Second Hand: A Tucker Springs Novel 2

disappointed he was. “Well, that’s okay,” he lied.
Paul shook his head. “I can’t go with you, not until I take care of something. Because I have something to pawn.”
“What?” El said, coming to full attention.
Paul sat down beside him and held out his hand. El frowned down at the molten mess for several seconds, but just when he was about to ask what the fuck was going on, he saw the gold smear across what looked like the remains of a cellphone. What could only be a diamond glinted from the center of the keypad.
El bit his cheek to stop his smile. “Are you selling or pawning?”
“Well, I don’t want it back,” Paul replied, not even bothering to hide his grin.
El took the melted mess from his lover and pretended to consider it, in part to let himself savor the moment. “I don’t know how much it’s worth. You held onto it too long, and the value’s gone way down.”
Paul’s hand slid up El’s leg. “If I can’t sell it, maybe I could work out a trade?”
“Maybe.” El set the cellphone and ring merger onto the bedside table and drew Paul onto his lap. “I could take it, but in exchange, you have to go to the picnic.”
“Well, yes, that was what I meant—”
“I’m not done,” El said, holding him off. “You have to come with me, and I get to introduce you as my boyfriend.”
Paul was smiling now. “Okay.”
“And then later we’re going to go to Lights Out, and I’m going to wear you as arm candy all night and introduce you to my friends. Then I’m going to make out with you on the dance floor again, and on the patio, and probably we’ll steal Jase’s key so I can do you in his office. Then tomorrow I’m going to close the shop and spend the day getting to know your mother, because I really, really like her.”
Paul was beaming. “Fine with me.”
El’s throat threatened to close, but he swallowed hard, and took Paul’s face in his hands. “You’re going to stay with me at least for now, and if you want I’ll help hook you up with a reasonably sized apartment, but it’s going to be close to the shop, and you aren’t moving out until your mother has gone and I have fucked you and you’ve fucked me in every square inch of this place, and maybe down in the shop too.”
“It’s a deal.”
The last bit stuck in El’s throat, but he pushed it through. “I’m sorry I was such a dick about the ring, about making you rush. I kept worrying you’d come to your senses and ditch me.”
Paul caught El’s hand and kissed the back of it, holding El’s gaze as he spoke. “All I want is to be with you, Emanuel. You aren’t my first choice or my second choice. You’re my only choice.”
If Denver could have seen El right then, he’d have laughed his meaty head off at what a sappy moment he’d found himself in. It wasn’t just happily ever after—it was the schmaltzy Disney ending, the old-school kind with the warbly-voiced opera singers and tinny orchestra swell.
El loved every moment of it.
Paul’s expression became mock-serious. “So, about this trade. I really need to unload this. Tell me what you need. I’ll agree to whatever terms you want, El. Just so long as I get to be with you.”
“That’s enough for me,” El said, drew their mouths together, and sealed the bargain with a kiss.

Acknowledgments
    Thanks to Hillari Hoerschelman and Jill Sorenson for Spanish help; and to Dan, Signy, and Rowan Speedwell for being the ultimate betas, as usual.

also by
Heidi Cullinan
    Sweet Son
Special Delivery Double Blind
Nowhere Ranch Dance With Me Hero
Miles and the Magic Flute The Wounds in the Walls The Seventh Veil Temple Boy
The Pirate’s Game A Private Gentleman
    Coming Soon:
Dirty Laundry
Family Man (with Marie Sexton)

also by
Marie Sexton
    One More Soldier Promises
A to Z
The Letter Z
Strawberries for Dessert Paris A to Z
Between Sinners and Saints Song of Oestend Saviours of Oestend Blind Space
Cinder
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: A Clandestine Classic
    Coming Soon:
Family Man (with Heidi Cullinan)

about
the Authors
    Heidi Cullinan has always loved a good love story, provided it has a happy ending. She enjoys writing across many genres but loves above all to write happy, romantic endings for LGBT characters because there just aren’t enough of those stories out there. When Heidi isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, reading, knitting, listening to music, and watching television with her husband and ten-year-old daughter. Heidi also volunteers