Silver & Sage, page 2
part #1 of Silver in the City Series
I quickly plugged my computer and phone in to charge. Hung some clothes in the closet, grateful for the leftover hangers. Stacked my books on the floor. I left the rest of my clothes in the duffle. First thing I’d need to do was get a bed, a desk, and a dresser. I sighed in relief knowing I had plenty of living expense money left from my grandma. My parents didn’t help with a single cent toward my college education. Luckily, I landed multiple scholarships to cover all of my undergrad and graduate degrees. The scholarships covered all expenses of my undergrad education, but the graduate degree scholarships mostly covered only classes, books, and supplies. My adoring grandma had blessed me with a living expenses allowance as a gift when she found out I was going on to get my graduate degree. Told me, “You’re doing a good thing for your future by furthering your education. No need for you to be broke and suffering in the present if I can help. I can’t take the money with me when I go, so I’d rather see it help you now while I’m still around to see it.” I loved that woman to the moon and back. I wished she lived closer, but she had moved out to the west coast to live with her sister about a year ago.
I’d saved all of the money she’d been giving me in case of needing to buy bigger items. My last apartment—which was just a room in sweet Mrs. Phegley’s house—had come completely furnished. Was it strange I was looking forward to furnishing my own room? I’d gone from living at home with my parents’ furniture, to living in a dorm room with stock bunk beds and dressers and desks, to living in a furnished room at Mrs. Phegley’s. The thought of picking my own desk, my own dresser, my own bed, maybe even some of my own decorations was exciting. Damn, man. Chill out. Your inexperience is showing. It was strange to be twenty-four and at the top of all of my classes academically, yet be such a rookie when it came to having friends and living on my own. Don’t get me wrong. I was one hundred percent capable of taking care of myself. But I was an amateur when it came to making and keeping friends. Seemed people in my classes only wanted to be my friend if I could help them ace a test. Or they stopped being my friend once they realized I was going to blow them away on every test and assignment. I didn’t purposely set out to be the best in every class. I just always seemed to be leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else. My parents seemed to think that made me better than everyone. I looked at it as just a reason for people to not like me.
Once there was nothing else to put away and I’d stalled as long as possible, I took a deep breath and walked out of my room into the living room. My room was toward the back of the apartment, but it was the first room to the right when you came up the main stairs from the back of the bar. A small “public” powder room bathroom was to the left just off the living room where the guys were seated at the moment. The living room was open to the kitchen which then fed into the dining room. Two bedrooms were off to the right and the fourth bedroom was behind the dining room. A second bathroom fit between two of the bedrooms and a third bathroom was shared between my room and the adjoining bedroom.
I gritted my teeth and joined my new roommates in the living room. Kyson and Benji smiled, but Bode’s face was a blank slate that I couldn’t read as indifference, boredom, or anger. I smiled at everyone and took a seat on the recliner.
“Glad to have you here,” Kyson began. “We all voted and you won hands-down over all the other applicants.”
Bode cleared his throat.
I got the feeling he maybe wasn’t as enthusiastic about my arrival.
“You have furniture you need to move in?” Benji asked.
“I was thinking I’d go shopping today and get what I need. My old stuff belonged to my landlady.”
“Don’t scratch the walls moving things in.” Bode had slouched back on the couch and had his eyes closed with his hands behind his head, elbows out.
Benji started to say something, but I beat him to it.
“Wouldn’t dream of it. This place is way too nice to be bumping the walls with a dresser. I’ll be careful.” I smiled sincerely at Bode when he cracked an eye open to look my way.
He harrumphed and I decided then and there I was going to make the guy like me if it was the last thing I did. Or at least figure out why he didn’t like me.
“So, you’re in college?” Kyson ignored Bode and turned toward me.
“Yeah, I’ve got my double undergraduate degrees in accounting and finance, and decided to go ahead and get my graduate degree as well. I’m in the Master of Science in Accounting program. Should have my master’s degree in accounting in just over two years.” I curled my legs up under me and rocked the recliner gently.
“Why not just live on campus?” Bode still had his eyes closed.
“I did for undergrad. My scholarships covered room and board. But it was a different situation for graduate school and I was tired of on-campus living after four years. So, I rented a room with Mrs. Phegley for the last semester of my senior year and this past summer. But I really wanted to be closer to downtown. This place is like a ten-minute bike ride to my classes. So it’s perfect.”
Bode pursed his lips in a sneer. “Where you planning on keeping a bike?”
Again, Benji started to swoop in to save me, but I just smiled.
“Well, I was thinking I’d be able to keep it out back of the bar where you three have yours locked up.” I didn’t purposely bat my lashes, but they may have fluttered a little of their own accord.
Bode actually sat up and scowled at me with his elbows on his knees.
Benji snorted and Kyson coughed.
“Out back is fine.” Kyson winked at me.
“Let me make sure I’ve got this right.” I moved to sit cross-legged. “Kyson, you’re a massage therapist and will open your practice soon. Benji, you’re an artist and will have a store and lessons available soon.” I ticked off the men and their jobs on my fingers. “And Bode, you’re opening The Salty Lizard downstairs very soon.”
Benji and Kyson nodded. Bode crossed his arms over his chest.
“Okay, let’s get some house rules set and then Sage can go do his shopping.” Kyson grabbed a notepad. “Thoughts on ground rules, guidelines, suggestions?”
“I’m fine with communal food, but if you eat the last of it, replace it.” Bode tossed out his idea and gave a slight yawn. “And just be fucking respectful of everyone’s food in general.”
We all nodded.
“I think being respectful is good overall. Respect your roommates when you’re cooking, eating, playing, bringing someone home, that type of thing.” Kyson wrote as he spoke.
“Should we do a chore schedule? Assign jobs weekly?” Benji asked.
“Yeah, let’s set something up to rotate the chores. Dishes, trash, sweeping, dusting, bathrooms. Bode and Sage can share cleaning their bathroom. Kyson and I will split the cleaning of our bathroom. I’ll do the schedule and show you guys for final approval.”
“Might be best to have a grocery list we can all add to. Maybe try to do weekly shopping together?” I offered a suggestion. It was difficult trying to fit into this tight-knit group despite Kyson and Benji being so nice.
“Oh, that’s good. Actually, I was thinking maybe weekly grocery trip all together and eat out? Sunday mornings maybe?” Kyson glanced around the group. When he didn’t get any pushback, he smiled. “Okay, let’s plan on that for now.”
“I think communication is key. If something is bothering you, speak up. We’re all grown-ups,” Benji said.
“Mostly.” Bode cast a smirk my way.
Benji shot him a look.
Interesting. Did Bode have an issue with my age?
“Okay, okay. Sorry. But, I agree. Communication is key.” Bode kicked his feet up on a box in front of his seat on the couch.
“So, we’ll have weekly chore rotation, weekly groceries as a group, a weekly meal out where we can have house meetings if needed. Do we want meals here at the house to be set and shared or just whatever and whenever?” Kyson continued taking notes.
“Whatever and whenever sounds easiest. Would be hard to have set and shared meals around four very different schedules.” Benji stood and stretched. “Ky, you get that schedule made. I’ll put a notepad on the fridge for groceries. Bode, if you’re okay with it, I’ll just borrow your truck and take Sage furniture shopping.”
“The hell you will. No one is driving my truck but me.” Bode stood with a frown.
“Well, then I guess you can take Sage furniture shopping.” Benji smiled sweetly.
“Oh no, it’s okay. I don’t want to put anyone out. I’ll pay for delivery.” I hadn’t known Bode had a truck so I wasn’t expecting him or the others to help with moving my furniture.
“Nonsense. No reason for you to pay extra when Bode has a truck.” Kyson stood from his place on the couch. “Right, Bo?” Kyson might as well have had a cartoon halo over his head for as innocent as he was attempting to come off.
Bode gritted his teeth. “Sure. No problem at all, roomie. But let’s get going. I’ve got stuff to work on in the bar.”
I jumped up. “Oh, yeah. Sure thing. And I can help with the bar stuff too. Once we’re back. If you want help.”
Bode just shrugged. “Get your stuff. Meet me downstairs.”
I rushed off to my room and pretended to ignore the heated whispers behind me. I caught bits and pieces of, “…be nice!”
“…am being nice!”
“…looks scared to death of you.”
“…so you put him in a truck to go shopping with me?”
“…he’s living here, least you can do is be friendly.”
“…living here, but doesn’t mean the kid has to be my best friend.”
By the time I grabbed my phone and wallet, the conversation had died down mostly because Bode had stalked out of the apartment and down the back stairs.
“He’ll meet you down at his truck. There’s parking behind the building.” Kyson gestured toward the back.
“Don’t let him bother you. Bode’s bark is far worse than his bite. He’s a good guy. Really. He’s just a little gruff and even more so right now with the stress of opening the bar. It’s his baby. He needs The Salty Lizard to be a huge success.” Benji put an arm around my shoulders.
“Well, then I guess we all better help him make his baby a success, huh?” I wasn’t really sure where the words came from. I moved in here because it was close to school, reasonably priced, and I needed a place to stay. I didn’t move in to help grumpy-ass Bode make The Salty Lizard a success. But that was just kinda the vibe I got from the three of them. I may not have been a part of them. Yet. But I felt like I already had a place in their group and I wanted to do my part.
Kyson and Benji beamed at me and I blushed before rushing down the stairs to meet Bode.
Why did I feel like a lamb being led to slaughter?
Bode was in the truck when I got downstairs and I swore he rolled his eyes at me when I climbed in. I chose not to dwell on it.
“Where are you wanting to go?” Bode asked as he pulled the truck out of the parking lot.
“I was thinking about that value furniture place just on the other side of downtown.” I glanced at Bode. “But if you’d rather not drive that far we can find something closer.”
“Nah, that’s fine.” Bode pointed the truck for the direction of the store.
We rode in silence for several minutes. It wasn’t so much that it was uncomfortable, but I didn’t like thinking that Bode was mad at me or didn’t like me. My grandma was always using the phrase in for a penny in for a pound. I sighed. Looked like it was time to put the phrase to the test.
“Why don’t you like me?” I tried not to look at Bode as the words exploded from my mouth, but I caught him staring at me.
He scowled. “It’s not so much that I don’t like you.” The scowl deepened. “I just don’t know you very well. Hell, I don’t know you at all. It’s always just been me, Kyson, and Benji. Just going to take time to get used to having a fourth person around.” Bode leaned his left arm against the door of this truck and tapped his right thumb against the steering wheel.
“Well I promise to stay out of the way as much as I can. I’ll be studying a lot. I will definitely help with chores. I won’t be a bother if you bring a date home or anything like that. And I can help in the bar too.” Why was I trying to convince him that I’d be a good roommate? Why did I care if he didn’t like me? You know why. You’ve always wanted people to like you. You want to keep this apartment. And you think he’s hot as hell.
Bode laughed. “Dude, chill out. The room is yours, you don’t have to prove yourself to me.”
“Back there it seemed like you wanted me to prove something to you. You’ve seemed angry with me since the first moment you saw me. I know it shouldn’t matter, but it really bothers me when I think people don’t like me. And I’d really like to keep this apartment so it would be good if you and I could get along.” I chewed on a fingernail and glanced at Bode.
“Don’t bite your nails,” he commanded. “It’s a gross habit. Do you know how many germs are under your fingernails?”
I shivered. “Actually, I do. I’ve seen the stuff that can grow in petri dishes just from collecting samples from underneath your nails. It’s disgusting. Biting my nails is a bad habit. I’m actually trying to quit, but I do it more when I’m nervous.”
“Are you nervous now?”
I nodded. “Benji and Kyson don’t make me nervous at all. They seem like really nice guys and I think will be friends.”
“But I make you nervous?” Bode glanced my way.
When I nodded, he frowned.
“Sorry about that. I’m under a shit ton of stress from my dad trying to make The Salty Lizard a success. I can’t say I’ll be a bundle of joy to live with, but I can promise that I don’t hate you.”
“I guess knowing that you don’t hate me will have to be good enough at least for now.”
Bode pulled the truck into a parking spot in front of the furniture store.
Before I got out of the truck, I swallowed my nerves. “I really can help with bar stuff, and I wouldn’t mind at all if all four of us ended up being friends.”
An hour later, Bode and I were sweating our asses off after carrying a bed, a dresser, and a desk up the stairs. I stood in the middle of my room trying to decide where to start with organizing my furniture when I heard Bode curse from the kitchen.
I walked to where he was. “What’s wrong?”
He held up a piece of paper. “The guys decided to drive down home to pick up the last of our stuff. They’ll be back tomorrow. Which is fine, because the stuff needed picked up. But that leaves me working on bar stuff alone tonight.”
“I can help with the bar stuff. I already told you that.”
“I thought you had furniture to arrange? And studying to do?”
I shrugged. “I’ll help you with bar stuff and you can help me move furniture if I need help later.”
Bode stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time. Finally, he huffed and pointed toward the back stairs. “Fine, I could use the help.”
I followed Bode down the stairs and tried to convince myself I wasn’t staring at his ass. I’d known I was gay since the very first time my voice broke and probably even before that. I’d been attracted to a lot of guys, but never had a serious relationship. But there was something about the man in front of me, the way his tight ass filled out a pair of jeans, the strength evident in his thighs, the lean muscles in his arms, that had me thinking this was going to be the unrequited attraction that finally did me in. I knew there was no way Bode wanted a relationship with someone so much younger and so much different from him. He was on his way to building his dream career while I still had at least two years of schooling to go. He was outspoken, a people person, and probably the life of the party. I was a quiet, nerdy wallflower. He was gorgeous, I was average. He had promised that he didn’t hate me, but that didn’t mean he liked me. I would have to settle for being tolerated.
But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t watch that fine ass every time it walked in front of me.
“All of those glasses have been washed. They are likely mostly dry, but go ahead and use a cloth to wipe them down before putting them on the shelves. Don’t want any spots on them.” Bode indicated the shelves I should fill first and then the area where extras would go. As a bar, I assumed The Salty Lizard used a lot of glasses.
Bode had music playing while we worked. He appeared to be organizing and inventorying a variety of liquors. The music seemed loud to me, but I assumed it would be much louder once The Salty Lizard was open for business. I should probably prepare for having music as a constant study companion. Or invest in noise-cancelling headphones.
I had an entire row of glasses dried and shelved, I was getting in a groove, and enjoying the music. And then it happened. I wasn’t even sure what caused it. One moment, I was kinda bebopping—albeit, awkwardly—around the bar area while drying the glasses and the next moment a glass went flying from my grip and shattered on the floor.
I screamed and lunged as if I’d somehow be able to salvage the glass, but of course it was pointless. I covered my mouth with a hand. “Oh my God, Bode. I’m so sorry.”
For the next few moments, we stood staring at the shards of glass covering the bar floor.
Then Bode spent what seemed like an eternity gawking at me with wide eyes as if he was expecting a film crew to jump out and tell him he’d been Punk’d.
Bode finally broke from his stupor. At first, he looked like he wanted to choke me. Then he gritted his teeth and his nostrils flared. Bode closed his eyes as if he was trying to calm himself by counting to ten.
“I’m sorry. Everything was going great. I don’t know how the glass went flying from my hand. I’ll pay for it.” Jesus, Sage. You’ve not even spent one night in your new apartment and you’re already fucking up.
Bode took a deep breath. “Don’t sweat it.”
I’m not sure if he was trying to convince me or himself.
