Chapter 4: The Crew

I've been working with Walker and his crew for two weeks now, and for the first time, I feel like I finally fit in somewhere. 

No one here judges me with their eyes or harsh words. I'm greeted each day with friendly faces, well, most of them are friendly. 

There are five other guys on the crew. Derek is quiet, grouchy, and always seems to have a stick up his ass, but thankfully, most of his grouchiness isn't directed at me. 

Keith is quiet and tends to keep to himself, and his brother Jason… Well, he’s Jason. Jason is clumsy and always seems to break things and get into trouble. 

He nailed his hand to a beam on my second day here. Four days ago, he was holding a wall that Walker was trying to secure. A frog landed on his foot, and he screamed like a girl as he took off running. 

It was the first time I ever saw Walker enraged. Before Walker could get the first nail in, the wall fell, taking out the wall Keith and Derek were working on, and leaving Alex hanging from a beam after it took out his ladder.

Walker said he would have gotten rid of Jason a long time ago, but he doesn't have the heart to do it. He's Keith's little brother, and they have no other family. All they have is each other. Without that job, Jason would have nothing.

Then we have Ryan and Alex. I don't know what they're doing working in construction. They should be models. Hairless, tan, chiseled bodies with bulging muscles everywhere, and tattoos that I'd love to trace with my fingers. They should be on the cover of a magazine, not on a construction site. 

Walker looks like he belongs here. He's taller than everyone, with broad shoulders and more muscles than even Ryan and Alex, but with a rough, rugged look that fits this setting. He has dark brown hair with strands lightened by the Sun to a caramel color. It's long and flows past his shoulders in waves, and loose beach curls when it's down, though it's usually up when he's on the work site. He has a full dark beard that's kept neatly trimmed above his lips, and grows longer as it reaches his chin. His dark tan, muscular chest has a spread of hair that fades just before it reaches the collar.

My favorite part of the day is once the sun reaches high noon. Their shirts come off, and their tan, muscular bodies glisten with sweat. 

I've caught myself drooling several times, and so have they. Ryan pays me no attention, but I swear Alex goes out of his way to look sexier. 

It took no time for everyone to figure out I was gay. The surprising part is that no one seems to mind.

“All right, let's break for lunch,” Walker calls out, and my face lights up like a Christmas tree.

Alex frowns when he's no longer the center of my attention, but I'm sorry, as gorgeous as he is, food wins my heart every time.

I jumped down from the ladder and skipped after Walker. I follow him under the small tent where we eat our lunch every day. I bounce in place as he opens the cooler and reaches in. I'm already licking my lips, wondering what kind of sandwich he made for us today. 

His lips tug up ever so slightly when he sees how excited I am. When he hands me my bag, I want to kiss his cheek to thank him. Somehow, I don't think he would appreciate that. He'd probably fling me across the work site if I tried. 

I dropped down on the ground in front of Ryan and Alex and eagerly opened my bag. A moment later, Walker sits down beside me and leans back against the tree. 

I squeal in delight when I see he made Italian subs. He even loaded it with all the toppings: lettuce, tomato, onion, and yellow pepper rings. 

I was drooling as I tried to figure out how to handle this large beast of a sandwich. I may need a nap after eating the sucker! I thought, and then blinked and looked forward when someone wiped the side of my face. When I looked up, I saw Ryan laughing and shaking his head after wiping the drool from my mouth. 

“I thought only Alex could make you drool,” Ryan said, and Jason snickered. 

“You mean you and Alex. The poor thing drools as soon as you two take your shirts off,” Jason said, and I wanted to crawl into a hole. 

It's embarrassing to be called out like that. My face was on fire, and the heat crept up my ears. I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it when I realized I didn't know what to say. 

“Leave the kid alone. He loves his food,” Walker said, coming to my rescue. I glared at Jason as I scooted closer to Walker. Unfortunately, this little shit wasn't done with me. 

“You mean he loves food and muscular topless men,” Jason said, and I sucked a sharp breath in. 

The idiot laughed as I threw my pickle at him. As soon as I realized I wasted my pickle, I frowned. 

“I'm just messing with you,” Jason said. 

While his attempt at an apology was nice, it didn't make up for the fact that my pickle was now lying in the dirt. 

I continued frowning as I stared at my pickle. I looked when I sensed movement in front of me. I looked down to find Walker placing his pickle on my plate. 

In an instant, I was smiling again. I looked at Walker and once again fought the urge to kiss his cheek. He raised an eyebrow. 

“Whatever you're thinking of doing, don't.” This unaffectionate man said. 

“Thank you!” I settled for a verbal thank-you instead of a kiss. I didn't feel like learning how to fly today. 

“Hey Tristan, you coming with us to the beach this weekend?” Jason asked. 

I swallowed my bite and lifted my head. 

“Huh? Oh, no. I don't swim, and I'm busy anyway.” I said, lying and telling the truth at the same time. I wasn't lying when I said I don't know how to swim. I don't have the slightest clue how to swim. Put me in deep water, and I'd sink to the bottom like a rock. 

Am I really busy this weekend? No… I'm homeless! How in the world would I be busy? The only thing I have to do is wash my clothes at the laundromat in town. 

I'm still sleeping outside, so I don't have a place to clean. 

Don't get me wrong. I've thought about renting a hotel so I wouldn't have to sleep outside. But if I did that, I would be spending my money instead of saving it. If I save as much as I can, I'll be able to rent a place to live soon. I just have to save up enough for a security deposit and the first and last month's rent. 

“Oh, well, suit yourself. We're all going except Walker. Walker wouldn't know fun if it slapped him in the face,” Jason said, and I giggled. 

Walker swallowed his bite and paused as he looked at the ground between us. 

“I'll go if you go. I can pick you up on my way,” Walker said, shocking everyone. 

I must admit, it would be nice to see everyone outside of our work environment. Especially Walker. I wonder what he's like when he doesn't have to be serious all day. Is it possible this man smiles when he's not working? I wondered. 

“You know, I think I can rearrange my plans. Ok. I'll go,” I said. 

Walker simply nodded as he looked at his sandwich and took another bite. I, on the other hand, was excited. It's been a long time since I've done anything remotely close to fun. 

I smiled, then took another bite of my sandwich.