Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
GUS
W hen Brittany grabbed his hand and pulled him into the crowd, Gus realized suddenly that this was exactly where he wanted to be twenty years from now, following Brittany on whatever adventure she had decided the day was going to be. It was humbling realizing so much of your happiness relied on a woman who had the ability to drive you out of your mind.
When they got to the bar, she somehow managed to shift people away, snagging a spot up front. She flagged down the bartender, who immediately changed directions to come help her, another of Brittany’s superpowers. She glanced at Gus.
“You still a beer drinker?”
“Just water. I’m technically working.”
Brittany frowned, but placed the order, then turned to him. He found himself leaning over her, almost shielding her with his body in his attempt to carve out privacy for them at the bar that was becoming more crowded by the second.
“What’s that face for?”
“I didn’t realize you considered this working,” she said.
“You’re at a public event, one that you had posted you would be attending.”
“You think the stalker would come here? There’s a guest list.”
“There are ways around that. I’m just making sure you’re safe.”
Still, she frowned, looking more bothered than Gus felt the situation warranted.
“What’s really the matter?”
After a short debate in her head, Brittany shrugged.
“I guess I just thought we could be here just as us, you know. Not working, not a client. Just… two people who like each other who get to hang out while they’re dressed really hot.”
Brittany looked uncomfortable as she said it, as if she hated how vulnerable she sounded, but all Gus could hear was the blood rushing in his ears.
“Hey.”
He let his hand slide to her waist, pulling her closer, closing his eyes at the feel of her body pressed up against his.
“I really, really like you,” he said into her ear.
“I’m not just a client?”
“You never were.”
She searched his eyes as if trying to find the lie, and Gus let her search. He was telling the truth, and he didn’t care if she knew.
Finally, she nodded, slipping her arm into his jacket and around his chest.
“I really, really like you, too.”
Their drinks arrived then, which they grabbed and made their way to a corner booth where Min, Hayden, Dev, Min’s mother, and Randall were all crammed in. Brittany slid in next to Randall, and Gus took his place next to her, her leg pressed up against his. Without thinking, Gus slipped his hand onto her thigh, letting it rest there with a possessive squeeze.
The next hour or so went by in a rush of catching up on everyone’s Kickoff experience, Randall’s sales, Dev’s latest role-playing game, and different panels. It was fun, more fun than Gus could remember having in recent experience, and he realized part of that was because he had missed these people. These were Brittany’s friends, after all, which meant that when she and Robbie broke it off, they no longer hung out with Gus. And Gus, a solitary introvert used to keeping to himself, didn’t realize how much he had missed being part of this family, even when he had just been the third wheel. These people, though, had never made him feel like that, and he marveled again at what an idiot Robbie was for ruining everything by cheating on Brittany.
A chair moved next to him, and Gus was ready for it before he even saw Theo plop himself down. He was out of his chef’s whites, in a button-up shirt and nice slacks, and was drawing more than a few interested glances from the people around them.
“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.”
Min burst out laughing just as Hayden shook his head.
“Only you would consider listening to Hayden’s speech about the launch something to get over,” she said.
“It’s been a long day, I wasn’t able to work on recipes, Rosa threatened to set the kitchen on fire if I tried to help with the service tonight, and I’m tired of hearing about what an awesome brother I am.”
Theo was disgruntled, crossing his arms in front of him. He threw Gus a look while he was ranting, clearly not done.
“And you’re banned from ever using the bathroom in my restaurant ever again.”
“What if it’s an emergency?”
“Then you better be kind to the bookshop next door, because you’re out of luck here, you heathen.”
Brittany clamped her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh while still looking pretty embarrassed by the whole situation. Gus squeezed her thigh, letting his hand slide a little higher.
“Worth it.”
The table burst out laughing, and then Hayden was standing, pulling Min from the booth.
“Excuse me, I’m going to go ‘get this over with.’”
Min waved, and they pushed their way over to where the party planner was waiting with a microphone.
Brittany breathed into Gus’s ear. “Worth it?”
“I would literally do everything exactly the same right now if I didn’t think Theo would kick us both out.”
Brittany laughed, leaning into him just as the music cut out. A spotlight moved to Hayden, where he was standing with Min, holding her hand.
“Hey, everyone,” his deep voice reverberated over the speakers. Cheers went up, and he waved them down to be quiet.
“I was told I had to give a speech, which I hate, so we’re going to be quick. This game was a work of love and wouldn’t be here without my brother, Theo.”
Theo waved at the applause, the lines of his face softening, his pride in Hayden showing through.
“Theo is a huge asshole, but he’s always been there for me, and I don’t know what I would do without him.”
Theo raised his glass, rolling his eyes at his brother before taking a drink, and Gus was suddenly struck with how different their relationship was from his and Robbie’s. They worked together on this game for years before Hayden was able to finish, and Theo was always supportive of Hayden’s dream. More importantly, before that, Hayden’s streaming helped to fund the restaurant, which turned into a smashing success. The brothers were there for each other, always, closer than they like others to see, and Gus suddenly realized that he and Robbie were not like that. He wouldn’t trust Robbie with money for a new career. When Robbie had first announced he was going to stream, Gus had assumed it was yet another weird ‘get rich quick’ scheme. And while Robbie had stuck with it longer than his last few jobs, Gus still wasn’t really convinced it was something that would keep him going. And Gus knew, without a doubt, if he needed anything… Gus knew Robbie wouldn’t be his first call for help. And that made him really, really sad.
Gus shifted his attention back to Hayden, who had been thanking various developers on the game, but had just gripped Min’s hand tighter, pulling her closer to his side.
“And most of all,” Hayden continued. “I want to thank this beautiful woman next to me.”
Catcalls from the crowd resounded, and Gus joined in as Brittany screamed loudly for her friends. Min blushed as Hayden turned to her.
“Min, you are everything I didn’t know I needed in my life. The game wouldn’t be here without you. My life would be a sad shadow of what it could be. You brought me out into the world and showed me love and beauty and exactly the best ways to kill zombies.”
The crowd laughed, then gasped as Hayden pulled a small box out of his pocket. From the way Min’s mouth was hanging open, she hadn’t known this was coming. Brittany was up, trying to kneel on the seat of the booth to get a better look, and Gus steadied her with a hand to her back.
“Min, I can’t imagine my life without you. You are essential to absolutely every aspect. So, once again, I’m going to do this big, public grand gesture, and hope like hell you’re willing to take a leap with me.”
He went down on one knee, and flashes went off around the crowd as everyone took pictures and video. Hayden slowly opened the box, and even from this distance, Gus could see the glint of a substantial diamond.
“Minerva Hayes, will you marry me?”
Tears were pouring out of Min’s eyes, but she was nodding “yes” as emphatically as she could. A cheer went up over the crowd as Hayden slipped the ring on her finger and then pulled her tight into an embrace. Brittany was doing her best to jump up and down on the seat as their entire table vied to be the loudest.
Brittany turned accusatory eyes to Theo.
“You knew he was going to do this.”
Theo shrugged.
“Of course, I did.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
“Well, I can’t believe you had sex in my bathroom, so I guess we’re even.”
Brittany laughed and rushed out of the booth with Devery and Iris, making their way over to where the newly engaged couple were taking pictures and accepting well wishes.
This left Gus alone at the table with Theo.
“Congrats, man,” Gus said, meaning it.
“Thanks.”
There was a wistfulness about Theo then, something Gus had never seen in the chef’s expression.
“You okay?”
Theo nodded.
“Yeah. It’s just… it’s been just me and him for so long, you know? It’s hard to think of another person being there with us. With him.”
Gus nodded, understanding. He felt the same way about Robbie.
“It’s hard watching your little brother grow up, I guess is what I’m saying. Especially when…” Theo’s voice trailed off, his eyes glancing back to the kitchen.
“Especially when you feel stuck?”
Theo met his eyes at that. Gus shrugged.
“I’m an older brother, too. And Robbie sure doesn’t have his shit together, but there are times when he’s out, or he’s streaming, or we’re just hanging, and he seems so happy I just sit there and wonder what I’m doing wrong. I spent our childhood taking care of him, and now he’s this adult doing adult things, and what am I doing with my life?”
Theo nodded to where Brittany was admiring Min’s new engagement ring.
“You doing something there?”
Gus let his eyes trail over to her, her cheeks flushed with excitement, her eyes watery with tears, so happy for her friend. A surge of affection flooded him. Gus nodded.
“I am.”
“Then I’m going to tell you. After you two left, your brother stuck around, throwing a tantrum, saying some dumb shit about how betrayed he felt. Said you two must have been going on behind his back this whole time, that he knew from the jump you had feelings for her but that he thought you would respect him and keep it in your pants.”
Gus’s anger rose. He knew Robbie wasn’t taking it well, but to have a public meltdown like that was too much.
“We didn’t do anything while they were together. I never saw her as anything but Robbie’s girl until this weekend. And he’s the dumb shit that cheated on her for months before she broke it off with him.”
“The point is, he’s playing the victim and writing a story. And he’s a guy with a pretty healthy platform to get that story out into the world.”
Gus snorted. “I’m not on social media. I don’t care what his followers say.”
“You’re not. Brittany is.”
Gus’s heart dropped. Brittany had more followers than Robbie, had been building her channel for a lot longer and acquired very loyal fans. But the internet was vicious and sexist. If Robbie painted her as the villain, trolls would be all too eager to agree and jump on that bandwagon. Gus realized vaguely that he was gripping his glass of water too tightly.
“I’ll talk to him.”
“You need to. If you want this thing with Brittany to go any further than this weekend.”
Just then, a shorter woman in a chef’s coat stormed up to their table and leaned down to Theo, getting in his face. Gus recognized her as one of the audience who caught him and Brittany in the bathroom before, but now with an extremely murderous expression. Theo, however, merely gave her a bored look.
“It is counterproductive of you to move everything in the kitchen after I have reorganized it.” She was practically biting her words through her teeth, radiating anger.
Theo didn’t even flinch. “Your reorganization was impractical. The staff couldn’t find anything and were stumbling to complete the complicated recipes you left for them to prep because nothing was where it should be.”
If anything, the woman seemed to get angrier, and Gus started to wonder if he should step in.
“Why even hire me if you don’t let me do my job? You think I don’t notice you undermining me at every opportunity?”
“If you were doing your job correctly, I wouldn’t have to undermine you.”
Even Gus knew that wasn’t the thing to say. The woman straightened immediately, glaring at Theo for a moment before starting on the buttons of her jacket.
“Chef, consider this my notice. I think we can both agree I’m not a good fit for your restaurant.”
Theo finally blinked. “You’re really going to do this in the middle of a party we’re catering?”
“You’ve left me no choice.”
Her jacket was off, revealing the tank top and her sleeve tattoos she had hidden underneath, her full curves suddenly on display, which was probably part of the reason Theo was sitting up.
“This is unprofessional.”
“ You are unprofessional. I don’t care what an opportunity this is, you have made the situation horrendous and I won’t subject myself to it anymore. Your staff is lovely. You should give them a raise. But you and your Michelin star can fuck off.”
She stormed out, Theo’s eyes tracking her through the crowded restaurant until she was out the door, before relaxing back into his chair, looking both troubled and relieved.
Gus took a sip of his water, feeling awkward.
“It’s for the best,” Theo said. “Her bechamel was sub-par.”
Gus nodded as if he knew what that meant.
“And now she’s left in the middle of her shift. Who does that?”
“People who are fed up with their bosses?” Gus ventured. Gus wasn’t close with Theo, but the chef had a reputation for being loud and emotional. He demanded a lot from those who worked under him and didn’t take criticism well.
“If you can’t take me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best. You know?”
Gus shot him a look.
“Are you at your worst?”
Theo looked away.
“If so, you might need to look into that. Because it might be why you feel stuck.”
“Strong words coming from a guy dating his brother’s ex.”
Gus felt the deflection for what it was and refused to rise to the bait. He stood up.
“Sorry, I only have room for one unreasonable person in my life and that position is currently taken by my brother. You might actually have to do some soul-searching here.”
Gus turned and walked toward Brittany, leaving Theo to think about the mess he had made for himself, grateful that he had moved beyond the need to self-sabotage and was ready to admit exactly what he wanted.
Brittany.