Sleepless in San Francisco by Ryan Field Read Free Book Online Page A

need
     
to walk me to the door.”
     
Ed scratched his balls and sat down on the edge of the bed. He held his head in his
     
hands and yawned. When he heard Jonathan’s shoes clicking through the hall and down
     
the stairs, he almost jumped up and ran after him. But he just sat there staring at a photo
     
of Jake on his nightstand instead. He’d taken that photo right after Jake had come down
     
from a hot air balloon ride. The front door slammed shut and a car out front screeched
     
away from the curb. Ed smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand and sighed.
     
Chapter Five
     
While Ed’s contractor forced a large screw into a kitchen cabinet, Jonathan smiled
     
at the camera and said, “Join us next time to see what happens with Dr. Ed Richardson’s
     
Dream Away kitchen. You won’t want to miss this.”
     
He was baiting his viewers. There had been a slight problem with the black
     
granite counters Ed had chosen. It was nothing serious, but he knew it was important to
     
create a certain amount of conflict for the show to be exciting. It was Friday and they’d
     
been filming for a week. So far, nothing had gone wrong. The contractors had shown up
     
on time, all the materials had arrived in perfect condition, and the entire kitchen had been
     
gutted and was ready to be rebuilt.
     
The camera shut down and the crew began to wrap up for the day. Ed was in the
     
living room sanding the wooden floor and Noah sat on the center island in the kitchen
     
watching Jonathan work. Tucker rested beside his water bowl, waiting for his dinner. It
     
was almost six o’clock in the evening, and it had been a long week.
     
Jonathan smiled at Noah and asked, “How as school today, buddy?” He looked
     
too formal in his stuffy uniform. The gray blazer and red tie stood out in the midst of the
     
construction workers. Jonathan always wore something casual during the construction
     
process of the show so he’d blend in with the atmosphere. He was wearing jeans, work
     
boots, and a red T-shirt that day.
     
Noah’s brown oxfords swung back and forth. He stared at Jonathan and said, “It
     
was okay.” “Just okay?” He didn’t ask to be polite. He really wanted to know. In the past five
     
days since he’d been working there, Jonathan had followed him around every day after
     
school. He’d been curious about the cameras; he’d asked smart questions about how they
     
edited all the clips. The better Jonathan got to know him, the more he liked him.
     
“It’s school,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. Then he jumped down from the
     
counter and asked, “Hey, you wanna go to dinner with us tonight? My dad’s taking us out
     
later. We’re going to pick Lisa up on the way.”
     
Before Jonathan could answer, Ed said, “It’s nothing fancy. Just a little place on
     
Haight Street, a tapas bar. You’re more than welcome to join us.” He was leaning in the
     
doorway, between the kitchen and the dining room, with his arms raised and his elbows
     
against the door frame. He didn’t know his shirt had risen and Jonathan could see his bare
     
stomach. He was wearing loose painter jeans, and the elastic band from his boxer shorts
     
was showing. The big fool had no idea how good he looked.
     
Jonathan smiled, then hesitated. The project was going well, but things were still a
     
bit awkward between them. They treated each other too cautiously, as if the wrong word
     
would ignite an explosion. He had a feeling Ed had been avoiding him all week, which
     
was a good thing. After that last time they’d had sex, and Ed had asked him to leave,
     
Jonathan had sworn to himself that if Ed Richardson so much as touched him with the tip
     
of his finger, he’d set him straight.
     
“C’mon,” Noah said. “You’ll like the food. And Lisa’s dying to meet you.”
     
He didn’t want to disappoint Noah and he was curious about Lisa, so he shrugged
     
his shoulders