Finnegan felt at least ten things at once as he closed his door behind Emmett that evening. He'd called the poor guy an Uber and the rain had let up so at least guilt wasn't mixed up in there. He cleaned up the few remaining dinner dishes and once he was satisfied that no one was going to knock on his door, he started stripping out of his shirt on the way to his bedroom.
The long-sleeved tee went into the hamper, his jeans got folded and put in his closet, and he went into his bottom dresser drawer for some pajama pants. It was Friday and even though he had some work to do from home tomorrow, none of it required him to be dressed properly. He considered the sock monkeys but bypassed them after deciding to wear them tomorrow and found one of his favorite pair; they were so absurd that he couldn't help but smile as he pulled them on. Who ever had thought up a unicorn riding a dolphin and decided the whole thing needed rainbows was his hero. He grabbed his fluffy fleece blanket and headed back for his couch. A night of relaxation was more than overdue after this crazy week.
He sang along happily to The Fraggles theme song and smiled when Boober appeared. Red had always been his favorite but he loved them all, especially the busy little Doozers. He'd seen this episode at least a dozen times and his mind started to wander back to the dinner with Emmett earlier. The food had been good and Emmett had been polite and seemed appreciative. Considering how they'd met, the whole evening had gone surprisingly well. Oh! Speaking of which... he untangled his legs from the blanket and went to his freezer. Emmett had made him promise to ice his face for at least ten minutes before bed, promising that the bruising would disappear quicker if he did so.
As soon as he sat back down the couch, he wondered why in the world he'd agreed to it. Ice, even wrapped, was cold and his face didn't appreciate it. Still, he want to look presentable for work on Monday so he did the best he could, moving it to a new section when it began to hurt. The evening had gone fairly well but still, he was disappointed. The question was, why? Had he expected Emmett to make a move? No, not really. Well actually, that wasn't it at all. He was very used to guys making moves on him. Hell, he'd been approached by two guys and three women this week at work alone. Finnegan really had no idea what it was about him. He wasn't all that cute, he rated himself a 7 out of 10. He knew that a lot of the propositions he got simply went along with his name. People want to date the boss, or someone with money, not him.
Emmett had been a perfect gentleman, to the point that Finnegan was still only about 90% sure that he was gay at all. Granted, every time they'd seen each other, Finnegan's face looked like a war zone, but still... well, actually, that was probably it. He couldn't make sense of any of this. He didn't like people hitting on him so why was he upset that Emmett hadn't? Could you get a concussion from an airbag? This whole train of thought was stupid. They had parted ways and probably wouldn't ever see each other again.
*** *** ***
Emmett was finally home after having the Uber drop him off at Wrecked so he could pick up his car. He found Marten sleeping peacefully in his hammock and let the rascal out for some playtime. It was late but at least his belly was full. It hadn't been the best way to spend his day off but evening had gone better than he'd hoped for.
He sighed, grabbing one of Marten's toys. He'd been tempted to ask Finnegan out. Very, very tempted. Granted, the poor man probably didn't want to see Emmett ever again given what his face must feel like but the problem was that Emmett hadn't even asked. Why? He'd never been any good at it. There'd been his first, a boy in high school and then a quick fling with a fellow in Virginia. After that, just some quick hook-ups when it was possible; nothing that required much talking or dating. There wasn't time, or privacy, for much of that.
Since he'd gotten back? He'd tried. A little. He hated the scene, the games, the bars and the apps. It was just his luck that his new boss was gorgeous and gay but he was already taken. And now there was Finnegan. Well, to be fair, there wasn't Finnegan. But there probably could have been if Emmett hadn't been such a scaredy-cat. Oh well, it was too late now. What was he going to do, call him up? And say what? Actually, maybe he could call and see how he was feeling. Would that be creepy? Obviously he couldn't call tonight, but tomorrow? Sunday, definitely, right? Make sure he could get back to work. Yeah, that would be okay. Even better, he could send a text. Then Finnegan could decide whether or not to respond.
There. That was settled. He started the shower, peeled out of his dirty clothes, and tied his hair back. There was no point in washing it tonight since he was just going back to the garage tomorrow morning. He was glad the storm had passed and let the hot water beat down on his tight shoulder muscles.
When he turned the water off the first thing he heard was a bang on his door. He dried off quickly and slipped into some boxers, knowing immediately who it was. He glanced around for Marten and then opened the door, forcing a smile to his face. "Andy."
Andy held up a small box. "Brought leftover pizza." He didn't wait for an invitation, walking in and putting the box down on the kitchen counter.
"You know I'm always glad to see you but I have to work tomorrow and it's really late Ando."
"So do I!" he replied, grinning. He took off his ball cap, grabbed a piece of pizza and sunk down onto the couch.
Emmett probably would've killed Andy long before now except that he was funny. That, and he was the only one of his friends who had stuck around after high school. "What time do you go to the alley? Four? Five? I've gotta open the garage."
"You've got ten minutes for pizza. Have any beer?" He didn't wait for an answer, just stood up and opened the fridge, pulling out a can. "Thanks." When Marten nosed up towards his shoe, he reached down and picked him up, plopping him onto his lap. "Hey little guy."
"Don't give him any of your pizza crust; he'll get diarrhea again." That was an experience he hoped to never recreate.
"I won't, I won't. So what did you do today?"
The last thing Emmett wanted to do was think about the day and as accepting as Andy was, he wasn't going to talk to him about Finn. Finn? No, Finnegan was safer. Finn was too casual. "I was at the garage for most of it."
"Don't tell me you wrecked again!"
Did he really get into all that many more car accidents than most people? It wasn't his fault that people were bad drivers. "Guy turned on red. Had to fix it because I was afraid he'd sic a whole team of lawyers on me."
"Pricks" Andy commiserated.
Except this one wasn't, no, Finnegan seemed like a really nice guy once you got past the whole suit, tie and haircut thing. Emmett couldn't complain to Andy about someone else's hair though, it was a very sore subject since Andy had very little of his own left. It wasn't fair; he was really too young to be going bald. Every now and then Andy would joke that Emmett should cut his and donate it to him, since he had enough for both of them.
"Okay, you're zoning out. I'm gonna go. You gonna stop by the alley tomorrow?"
Unfortunately, Emmett had nothing better to do. "Probably. I'll call you."
"Alright. Here, take the weasel. I'm out."