AllFreeNovel
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“Yeah, but now he’s alandowner,” Luca grinned. Leaning casually back in his chair, my beautiful Italian boyfriend seemed happier than I’d ever seen him. “He’s got the laundromat, the nail salon, the dog groomer…”
“The liquor store,” Jay added, raising the bottle.
Luca nodded, pointing a finger. “Hell, he’s got a monopoly.”
“Time to put up houses,” I chuckled.
“Fuck that,” Jay laughed. “Hotels.”
From his side of the table, Tyler shook his head. “You guys are putting the cart before the horse.”
“Are we?” Jay asked. “Or could it be you who’s not grasping the entirety of the situation?”
“All your life you’ve had to worry about one thing: your business,” I chimed in. “But Jay’s right. You need to think bigger. Wider.”
“You’re a landlord now,” Luca slapped him on the back.
“A landlord…” Tyler repeated the word slowly, as if tasting it for the first time. “Me.”
“Yes.”
“No,” Tyler shook his head. “Not me.”
“Yes, you,” I laughed.
“The hell with that,” Tyler shot back. “We’realllandlords. The four of us. Together.” He finally looked up from the table, scanning each of us in turn. I was thrilled to see his eyes full of hope, happiness, and excitement.
“All of us, huh?” Jay asked, scratching his chin.
“Damn right,” Tyler confirmed happily. “There’s no way you guys are getting away clean on this one. We’re in this together. Just like everything else.”
Three pairs of eyes shot in my direction. If I were a shy girl, I might’ve even blushed.
“So we split it up,” Jay reasoned. “The repairs, the maintenance, the upgrades and upkeep…”
“And the collecting of rent,” Tyler added. “Which should be more than enough to cover expenses and still pay tuition.”
I opened my mouth for a second, then closed it.
“Tuition?” I repeated, confused.
“Yup.”
All eyes werestillon me. But for a different reason now.
“You’re going back to college,” said Jay. “Or didn’t you hear?”
My confusion deepened. I felt on the outside of some inside joke.
“Once you transfer your credits you’ll be pretty damn close to your physical therapy degree already,” Tyler said. “We already checked, actually. It’ll take a little more than a year for you to—”
“I—I can’t acceptthat,” I shot back. “It’s too much. It’s too—”
“Was it too much when you gave up everything to help with the restaurant?”
I paused. Swallowed.
“No, but that was—”
