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“This gentleman is looking for a rental,” Magnus informed him. “Since you’re shacked up with Martin these days, he could rent Five. That way Martin would be bringing in some cash instead of the other way around. As a businessman myself, I understand cash flow.”
“I’m not—we’re not—” Nick sputtered. “Just staying while”—he waved a hand—“it’s being repaired.”
“Is the roof not on? Is the electric working? The walls secure?” Magnus asked.
“Well—er, I guess,” Nick responded like he’d only just realized thathiscabin was, in fact, livable. Not perfect, but livable.
“So,” Magnus continued, “what’s to stop Martin from letting this fine fellow pay actual money to live in Five while the rest are finished? Then, when he’s ready to hightail it out of here, you and Martin can finish it up.”
Nick’s mouth opened and closed several times. He stared at Martin. Martin shrugged. He felt slightly evil for letting Magnus keep talking without jumping in to protest. But honestly, he didn’t see anything wrong with Magnus’s suggestion. Nothing at all.
Nick eyed him intently. Was he waiting for Martin to say something? Maybe to protest that the situation was inconvenient? On his other side, Liam caught Martin’s gaze. Nodding, he shot Martin a wink.
“It would be nice to have some income,” Martin finally said. As if he’d actually been worried about money. “It’s been all out-go for a while.”
Which, of course, he’d planned for. But it was technically the truth.
“See? It’s all settled,” Magnus proclaimed, flipping the bar rag over his shoulder like he was refereeing a game. “Nick, you’ll keep on with Martin, and Nero here has a place to stay. Done and done.”
“Nero may want to see it first,” Martin suggested calmly. “And Nick and I should talk too.”
Magnus’s bushy eyebrows drew together. “What’s there to talk about? This is the perfect setup, win-win. We all want the resort to be successful, don’t we?”
Nick’s mouth opened, closed, and opened again.Fish out of water.
“Don’t forget to breathe,” Martin murmured, encouraging him with the nudge of an elbow. Martindidn’t, however, contradict Magnus’s edict that Nero showing up and needing a place to stay was a good situation all around.
He and Nick had been ignoring the fact that Nick could’ve already moved back into Cabin Five. Yes, the counters still needed to be replaced, but Click, or possibly Clack, had installed the new cabinets a few days ago along with the new windows. The water was hooked up and the electric as well. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do.
“See?” Magnus continued. “Nico here isn’t arguing with me—which is some kind of miracle. He’s happy shacking up with Martin. I’ve seen him smile two whole times just this week.”
NICK
Fact: About 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by water. And, the coastal areas, which form the interface between land and water, are the site of geomorphic change. The movement of waves and tides, and the dissipation of large amounts of energy often causes rapid and spectacular changes in landforms along coastal areas.
What the fuck just happened?
Nick stared at Martin. Martin gazed back at him, the fucking picture of innocence. Nick shifted in his seat, wanting very much to argue, but—there was no argument. Aside from the fact that he was, if not happy these days, at least… content. As content as he’d ever been.
But he couldn’t just accept that the feeling would last. Things didn’t last for him. A bubble of panic tried to make its way to the surface.
He turned back to Liam. “Maybe I can—”
“Nope. Sorry, dude.” Liam was shaking his head. “No can do. The moms are coming for a visit. Staying maybe a month, they’re not sure yet.”
“But.” Nick sputtered again. “There’s no room for them?”
Liam’s house was hardly bigger than Martin’s place and hadn’t fit Nick at Thanksgiving. The spare bedroom looked like something out of one of those hoarding shows. Nick opened his mouth to point that out, but Liam got there first.
“Silas helped me clean out the junk room and Rufus rented me one of his trailers.”
“But…” he let the word trail off. Still no argument. The bubble of panic had fizzled away.
“Let’s have dinner while they’re here. Not at my place,” Liam qualified. “Here or at Pizza Mart. Somewhere, anyway.”
“How did I not know they were coming?”
“I guess you’ve been a little distracted.” Liam waggled his eyebrows. “I haven’t seen much of you lately. You look good, Nick, happy.” He poked Nick in the ribs. “Well, as happy as you’ve looked in a long time.”
