Ray quickly turned off his alarm as it went off. He could feel Kyle squirm at the noise, but quickly snuggled into his back. The smaller man wiggled back into his large muscular body. "Sorry bud. Duty calls..." Ray kissed the back of his neck and worked his arm out from under Kyle's body. It was a bit of a struggle with Kyle fighting at it, but he was still successful. Then with a quick shower and a change into his bright yellow hi-vis shirt and muddy jeans. Didn't matter how often he washed them, they always seemed to carry at least a little bit of dirt around with them.
He slid on his boots and headed towards his truck. Something about today felt a bit off, but Ray couldn't quite place it. He shrugged it off and pumped his country music. The feeling quickly faded as he pulled up onto the construction site. It was still early in the morning and the cold chill filled the air. He breathed out a heavy breath and headed over to the other guys. They were standing in the usual circle, talking about the usual.
"YO! Maybe Ray can help you out," Matt shouted. He was big and loud. Mostly in his belly, but being 6'4" he also stood a good head taller than most of the other guys. Everyone but Ray.
"Never mind," Donovan shrunk back in on himself. "Don't worry about it."
"Worry about what?" Ray turned his head. Donovan wasn't one to shy away from conversation. He liked to joke and rib on everyone just as much as the next guy.
"Well," Matt pushed forward again. "Seeing as you're a fruit and all--"
"DUDE! Seriously?!" one of the guys interrupted. Some of the others hid their chuckles.
Matt ignored them, still smiling to himself. "Seeing as you're a fruit and all, Donny here was wondering what he should buy his son."
"Jackson's not gay!" Donovan shouted. "He's just--"
"Artistic," Matt said. Making sure to add as much sarcasm to his voice as possible.
Donovan let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah... Artistic," he repeated. The other guys sustained their suppressed chuckles. Donovan tried to ignore them, but he knew they all were thinking the same thing. Jackson wasn't exactly masculine. Donovan knew that. Any attempt to get him into sports was a complete failure. That was the same with any other kind of thing Donovan enjoyed as well. So, he just tried to encourage him the best he could. Even if Donovan had no interest in whatever it was.
"Well," Ray said. The confidence in his voice quelled the others laughter. "I did find this website a little while ago. Has a full money back guarantee if you're not 100% satisfied. Why don't you try that?"
"Yeah?" Donovan leaned forward.
"Yeah man. Kyle loved the present I bought him. And can't say that I didn't enjoy mine either," Ray smiled. "Delivers really fast too."
"Really..?" Donovan leaned forward. "Alright what is it?"
Ray pulled out his phone then pulled up the website. "It's got like everything too. Anything that you could possibly want and more."
"Really..?" Donovan continued to scroll through the selections, unsure where to even start. He went through art supplies and computer programming stuff and just didn't know what to do. He finally settled on a pen set that was surprisingly cheap. He'd bought one before and it felt like he was spending a fortune on something that really should have been a lot cheaper. Then clicked the purchase button.
'Estimated delivery time: 2pm'
"Oh shit," Donovan said. "That fast?!"
"That fast," Ray said.
"But Jackson gets back from his college class around 1. I don't want him to accidently open it before I get home."
Matt stepped forward. "Just send it to my house. I'll drop it off tomorrow."