by Meika Usher
5: Nate
“I’m just saying,” my younger brother, Aidan, said the next morning. “This is a really great opportunity. We should at least take a look.”
We were in the stockroom at Floppies, my comic book store, taking inventory. Aidan had been working for me for the last year or so, since he graduated college. It’d been a good call. With his MBA and enthusiasm, he’d brought a lot of fresh ideas to the table.
Including this one.
Even if it was a little...ambitious.
“That’s easy for you to say,” I replied as I ran the blade of my box cutter along the tape on the box I was unpacking. “Opening a second location will be costly. Not to be blunt, but...it’s not your money to spend.”
“Well, no.” Aidan grabbed another box and pulled the tape away from the seam, sans sharp object. How did he do that? I was useless without my box cutter. “I know it’s not. But...what if it was?”
I paused, my hand around a stack of fresh, crisp comic books. “What do you mean?”
“I mean...” He pushed a hand through his close-cropped black hair. “What if I wanted to be your, uh, partner?”
The comic books tumbled back into the box and he flinched. “Partner?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes on his face. His brows were drawn together, mouth thinned. Aidan was my baby brother. Twenty-seven and just married. Last I knew, newlyweds didn’t have a ton of money to throw around.
“What does Davis think of this?”
At the mention of his husband, he cringed. “He, uh, doesn’t exactly know I’ve been considering it.” His eyes widened, the dim overhead light of the stockroom catching in their dark brown depths. “But I’m going to tell him! It’s not like I’m keeping secrets. I would never do that. I just...I wanted to run it by you first.”
Setting my box cutter aside, I wiped my hands on my jeans. “What, exactly, are you running by me, Aidan?”
I’d been running this comic book store for damn near a decade now. And I was proud as hell of that. Most small businesses failed pretty fast. And, yeah, I’d circled the drain for a while. But I worked my ass off, and now here I was.
And now here Aidan was. Trying to convince me to look at a property across town. Trying to talk me into opening a second location.
“Well, I was just thinking.” Aidan pushed away from the stack of boxes he’d been working on and started to pace. “I’ve been working here for a long time. I know the store inside and out. Almost as well as you do.” He paused to straighten a stack of overstock books on the shelf to his left. “It...it just makes sense to...”
“To what?” I asked, curiosity keeping me from returning to my task.
“To, I don’t know...invest in the second location and...maybe run it?”
I sank down on the stack of unpacked boxes behind me. “Wow. Aidan, that’s—“
“A big deal, I know.” He put his hands out in front of him. “Believe me, I know. But...I don’t know. I think I can do it.”
“I think you can, too,” I said frankly. “But aren’t you and Davis talking about adopting? Isn’t that expensive?”
“Yes, and yes.” Aidan sat on the boxes opposite mine and leaned his elbows on his knees. “And that’s why I want to do this.”
“Starting a business isn’t cheap.” I met his eye. Now wasn’t the time for pussyfooting. “And the odds of failing are high.”
Aidan didn’t hesitate. “I know. But we wouldn’t be starting a business. You already started it.” He straightened, his shoulders squared. “And, with your fame, I think we’d have a lot of success with a second location.”
Fame.
There was that word again.
Why was everyone so fixated on that? First Marissa-Melissa, now Aidan. In a matter of hours.
A couple years ago, the comic book my best friend and I co-wrote suddenly hit it big. One moment, Zombitch was this obscure little story about a woman battling the zombie apocalypse. Then, everyone seemed to know about it. And it only got bigger.
Six months ago, CyberPixel optioned it for their newest video game release. So...yeah, I got Aidan’s point. And it was a good one.
“I wouldn’t say I’m famous,” I muttered as I picked at the tape on a box to my right. “I’m not on the same level as Chris—Evans or Hemsworth—by any means.”
“Well, no.” Aidan grinned. “You’re not really Avenger material.”
I suppressed a smile. “Fuck off. I could be an Avenger if I wanted.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” he said as he threw a wad of bubble wrap my way.
I deflected it with all the grace of an overfed penguin. He was right. I was not now, nor had I ever been, Avenger material. He was also right about the...I swallowed a grimace...fame. It could only help business.
“I don’t know,” I said aloud, steepling my fingers under my chin. “It’s still a risk.”
“I know.” Aidan stood, then promptly sat back down. “Believe me, I know. And I’m not coming to you on a whim. I’ve done a lot of thinking. And planning. And research.” Launching to his feet again, he crossed the small space and dug through his ragged backpack. “In fact...here.”
He held out a thick binder, the words Floppies Part Two emblazoned on the cover.
“What’s this?” I asked as I reached for it.
“Research.” He sat again, his eyes earnest on my face. “I told you, I’m not taking this lightly.”
I tore my eyes from him to investigate the hefty binder. The first page was a summary of what I’d find inside, including a tidy, easy-to-read chart. Business projections, budget, expenses. The whole shebang. Impressive.
“You don’t have to decide anything right now,” Aidan said, his words tumbling out like Sonic the Hedgehog barreling through a checkpoint. “Just...think about it?”
I closed the binder and looked up. Right now, in this moment, he looked so much younger than his twenty-seven years. And yet somehow older, too. Like a responsible adult, ready to make big, grown-up decisions.
I glanced at the binder again. He put so much work into this. Not surprising, really, considering his MBA from Sutcliffe. And, honestly, my life was about to get a lot more hectic, what with the Zombitch video game and all the promotional stuff that was sure to come along with it. Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to hand over the reins for a little while. As a test run.
“Tell you what,” I said, meeting his eye again. “I’ll read through this.” I tapped a finger against the binder. “And you talk to Davis. I mean, he’s your husband. He’s got a stake, too.”
Not to mention, they had Davis’s son to provide for, but I didn’t think I needed to point that out to Aidan.
He nodded solemnly. “I will. Tonight.” And then, after a few beats of silence, he added, “But you have to really think about it, Nate. I know you’re comfortable with how everything’s going right now, but sometimes a little change is a good thing.”
Aidan stood and went back to his boxes before I could ask him what he meant. Not that I needed to. He’d simply echoed the sentiments of my entire family. Time for a change, my mother had said just last week. Honestly, I was pretty sure she’d only said it to, somehow, convince me that thirty-one was too old to be unmarried. Too old to not be giving her grandchildren.
But our older brother, James, was on baby number three. Aidan and Davis had Riley, and planned to adopt. And, well, just because I had the equipment to make babies, didn’t mean I was obligated to use it.
Besides, one had to actually have sex to make children.
Shoving that thought aside, I stood, too. No time to think about the travesty that was my sex life. There were boxes to unpack.
6: Birdie
Later the next night, I headed to my sister’s place for our monthly game night, seven-layer dip in tow. I doubted Ben would have let me in if I’d forgotten. Which, honestly, wouldn’t have been such a bad thing.
Game nights were not my usual scene, but I showed. I showed and I gamed and I had a good time.
No, really. It was fun.
But tonight, I wasn’t feeling it.
It’d been a weird day. Shelly, the owner of Rusty’s, had pulled me aside to remind me that my contract was coming up for renewal soon.
“I really hope you’re considering it,” she’d said, her face sincere. “I think you’d get a lot out of another year here.”
Another year.
A year.
I’d already been there for three.
Rusty’s was never supposed to be a long-term thing. I’d done my apprenticeship there, but I always planned to move on after. Except...Rusty’s had its hooks in. I loved it. I loved the clients and the other artists and the environment. I loved that it was one of the best shops in the state, and that working there earned me a certain amount of prestige.
But I’d gotten comfortable.
Maybe it was time I got uncomfortable.
Exhaling heavily, I knocked on Sunny’s door with my boot and slapped on my happy face. I’d obsess about work later.
Ben pounced as soon as I entered, taking the dip off my hands. I’d told him a couple months ago that I could teach him how to make it, but he insisted that it was better when I did it. Code for: “I’m too lazy and so I’ll flatter you into doing it for me.”
I rolled my eyes and turned to Sunny as he disappeared into the kitchen. “He’s ridiculous. You know that, right?”
Sunny nodded solemnly. “I know.” And then she looped her arm through mine and pulled me into the living room. “There are new people tonight,” she whispered as we entered. “Be nice.”
“Why do you even have to tell me that?” I pulled my arm from hers and gave her a dirty look. “You’re the one who can’t be nice to strangers.”
“I know. Which is why I’m telling you. I’m gonna, like, take my cue from you.”
I laughed. Loud. “Oh, my darling, weird, cranky sister.” I pulled her in for a hug. An obnoxiously tight hug. “I kinda, sorta love you.”
“You, too,” she mumbled against my chest—she was way shorter than me, which put her face at boob level. “Now let me go.”
I obeyed and turned her to face the room. “Who are we looking at?”
“Well, you know Jude and Cat.” She motioned with her hand, pointing out our older brother and his fiancée. They sat across from a new couple. There was where my attention focused. Sunny tilted her head toward them. “Tierney and Jack. Cat’s best friend and her husband.”
I narrowed my eyes on the new couple. A pretty, pregnant, dark-haired woman was leaning into a guy—also dark-haired, and very cute. In the way that chocolate lab puppies were cute. “They look nice,” I said to Sunny, who stood in front of me. I rested my chin on her head. She hated when I did that. “Like, maybe you shouldn’t kill them.”
“Teach me your ways,” she whispered, taking my hand to pull me into the room. Everyone looked up. “Look who I found!”
“Hey, Bird.” Jude stood and pulled me in for a hug. I hugged him back. Big bro had managed to maintain his position as one of my favorite people, even though he was so irritatingly perfect I often wanted to, like, mess up his hair or rumple his shirts. Something to mar the perfection.
Cat—his fiancée—stood, too, and hugged me. Where Jude was walking perfection, Cat was walking chaos. A tiny, fiery redhead who’d knocked Jude’s world off its axis four years ago and hadn’t stopped since.
I liked her.
Cat made quick work of introducing her friends, and I took the empty seat next to Jack. He shifted to introduce himself, and I caught a whiff of...
“Why do you smell like pie?”
Beside him, his wife laughed. “He owns a bakery,” she explained. “Molly’s, down on Riverview?”
“Oh!” I shifted to face them better. “I love that place!”
Jack grinned—I’d say modestly, but there was nothing modest about it. “Thanks.” Then, he rested his chin on his hand. “So, uh...what’s your favorite thing on the menu?”
Tierney rolled her eyes, but her smile never faltered. With a shake of her head, she turned her attention back to Cat.
Jack and I had just settled into friendly, dessert-related conversation—I was doing my job and demonstrating small talk for Sunny—when a knock sounded throughout the room.
“Got it!” Ben called from the kitchen. He’d probably eaten most of that dip himself by now.
I didn’t have to look up to know who it was. Nate never missed a game night. He was too polite for that. Not to mention, Sunny probably would’ve kicked his ass. And, let me tell you, she was small, but she was scary.
“Hey, sorry I’m late.” Nate entered the room, looking harried and flushed. And cute.
I hadn’t talked to him since he awkwardly—and adorably—flirted with me last night. I found my eyes taking another journey across his face as I relived the moment, a smile curving my lips at the memory.
“I couldn’t find my keys,” he continued as he pulled off his warm-looking black wool coat and draped it over the chair that had collected everyone else’s coats. The weather had taken a sharp dip today. Smelled like snow out there.
Actually, it smelled like snow in here. Nate must’ve brought it in with him.
Now that he’d disrobed, he plopped down on the couch next to me and leaned over me, extending his hand to Jack. “I’m Nate,” he said without waiting for an introduction.
How had his people skills not rubbed off on my sister in all the years they’d been friends?
“All right.” Ben joined us, snacks in hand. “Who’s ready to get their asses kicked?”
I stifled an eye roll. Ben was competitive AF when it came to game nights. Whether it was Charades, Cards Against Humanity, or Monopoly, he had to win. The last three times, I’d conquered him in every game. I was on a hot streak. And he was not thrilled.
Hence the almost-manic look in his eye right now.
“Well,” I said, sinking into the sofa. “Evidence would suggest that it’s you. You’re ready to get your ass kicked.”
Across from me, Cat snorted. “Come on, Birdie,” she said when Ben shot her a look. “Give the guy a chance. Dignity and manhood and whatnot.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Ben’s manhood is not my responsibility.”
A few snickers scattered throughout the room, but I did not look to see their owners. I held Ben’s eye instead. “What do you have in mind, Benny?”
Ben straightened his shoulders until he was almost taller. “Oh, I know just the game.” And then he vanished down the hall.
“If he brings out Monopoly, I’m calling it a night,” Jude declared, throwing his arm around Cat. “Last time we played, Cat and I didn’t speak for three days.”
“Bet you still boned like bunnies, though,” Tierney said wryly.
“Well, obviously,” Cat replied, her hand sliding suggestively across Jude’s thigh. “Have you seen this guy? Not boning him would be wasteful.”
Sunny gagged, loud and dramatic, from her place across the room. “Could we not discuss my brother in such a manner?”
“Please,” Cat shot back. “Wasn’t it you last week that was talking about Ben’s sweet, sweet ass and how you wanted to take a bite out of it?”
“What about my sweet ass?” Ben asked as he re-entered the room. Sans Monopoly, which I was sure everyone was thrilled about.
“Nothing,” Sunny answered, shooting a glare in Cat’s direction. “Do not inflate this man’s ego any more than it already is. He’ll blow the roof right off this place.”
“Please, Sunshine,” Ben said, dropping a kiss on the top of Sunny’s head. “I already know you love my ass. And my arms. And my shoulders. And that thing I do with my—“
“Hey, Ben,” I cut in before he could finish the sentence. Because, awkward. “What game you got there?”
Ben grinned and held up a hand, brandishing...a deck of Uno cards.
Shit.
7: Nate
The color drained from Birdie’s face. Which was the weirdes
t reaction I’d ever seen anyone have to a deck of Uno cards.
Ben grinned, victorious before actually obtaining victory. “Birdie is notoriously bad at Uno.”
“How can you be bad at Uno?” Jack asked. “Isn’t it just matching colors?”
“Oh, sweet Jack,” Ben said, reaching over to ruffle Jack’s hair. “It’s so much more.”
Jack looked from Ben to Birdie to his wife, worry furrowing his brow. “I do not have a good feeling about this.”
“Yeah, no.” I settled further into my seat. “This isn’t good,” I told him. “The last time these two played Uno, one of them got stabbed with a pencil.”
Jack’s eyes widened. “You serious? Who?”
“It was one time!” Birdie said, throwing her hands into the air. “And I was ten!”
“Still,” Ben said, rubbing his arm. He did his best to look pitiful. And failed. “Some scars don’t fade.”
“We have two options here, sweetheart,” Jude said, turning to Cat. “Either we stay and watch the bloodbath, or we head home. Where it’s safe and no one gets stabbed.”
“You kidding?” she replied, excitement written all over her face. “Bloodbath, please.”
A sigh of resignation left Jude. I had the feeling there were a lot of those in that relationship. “All right.” Jude looked from Cat to Ben, then settled on Birdie. “I’m gonna need you to empty your pockets, please.”
“Oh, come on.” Birdie rolled her eyes. “I haven’t stabbed a man in years, Jude.”
“We’re not taking any chances.” He held out his hand. “You’re an adult now. You can be tried as such.”
Beside me, Jack watched the entire exchange with fascination. “You know,” he whispered to me. “Just when you think your family is messed up...”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head, somber. “No one is as screwy as these guys.”
“Hey!” Sunny said, indignant. “Not all of us are screwy.”
I lifted my brows. “Oh, really? Remind me, which one of you has a creepy puppet thing hanging in their room?”