Page 17 of Left on Read

“Oh yeah. My brother and I used to.…I probably shouldn’t tell you what we used to do because I’m a stranger, and I don’t want to give you the wrong idea about me.”

Zane and I really leaned into playing God and had designed entire neighborhoods that were nothing but health and safety violations. We’d spent hours finding new ways to make our Sims lives harder, but Hayden didn’t need to know that.

He laughed, his entire face lighting up. “I doubt you could say anything that I didn’t do too.”

“Yeah? Did you ever play RollerCoaster Tycoon?” I asked, glancing around the house.

The foyer led into a small hallway of sorts that opened up into a long, rectangular space. To the left was what looked like a living room, and directly across from us was the kitchen. A set of floating stairs led up to what I assumed was the second floor.

“I did.” He pointed to where the tools were spread out on a blanket on the floor of the living room. “Did you ever play the second one? With that glitch where you could make your coaster crash and have it count against another park and not you?”

“Of course. That’s pretty much the only reason we played it.”

Hayden laughed and knelt next to the tools. I did the same.

A full wrench set, a brand-new set of every screwdriver known to man, and a socket set were piled on one side. A hammer, a bubble level, a laser level, a stud finder, and a crosscut saw were spread out on the rest of the blanket.

All were either in pristine condition or still in the packaging.

Covertly, I glanced around the room. It was minimally decorated with just some basic furniture, like a couch and a comfy chair, with a small TV mounted on the wall. Little piles of things were scattered about, but not much else. Maybe he’d moved his personal things out of sight because I was coming over?

“What do you think of them?” he asked. “I forgot about the drill.” He pointed to a drill set, still wrapped in plastic, on top of the sawhorse. “Might as well take it too.”

“Are you sure? The drill alone is worth almost two hundred bucks.”

“I’m sure.”

“Can I at least give you an extra fifty for it? I feel bad. Like I’m robbing you. Not that I’d do that! I meant that figuratively. Or is it metaphorically? Like that, but not literally.”

Hayden shook his head, a smile still tilting his lips. “It’s fine. I bought these back when I believed I was a person who could build a bookshelf. I am not that person and never will be.”

I chuckled and scanned the tools again. “Like a custom build, or a prefab one?”

“Custom. The guy I was seeing when I moved in did that kind of stuff on the regular and told me what to buy. We broke up a few weeks later, and I’m still sans bookshelf.”

“Bummer. What kind of bookshelf? There’s lots of styles on the market you can put together to make something custom if you’re still looking.”

Hayden bit his lip and fiddled with the cuffs of his sleeves, which were still pulled down over his hands. “I looked into that, but the space is kind of awkward, and I don’t even know where to start.”

“What exactly are you looking to do? I might be able to narrow down your search.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’m not a carpenter or anything, but I’ve installed tons of shelving. I’ve seen every kind of bookcase there is.”

“I have a den of sorts upstairs, and I’ve always wanted floor-to-ceiling shelves that cover the entire wall, like in that scene in Beauty and the Beast.” He cleared his throat and looked down at the tools. “But yeah. That kind of thing.”

“And you said the space is awkward?”

He nodded, still looking down. “The walls aren’t standard sized, so everything is either too short or too tall to work.”

“What are the dimensions? I’m sure I can help with that.”

“You want to help?” He lifted his eyes and scrutinized me.

“Yeah. You’re cutting me a huge deal on these.” I waved at the tools. “The least I can do is help you finish the project you bought them for.”

“Does it count as finishing if I never actually started it?” Hayden asked with a smile.

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