Sadly, the buzz of his phone drew him to his other pocket. Ugh. His sister was calling him yet again. He sent her to voicemail. Hopefully, she’d check her texts and realize Kaiden had work. Slayer’s Brush had a pretty routine schedule, excluding the monthly event or two, which meant Kaiden was out for the evening and unable to help around the house. A problem for later. Right now, he focused on the fundraiser.
Kaiden approached Rus, figuring since he had hours to work off according to Dylan, he might as well get the storage room set up faster. “Hey, I need your help setting up the storage room.”
“No,” Rus said, taking a deep inhale of his cigarette.
“Um, yes.” Kaiden batted his eyes, conveying his aggravation.
“I was told I just had to show up.”
“Unless an emergency came up.” Kaiden shrugged. “And look? Here’s the emergency. Thanks, friend.”
Rus ground his teeth, shooting Kaiden a menacing glare. Too bad all Kaiden saw was an angry purse puppy when he looked down at Rus.
“Come along.” Kaiden strutted ahead, walking with a swagger in his hips, feeling a little extra confident with each step.
He hoped to maintain this vigor and pep through the evening. Dylan had pumped his ego pretty high, giving Kaiden far too much credit for suggesting Slayer’s Brush as the queer youth home’s next fundraiser venue.
All Kaiden had really done was make the suggestion, convince Alison, and rearrange her other events. And contact guests, handle decorations, and fill out the paperwork for write-offs, and… Okay, maybe Kaiden had put some heavy lifting work into this fundraiser.
Dorothy’s Home meant a lot to Dylan, and Dylan meant a lot to Kaiden. He didn’t have many friends, having lost contact with most of his circle when they went off to college, and he stayed behind to find himself. He had even fewer queer friends. In fact, he had a grand total of one—Dylan.
So, it was important to Kaiden, helping his friend, seeing him smile, and the best way to do that was by making sure this fundraiser went off without a hitch. In order to do that, Kaiden needed to get the storage room set up as a bonus space for the venue, which would go a lot quicker with Rus’ reluctant assistance.
Kaiden quickly put Rus to work, moving things around and cleaning up where he could. Little by little, they transformed the storage room into a modestly acceptable space for guests. Kaiden asked Rus to discreetly steal two of the pillar-designed tables and bring them back here, considering them the final touches necessary before unveiling this room.
Guests started trickling into the storage room, taking in the modest display and enjoying the extra breathing space.
Dylan wandered their way, waving over a few of the caterers to fill up the bonus space.
“You’re brilliant,” Dylan said, giving Kaiden a quick side hug. “Thank you.”
“All Alison’s idea,” Kaiden said with a pointed look, reminding Dylan that if he suggested otherwise, she’d be offended, and as the actual host of the venue, it was wise to stay on Alison’s good side.
“How’d you get this set up so fast?” Dylan asked.
Kaiden pulled Rus by his wrinkled sleeve and gestured to the frowning man. As a peace offering, Kaiden grabbed two champagne flutes off a tray from a passing server and handed one to Rus.
“For lying about having to help me.”
Rus snatched the glass. “I fucking knew it.”
“Well, thank you both,” Dylan said, eyeing the guests continuing to funnel into the storage room and easing the pressure of the front venue space.
“No problem,” Kaiden said, raising his own glass to cheers.
“It really means a lot that you helped bring this to life,” Dylan said, and for half a second, Kaiden prepared to bashfully blush at the compliment until he realized Dylan was speaking to Rus.
Kaiden’s face twisted into a disingenuous smile, fighting off a grimace and biting back a few comments. Mostly. “So, what’re you planning on doing with all your free time now that you’re liberated from all this community service?”
“Not a whole lot.” Rus sipped his drink.
“Oh, come on.”
“Focusing on my classes,” Rus said with a snort. “I’m not that interesting.”
“Well, there’s not much to do here.” Dylan ran his fingers through his hair.
It was a nervous act of Dylan’s, something Kaiden knew for certain, but he couldn’t place the anxiety. Surely, Dylan wasn’t still struggling with the success of the fundraiser.
