Page 59 of Three Little Words

Chapter Nineteen

Benny

We hadn’t all gone out after work in a while. Ryker and Logan spent most of their evenings at the East location, getting it ready to open.

It was coming up soon.

But I had to make some changes.

We were all out at The Republic, enjoying a few beers together. Kenzie and Lora had come up from Bakeology to join us; Sydney had dropped in, too, still dressed nicely from her job in the law office.

I’d thought about inviting Bryn, but figured she’d want a night to herself, since Bryan had left this morning. I’d get with her tomorrow, if she wanted. Maybe invite her to spend the night at my place.

But tonight, I sat beside Logan, sipping a beer while I watched the other guys. Bradley and Lora had their arms around each other; Ryker listened with genuine interest as Sydney talked to him about something. Garrett and Kenzie were chatting, their interactions friendly.

Garrett wasn’t the one Bradley and I had to watch out for.

But soon, Bradley would have to watch out for Kenzie on his own.

I needed to make a change.

I turned to Logan, nudging him with my elbow. “Hey. Can we talk?”

“Yeah, man. What’s up?” Logan smiled. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s all good. I just, uh…well…”

Logan’s smile faded a little. “What?”

“Listen, I think I want to keep you at the main shop.”

Logan blinked. “Wait, what? I thought I was co-owner now. At East.”

“You’re still gonna be a co-owner. But at the main location. I’m gonna run the Malone shop with Ryker.”

For a moment, Logan just looked at me.

Slowly, a smile spread across his face. “Is that right?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “You know. Skin Buzz is right down the road. I gotta keep an eye on the competition.”

“The competition,” he said, still grinning. “Of course.”

I knew Bryn and I weren’t exactly subtle, but still.

“Hey, keep insinuating shit and I’ll drop you back down,” I said. “I don’t gotta make you co-owner.”

Logan laughed. “No, no. I’m not insinuating anything. I gotcha.”

I smiled and took a sip of my beer.

“Really, I’m good with it.” Logan looked at me. “I don’t mind staying.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

His gaze drifted to Kenzie. “I like it here. I like the main shop. The location. The people I get to see every day or so.”

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