Chapter 5
Logan
I walked into the bar whistling. Damn, this was a good day. Not only had I decided to buy the building, but I’d gotten the good news I could renovate it as I wished and within the budget I’d saved up for.
Plus I had a hot date lined up.
It’d been a minute since I’d dated, so I debated on what the first text should be. Not a sext, that was for sure. A man like Gage needed some proper wooing. Maybe start easy, yeah, figure out a location and time for our date.
Gage had not expected me to ask him out, that much had been obvious.
The surprise on his face had been almost comical.
I’d never seen a Pikachu face in real life before.
He’d rallied quickly, though, and I loved how flattered and excited he’d been when exchanging phone numbers.
Apparently I was his type? Just a guess, but pretty sure I was right.
The look of hunger on his face as I’d straddled my bike had been pretty telling.
He was without a doubt my type. I had a thing for nerds, especially the tall, sexy ones who oozed competence. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him.
Some people, knowing Gage had a troublesome little brother, would hesitate to ask him out. I wasn’t some people. I could handle the brother. If things went well, and I landed boyfriend status, maybe I could even help with the brother. I’d have to see how things panned out.
Damn, I hadn’t been on a proper date in over a year. I wasn’t even sure what Gage was into—something I’d have to figure out.
Heather stood behind the bar doing some deep cleaning. We had a few spots that needed a strong disinfectant, and she’d volunteered to do it for extra pay, which I was more than willing to provide. I’d come in for paperwork, mostly, but was happy to see her scrubbing down the bar.
“Good news, Logan?”
“Good news on top of good news,” I answered as I joined her.
Heather was one of the first hires I’d ever made, and I considered her a friend, so I had no problem spilling the tea.
“First, the building is a go. The contractors I hired gave it a once-over and said the renovations will actually be easy, as the top and bottom floors were originally one room to begin with. So I put in an offer on the building.”
Heather high-fived me. “Yes!”
“I’m super stoked, for sure.”
“What’s our timeline for moving in?”
“They need to do a full inspection first. Not sure what all’s broken. I have a feeling it’s going to be about six months? Give or take.”
“Ah, so this is more like a winter move in.”
“Probably.” I wasn’t too bothered. I knew renovations took time.
“All right, so…I’m sensing something else is making you happy. ’Cause a six-month wait wouldn’t make me happy.” Her brown eyes narrowed, and she poked me with a manicured pink nail.
“I”—my smugness was obvious even to my own ears—“have a date.”
She blinked. “How’d you wrangle a date while looking at a building?”
“Asked out the structural engineer.”
“Ha! Wait, wait, I just remembered, you hired that gay renovation company.”
“I did.” She’d put the pieces together, judging from her face.
“So how yummy is the structural engineer?”
“On a scale of one to ten, he’s a solid twenty.”
Heather whistled, eyes dancing. “Look at you, actually asking a man out. I’m so proud. When’s your date?”
“We exchanged numbers to figure out a plan. Speaking of, I’m gonna go pretend to do paperwork and shit.”
“Uh-huh.” Heather shooed me on, smile indulgent. “I am here for advice on where to take him. Please hear that as I want to be kept updated.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I quickly absconded to the back, because I wasn’t letting moss grow on this rolling stone. Plus, I actually needed to do some bookkeeping, pay some bills, that kind of stuff. The second I entered the office, I closed the door and then immediately plopped into my chair.
Now, how to phrase a text to sound right. Well, let’s start with logistics.
Me: Hey Gage—
Wait, should I say Hey sexy instead? No, sounded cheesy. Let’s stick with Gage for now.
Me: When’s a good day and time for a date?
I wasn’t expecting an immediate response, and didn’t get one, so I opened my laptop and signed in.
Ding!
Oh? Hopeful, I lifted my phone, and a few butterflies performed some loop the loops in my stomach when I realized he’d responded already.
Gage: I’m open Saturday and Sunday. I know that’s busy times for you, though. I can also do Thursday night.
My, my, he was thoughtful. How could this man get sexier? It was a real talent.
Me: Thursday night’s better for me. Say, six?
Three bouncing dots, and then Gage’s text came through. Six is great. BTW legit had no idea you were interested. My coworker is going to laugh at me all week.
Good thing I’d straight-up asked, then. Rolling a 1 on perception, huh?
I’d thrown that out deliberately to see if he was geeky at all. If he was, he’d get the reference.
Gage responded with laughing emojis and You, on the other hand, rolled a nat 20 on charisma.
Oh! Not only was he a geek, but he thought me charming? Hell yeah. I did a mental happy dance.
Me: I thank you for the compliment. Now, I said dinner, but what do you eat? Or not eat?
I switched his contact from Gage, because that was boring, to Hopefully Boyfriend.
Hopefully Boyfriend: No sushi but I like just about all cuisines
Me: Why no sushi?
Hopefully Boyfriend: It’s a texture thing, I don’t like it. Mushrooms either
All right, I could work with that. You like Korean?
Hopefully Boyfriend: Sure, love it
Me: I know a good place in West Bloomfield, I’ll pick you up. Address?
He shot it to me. Mental note, clean out the Jeep. I couldn’t take a date out in the Jeep’s current state.
Hopefully Boyfriend: You’re using DnD references, so do you play?
Rueful, I typed, When I can find a group, yeah. I know I don’t look like a fantasy nerd.
Hopefully Boyfriend: You don’t but I like you better for it
Oh, he and I were going to have fun dating. I could see this now. Just this single hobby in common looked promising.
Hopefully Boyfriend: I can’t keep chatting, I gotta work, but chat with you later?
Me: Sure.
I should have been working as well, but I was delighted he’d responded so quickly.
Another text came through and I switched chats to find my little sister had texted me.
A lot of people in my shoes wouldn’t have a good relationship with Erin.
My parents had only wanted girls, and after five sons, they’d managed it.
Erin was the baby, the golden child, and Mommy and Daddy’s little princess.
She’d been spoiled with presents and no consequences her entire life.
Somehow, despite that, she’d grown up to be a good person.
In fact, she was tired of our parents’ shit.
She was seventeen now and already eyeing the door, planning her escape.
She couldn’t take the smothering for much longer, and frankly, no one expected my parents to handle it well when she came out to them as a lesbian.
They liked her in pretty pastels and with long hair.
Erin couldn’t wait to chop her hair off and pull on some combat boots.
I was as close to her as I could be, since I wasn’t allowed anywhere near her, and we texted a lot to make up for the fact. She was leaning on me to help her escape our parents’ house, and I was happy to help. I wanted her out, too.
She always texted me when our parents weren’t around and deleted our texts to keep them from finding out. They frequently checked her phone. I think they sensed she already had one foot out the door.
Erin: Bro, talk me down from the ledge
That bad a start to the day, huh? Hit me
Erin: Mom forced me into a pink dress and white sandals this morning
Me: Wth why
Erin: ’Cause I’m not dressing feminine enough. It’s giving the wrong signal for boys. Plus she’s trying to get rid of all my pants and make me wear a goddamn slip under the skirts, to be “modest” or some shit
Erin: She was talking about getting me UGGs and showed me this magazine of Christian girls. The outfits make me want to hurl
Erin: I cannot get her to compromise on me at least wearing jeans. She keeps saying something like, the jeans are “too revealing of my legs” or some shit
I groaned. That was so typical of my mother’s logic. Remember orange is not your color
Erin: I’m going to burn all of these damn clothes, film it, and post it on social media
Erin: Just see if I don’t
Me: Go for it. Maybe she’ll get a fucking clue then
Erin: Bro you fr rn?
Me: Yep
Erin: BET *string of imp-smile emojis*
Should I have encouraged her? Eh, maybe not, but our mother was doing her best to cram Erin into being the precious little girl she’d wanted.
It was part of why Erin rebelled—because their perfect image wasn’t her, and she’d realized our parents didn’t actually love her.
They loved the idea of her. Kid was smart enough to know the score.
Which meant my parents were about to lose all their kids, ’cause Erin was already talking about going no contact with them the second she escaped their house.
Their sons had cut them off years ago, the second we’d left.
Maybe it would be a wake-up call to the parents.
I wasn’t counting on it, but miracles could happen.
I did try to encourage her. 49 days
Erin: And counting
Erin’s birthday was August twenty-sixth, and her goal was to move out the second she turned eighteen.
She’d finish senior year living with me, and then I’d help her through trade school, as she wanted to be a mechanic.
My parents would no doubt lose their shit, but she’d be eighteen.
There would be nothing they could do at that point. Although I was sure they’d try.
Right now, with it being summer, she had a hard time escaping our mother’s attention. Mom was a stay-at-home mother, always had been, so Erin was likely feeling smothered. I felt bad for the kid. Still, she was just under two months away from freedom. She only had to hold out until then.
Erin: Gtg
Mom had probably come back in. It was sad Erin had to hide so much of herself from the parents who claimed to love her.
With a sigh, I put my phone down. Gage wasn’t the only one with a sibling in trouble. The difference was Cooper was trying to ruin his life in every way possible, while Erin was trying to build hers into a better future. Still, I could relate to the man.
I turned my attention back to the bills, as they needed paying, even though I wasn’t a fan. The bar did well, at least. I never struggled to pay bills or employees.
Erin had said she wanted to work part-time for me once she moved out, but I was on the fence.
Students should study; I didn’t want her stressing about money and such.
Although I might set her up with a bank account to manage, let her get some experience.
It was something I’d struggled with the first four years of being an adult.
Managing money and gaining the right instincts for how to handle it were things that grew over time.
I didn’t want Erin making the same mistakes I had.
A year of managing an account, with me nearby to help her out, seemed the saner way to approach it.
Of course I’d need to have her on hand, with license and such, to open an account. Our parents would seize the account and use it as another means to control her if she had it any sooner. They’d barely let her get her license this year, despite her being ready to take the test at sixteen.
Ooh, car. I’d need to help her get a car, too. I wouldn’t be able to act as her shuttle. I had a business to run. Better for her to have her own wheels, anyway. She wanted to find a cute girlfriend, and no one wanted their older brother hanging around on a date.
I pulled up my personal bank account, thought through expenses and such, and decisively opened another savings account before shuffling several thousand into it.
There, savings started. I could give the money to her when she opened her own account.
She wouldn’t be able to walk onto a car lot and get a Lamborghini or something, but she’d be able to get decent wheels if she did some smart shopping.
If she wanted to be a mechanic, learning how to shop for a car was a good first step.
I had a feeling I’d need to lawyer up at some point to make my parents back off.
They were not going to take it well when she moved out and cut contact.
They also wouldn’t be able to admit they’d screwed up royally with their kids.
Literally no one in the family approved of how they’d handled their children, but the harsh opinions hadn’t swayed them any.
Protecting Erin was going to be expensive, but y’know, my sister was worth every penny.