Page 50 of Comforting the Grump

“Gotcha, boss,” Waylon said, looking as chipper as a puppy.

“What’s with him?” I asked as we entered Auden’s office. “He looks way too happy for this early in the week.”

“He’s found love.”

My eyes widened. “He has a boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend? How the fuck did you know he was into men? He didn’t come out to us until after I did.”

I snorted. “If you didn’t pick up on the fact that boy isn’t straight, you should turn in your bisexual membership card.”

Auden huffed, a little indignant. “He said no one knew, so that’s not on me.”

“If I’d known he was ready to come out of the closet, I would’ve happily given him a crash course in gay sex before he turned all domestic.”

“Well, it’s too late now. He’s found a good one, and they’re serious about each other. It’s adorable.”

I rolled my eyes. “Barf. Change of subject, please?”

“Oh, would you prefer to talk about what brought you here?”

Oops. That had been a tactical mistake on my end. “I mean, we can certainly discuss Waylon’s love life a little longer if you prefer.”

“Cut the BS, Marnin. What’s going on?”

I took a deep breath. “Did you hear The Lodge was sold?”

“It’s official? I knew there was a gay couple seriously interested in buying.”

“They signed the contract and are gonna renovate, so it will close down for at least two months.”

Auden winced. “That’s bad news for Ennio. I assume he’ll be out of a job for that time.”

“He’s out of a job completely. They’re considering taking it in a different direction—whatever the fuck that means. All of the current staff has been let go.”

“Fuck.” Auden’s face grew tight. “That’s the worst timing possible for him.”

“I know.”

“You know? He told you?”

“About the money he lost to this scammer? Yeah, he did.”

Then his eyes narrowed. “Wait, how do you know all this?”

“Because he told me.”

“Why the fuck would he tell you? I didn’t even know you two were…” I saw the moment he put one and one together. “Please tell me I’m wrong and you’re not sleeping with my little brother.”

I met his eyes and stayed quiet, mentally bracing myself. Ennio would fucking kill me for telling Auden the truth, but what choice did I have? I couldn’t lie to my best friend.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!?”

I stood my ground, even though Auden had never in his entire life yelled at me like that. So much for hoping he’d take it well.

“I can’t believe you’d do that! He’s my little brother, for fuck’s sake. You’ve known him literally since the day he was born. What, there was no one left in Seattle willing to fuck you?”

His words stung, but I kept my composure. “He’s thirty-six, Auden. Not exactly an innocent virgin.”

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