Heart of the Woodland (MxM)

Brody stood before his mantle in his new expensive condo, marvelling at the laminated ticket.

Beside him, Mindy cleared her throat. “You do realise how tacky that is, right?”

Brody chuckled. “You only win the lottery once.”

“Still. And why did you choose this place again? You could have gotten hundreds of other places. Houses! Your own property.”

Brody sighed. His sister, as usual, was being lovingly scrutinising. “I told you, Mindy, it’s because I don’t want to have to worry about taking care of a house or terrain or whatever. This place is perfect for me.” He turned away from his mantle. “I may have won the lottery, but I’m not a millionaire. I still need to earn a decent income. This place is paid for, for a good few years while I try to up my job game.”

Mindy fixed Brody’s collar. “I just worry, you know.”

“Besides, aren’t you the one telling me to live modestly so that people who didn’t get a cut of my winnings don’t get jealous of me?”

Mindy gave Brody a sardonic look, and without turning her gaze away from him, pointed at the laminated lottery ticket.

Brody grinned, laughing. He wrapped his arms around his sister in a warm hug before she headed for the door. He stood at the doorway with her as she rambled on about picking up the kids from school.

The condo door next to his opened and out walked a tall, handsome man wearing a business suit. He glanced their way and Brody had to keep his jaw from dropping to the floor. Scratch handsome, more like gorgeous.

Mindy muttered. “Don’t tell Greg I said this, but your neighbour is the definition of hotness.”

The neighbour in question gave them a friendly wave. Then his eyes raked up and down. Mindy’s cheeks turned red.

“Which one of us is he checking out?” she muttered.

“Try not to be too loud,” Brody muttered back in almost panic. He waved back at his neighbour. “Hi, there. I’m new here.”

Brody assumed a “Cool.” would follow, but instead, the man walked over to him and Mindy.

“Welcome to the Woodland Complex.” He held out his hand to Brody. As Brody shook it, he tried to make subtle eyes at Mindy – this guy’s shake was firm, and he wondered what else was firm. The guy looked like he worked out.

“I’m Beau.”

“Oh, you definitely are,” Mindy blurted.

Brody slapped her arm in alarm. He cleared his throat. “I’m Brody.”

Brody became aware that Beau continued to hold his hand in that position even after they had stopped shaking hands.

Beau glanced at Mindy. “You have a lovely wife, Brody.”

Mindy and Brody laughed self-consciously and responded at the same time.

“Oh, she’s my sister.”

“I’m his sister. Married. Uh, not to each other.” Mindy looked at her watch. “Damn, I’m late to pick up the kids. Catch you later, Bro.”

Brody sighed gutturally. Mindy knew it bugged him when she called him Bro, ever since they were kids, talk about kids. She was raising three but acted like she was one of them sometimes.

Brody noticed Beau was suppressing a laugh as he pulled his hand away. “That’s uh…”

“Pun, nick name, yeah.” Brody shook his head.

Beau chuckled, his eyes never leaving Brody’s. Brody felt his face warm as he began to wonder if this guy was gay, single, or…

“Well, I have a business meeting I need to jet off to. It was nice meeting you, Brody. You look like you’ll fit right in with the community here.”

And off he went. Brody sighed wistfully, leaning on his door frame. “Beaudy. Brobeau…” He began muttering to himself. He shook the idea out of his head. “What the hell am I thinking? He’s probably got a girlfriend or something.”

Shutting the door behind him, Brody walked to his couch and plopped down, enjoying the comforts of his new home… Who was he kidding, his mind was on Beau. He didn’t know the guy’s last name, but he took his phone and typed up Beau Woodland Complex.

“Well, hello, handsome Beau.” Brody found his profile. “Beau Belford.” His photo’s pose resembled a model posing for a business magazine. He was to become CEO of a Day Trading company.

Brody scrolled a bit. “Aaaand, found it.” In many of the photos, Beau was posing with a beautiful woman with a gorgeous smile. She was so stunning, even Brody couldn’t help but admire her. And there were links to headlines that read, Will up-and-coming CEO Beau Belford marry President Clarke’s daughter, Ebony Clarke?

“Ebony? Who names their daughter Ebony? Unless you live on a ranch?” Brody realised he was insulting the name of that woman only because he was jealous. Then he remembered a girl at school when he was a kid whose name was Ebony and he liked her name then. “Urgh!”

Tossing his phone aside, Brody decided to recline and enjoy his new home for real this time.

When evening came, Brody heard voices out in the hall. He opened the door to peer out, none too obviously.

Beau’s eyes met his and his face lit up. Or was that Brody’s wishful imagination? “Hey, Brody.”

“Hi, Beau.”

Beau was accompanied by that woman, Ebony. To be polite, Brody acknowledged Ebony, without letting on he knew her name. He was uncertain if they were coming or going, seeing as they stood outside Brody’s door.

“I’ll call you tomorrow.” Ebony kissed Beau on the cheek and headed out.

“Lovely girlfriend you have there,” Brody said. He smiled.

Despite the guy not being available, Brody still wanted to be a friendly neighbour. He knew from growing up in a poor neighbourhood how important good neighbours were, especially in a crisis. He figured that didn’t change for rich people either. Brody wanted folks to know he was dependable, as much as he wanted to know who he could rely on.

Yet, Beau’s face changed the moment Brody made the remark and he stared at the floor. “Yeah,” he breathed, not sounding all too convinced.

Uncertain if he should push it or not, Brody made to re-enter his condo. “Well, see you.”

“Wait, what are you doing tomorrow?”

Brody froze. “Uh, why?” he asked cautiously.

“You’re new here, right?” Beau pointed behind him. “The woodland area is marvellous…if you like hiking. I could show you around.”

“The neighbourhood?” inquired Brody. “I wouldn’t mind a tour.”

Beau grinned. “Not the neighbourhood. The woods.”

Brody arched his brows. “You want to take me hiking in our condo’s backyard?”

Brody realised he was grinning too. He cursed himself for reading too much into it and allowing himself to think this was anything more than a platonic bromance friendship that would bloom to nothing more. Besides, Beau probably assumed Brody was straight too.

“Yeah, sure,” Brody found himself saying.

“Great. I’ll knock on your door at dawn. The forest is so peaceful early in the morning.”

Brody nodded emphatically before stepping into his condo. Once inside, he leaned against the door, exhaling a long breath as he puffed his cheeks.

“What the fuck did I just agree to? I’m not gonna sleep a wink!” Brody scrunched his brows together. “At dawn?’”

Brody was so not a morning person. He sighed and went back to scroll-stalking his neighbour.