay with me, not outside," Ace complained.
"She doesn't like to be cooped up, but she'll come back to you," Devina assured him, but Theo looked kind of worried. He must have been thinking the same thing Seth was – what if she didn't come back and Ace got his little heart broken?
They had to hit a pet store after that then deal with the crazy cat climbing all over the truck cabin as they drove back to Peach Tree. Petting would settle her down for a little bit but then she was off. Ace loved it but Theo grumbled the whole way.
"Don't let Butter climb on your brother while he's driving or we'll end up in a ditch," Seth told Ace.
"Don't start with that ditch stuff again," Theo warned him.
"Butter! That's what we're gonna call her," Ace decided.
Back at the house, Seth and Theo were busy unloading, but Ace was busy chasing the cat all around. Finding her way inside, the cat started going from room to room, exploring the house.
"Watch her, Ace. Make sure she doesn't do anything she shouldn't," Theo told him.
