Fate Interrupted

33. Nailed It

Ren

JUNE 2010

"I need it now, Gio. Give it to me!"

He's teasing me, and I'm starting to feel very hot under here.

"Do you want a long one?" he replies with a dirty laugh, his face darkened and sexy, backlit by the sun, his plaid shirt unbuttoned a bit, and rolled up at the sleeves.

"Whatever. Stop messing with me, and just give it to me," I demand and bite my lip. I can't smile, that will just provoke him more.

"Okay, fine, here, put it in quickly. My arms are getting tired."

I'm fumbling around under him, but I'm having trouble. I'm not usually the one doing this part. I don't know why Gio can't handle this himself. I see him do things like this one-handed all the time. 

I'd love it if he would just take over at this point, but I doubt he'll let me.

"Okay, I got it in the right spot," I inform him. "I'll hold it while you pound it in."

"I love hearing you say things like that, but you need to do it this time," he insists.

He wants me to do more of the work, take over, and learn to be more forceful. I don't know why I feel so awkward about it. Maybe because it's much harder than I expected and we're doing it outside, I'm much more confident when he shows me new things to do inside the house.

"I'm left-handed, and the angle's bad for me," I moan. "Change positions with me."

"But I'm holding the beam!" Gio grits, getting frustrated now.

"Okay, okay. I got it." I say, hammering in the first nail to secure the new deck joist. "Oh, it went in crooked."

"Oh, fine. Let me do it. Switch with me."

We got permission from the landlord to build a small deck in the backyard. When Gio first mentioned it to me, I thought it was a great idea, but I didn't realize he assumed I'd help him out with the construction part.

Well, it's not that bad. It's actually been fun working on the house with him. We just finished painting the whole interior, which is my realm regarding house projects. And I have to say—it's been so great living with him. He's my perfect compliment. I like to clean but hate decluttering. Gio is great at keeping things neat, though he sometimes gets on my case for leaving my dirty clothes all over the floor. But besides helping clean the kitchen, he'd probably let the floor go unswept for weeks if I weren't around. Luckily, I like sweeping; It's one of the ways I de-stress at the end of the day. But honestly, these days... I'm just not that stressed. I didn't know if I'd like to live in the country again after living in a big city for so many years, but my work anxiety just seems to fall away when I get home out here.

And it's not just keeping the house neat; Gio is so handy, too, but that I already knew. He and his brother used to work on car engines together when he was a teen, so if something goes wrong with my Nissan, he usually knows how to fix it. He can repair anything in the house. He mows the lawn, (of course.) Our garden is already impressive. 

He also makes me brunch every Sunday morning and comes home with flowers randomly. He even puts the toilet seat down. Every. Single. Time. Even in the middle of the night! I know! I'm spoiled now. Alex never put the toilet seat down. Drove me in-sane! I also did all the cooking and cleaning up. I think Alex took out the trash, made the bed, and paid the bills, but that's about it.

It's also a weird thing to mention, but even though I don't like watching sports on TV, (like at all) but I love that Gio does. I think it's because my dad always had a game on, and somehow, it just makes me feel so calm and safe.