Page 57 of Arden and the Girl Downstairs

She is unapologetically herself, and she’s been dealt a shit hand. But she got lucky in the guy department. I wouldn’t be mad if I had three incredibly attractive and intelligent men dating me. It’s just a shame none of them were able to commit to screwing her to fulfil that missing aspect of her life. I guess that’s where Chad comes in.

“Well, Mady kind of lost her shit on the weekend and threw all of us out of the house.”

This causes me to laugh in the middle of his explanation. I can’t imagine what they would’ve done to piss her off—she doesn’t get fired up easily. Well, not fired up at her guys, anyway. The girl has spark if you get on the wrong side of her.

“And why did Mady lose her shit?” I stop laughing long enough to ask.

The look on Chad’s face is one I’ve never seen before. He seems so lost and confused. It’s endearing to see the guy that I’m close with—and have known for the better part of four or so years—so smitten and sad. It’s kind of weird . . . and what I imagine a sister would feel like when her brother is in love for the first time.

“Well, it was all fine until it wasn’t, andshemayhave overreacted a little, but it was kind of what we needed. When we got thrown out of the house, Caleb and Lochlan retreated to the hospital, and Isaac decided to hangout here. Now I think I get what Isaac’s problem is, and why he can’t make a move on Mady. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but since I wasn’t scheduled to work and we weren’t allowed at the house, Logan told me to sit with Isaac and kept pouring us drinks. Doc was here and enjoying the fact that I was on the other side of the bar for a change.”

The mention of Doc makes me laugh again. All I can think of now is Logan rocking up at Arden’s house during the intervention and licking his sister. Like,actuallylicking her because he was high on mushrooms and didn’t think she was real. But she is, and she’s only 17.

Logan is the definition of a dude bro and oozes sex appeal. He thinks he may be a sex addict, according to Dr Google, but he isn’t seedy or shady. He has rules. There is also a serious charm to him. The guy’s got game, but I know he wouldn’t cross that line with Julia. So, I was confident that reassuring Arden of Logan’s harmlessness in that situation was the right thing to do. I can’t promise what will happen when Julia turns eighteen, though. We’ll just have to wait to see how that plays out.

“So, you and Isaac got drunk, and Logan worked.”

I don’t think I’m getting the entire story.

“Yeah, that about sums it up. If I could tell you, I would, but it’s really not my story to tell. Yet. I’m sure once we’ve all worked out our issues, we’ll laugh about it one day and tell people, but for now it stays within the harem.”

“I can respect that. Was Mady in a better mood when you came home?”

“You could say that she was, thanks to the brownies.”

This makes me laugh even harder, to the point I now have tears in my eyes. I’ve heard about Jarred and his brownies, and I’m fully aware that Chad and Isaac would have returned home to a Mady who was giggling while watching some random movie.

“You came home to a stoned Mady?”

“Pretty much, but she forgave us, and the make-up sex was good.”

“Wait, she had sex with Isaac?”

I’m friends enough with these guys to know that Caleb was sometimes sleeping with Mady, but because of his frequent fifteen-hour shifts at the hospital and how tired he often was, he wasn’t able to actually fulfil her needs.

Lochlan is the other half of “LoLo” and is also a self-diagnosed sex addict. From the stories I heard, apparently Lochlan and Logan met at sex addicts anonymous, they left and have been inseparable ever since.

There is also something going on with Isaac, but I haven’t heard what it is or why he isn’t with Mady, considering he’s home all the time and is probably the one most overprotective of her. I’ll eventually find out what’s going on because we all know I have a way of making people talk. It’s part of the job.

“No, she didn’t have sex with Isaac. She had sex with me, speaking about Mady and her harem, or whatever the hell is going on with us. Logan actually surprised me over the weekend, though. He picked up your shifts at the last minute, and he asked whether he could pick up any extra shifts in the future.”

With that, Chad steers the conversation away from their sex lives, but I’ll let him. I am not entirely surprised by Logan’s request. I know what’s going on with him; I’ve seen the papers. Long story short, Logan had money and then his dad lost it all and has ended up in jail, which has left Logan to fend for himself. Logan’s on his own, so what started as a joke with him working here, has actually turned into a genuine job that he needs. It’s nice to see that he is trying hard to make this work.

“That’s great to see that he actually enjoys working here, and from what I can see, he’s doing a good job. Business is up, and we’re busy on the weekends. Granted, I haven’t been here for a while, but from what I’ve seen on social media, there seems to be a full crowd most Fridays through to Sundays.”

“Yeah, I’m still in disbelief, but he has really turned this place around and he’s annoyed Brad at the same time.”

Ah, Brad, Chad’s identical twin who owns Happy’s—a bar on the other side of New Hope. They aren’t super close, but they have some healthy competitions.

Chad continues speaking, and his tone has turned serious. “I wanted to run it by you first before I offer him more shifts and more responsibility because that seems to be what he’s asking for. What is it you plan to do now?”

I can’t say I’m surprised that we’re having this conversation, although it is happening sooner than I was expecting. I’d promised Arden that I would consider giving up my job at Grumpy’s. He propositioned me with a ridiculous idea that actually made me excited; he wants to open a shoe shop with me.

Like, actually wants us to start a business together.

It sounds like a fun idea the more I think about it. He told me on Monday, on our way home from Briar Bay, about what Ralphie did behind his back, and this seems like a good opportunity.

It’s not like we have to worry about it making money.

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