Page 30 of Outside Looking In

“Nathan, a word?”

Before Nathan could ask what that word was, Liam was pulling him into the bathroom. It was not the first time Nathan had been in the bathroom with another man, but he doubted things would go the same way this time.

“Did you buy her those clothes and that new hair?” Liam asked. It was a small bathroom, and they did their best to keep their bodies from touching. Up close, Nathan noticed the lighter flecks of brown in Liam’s beard.

“I didn’t buy her new hair. I fixed her existing hair.”

“It looks expensive. It all does.”

“So.” Nathan shrugged.

“Why are you buying my niece designer outfits and taking her to professional salons? You only met her a few days ago.”

Nathan wasn’t going to let Liam make him feel weird about this. He didn’t care if this was proper or not. “Because I wanted to. She looks smashing. She feels smashing.”

Liam studied him for a moment with those probing eyes that could’ve stripped him naked right then and there.

“Sweet as.”

Nathan was not expecting that response.

“That was very nice of you.”

“You’re welcome. Did you pull me into this bathroom just to tell me that, or was there something else you wanted to do?”

On cue, the tips of Liam’s ears went red. Blush even filled up the part of his cheeks not covered by hair.Gotcha.

“It’s dinner time, Liam.” Nathan left the bathroom.

* * *

After dinner,Nathan and Walt cleared the table while Liam drank a beer on the couch and Franny searched through old DVDs under the television. Nathan tried not to smell Mark and Liam’s beers at dinner. He was not a fan of beer. It just made people burpy and saggy. Hard liquor was for classy alcoholics. But still, beer was better than nothing.

Nathan watched Walt clear the table, stacking the dishes and bundling the utensils. He had never cleared a table before, hadn’t even watched the maids do it. He copied Walt’s technique.

“Ughhh,” Franny hissed from the TV. “The remote still isn’t working, and I put new batteries in it, too.”

Nathan felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he got a flash of stepping on it during his drunken haze his first night in New Zealand. It had only been on the floor because he knocked into the coffee table. He was a sloshed bull in a china shop.

“You’re turning red,” Walt said.

Nathan noticed his cheeks in the mirror. “Let’s bring these dishes into the kitchen, shall we?”

In the kitchen, they placed the dishes next to the sink and began loading the dishwasher. Mark wiped down the counter.

“Nathan,” he said in a low voice. “Whatever you spent on Franny’s hair and clothes, I want to pay you back.”

“No, not necessary. It wasn’t much.”

“I insist.” Mark looked back at the kitchen door that led to the dining room. “I haven’t seen her that happy in months.”

“That’s payment enough for me.”

Mark cocked his head at him. “I’m serious.”

Nathan shot him a firm look. “Me, too. You’re letting me stay here. You helped me get this job with your brother, who’s a bit of a drill sergeant, but still…I can’t accept your money.”

Mark grinned with appreciation. He finished wiping down the counter and helped Nathan load the dishwasher. He was an expert at strategizing which dishes went where to maximize space. He began making adjustments to what Nathan had done, but soon took everything out and redid it his way.