Page 7 of Shift Change

“Think you’re right.” I checked my watch. “Hungry? It’s past lunchtime.”

His face brightened. “I could eat a fucking cow.”

“A man after my own heart.” I patted his back and led him toward the kitchen. “Come with me, bud. I may not have a cow, but there’s plenty of food.”

We feasted on meatball subs and the remains of an Italian chopped salad I’d made the night before. Once we were stuffed, I led him to the basement. The only thing I didn’t like about the house was how the stairs led straight into the laundry room.

“This is… uh… the laundry.”

He began a smirking, painfully slow inspection of every gadget and knob. Finally, he deadpanned, “Nice. This is one heck of a washer and dryer you’ve got.”

“Yeah, stainless steel. High efficiency and all.”

Shit. Kill me now.

His eyes twinkled as his chin started to wobble. Seconds later, a laugh burst out of him and bounced off the walls. I bristled at first—being the punchline of his joke wasn’t the highlight of my day—but when he doubled over clutching his stomach, his high-pitched chuckle broke me. He got a goofy, scrunched-up look on his face when he laughed, which made me crack up. Soon, I was bent at the waist and gasping for air too.

After he composed himself, he shook his head. “The fuck, Holky? You sounded like you were on one of those home shows blabbering about your fancy washer and dryer. It’s nice, but…” His words trailed off, and he chuckled again.

“Fuck you.” Though I tried to glare at him, I couldn’t help smiling. “Just for that, I shouldn’t show you the rest of what’s down here.”

He put on another snarky grin. “What else do you have? Bet it’s the latest modelhigh efficiencyfurnace.”

“Laugh it up, moron. You’ll be thrilled about mygeothermal heat pump systemwhen the snow hits next week.”

He pressed a fist against his mouth and gave an exaggerated cough, but he couldn’t hide the way his shoulders were shaking. “I’m… sure it’s…” He cleared his throat and put on the best serious expression he could—which wasn’t serious at all. “I’m sure it’svery nice.”

I placed a hand on his back and playfully shoved him toward the door on the other side of the room. “All right, smartass. Prepare yourself, because you’re about to be begging for forgiveness.”

I gestured for him to go in first, and by the time I caught up, he was swiveling his head like it was mounted on a turntable.

“What the actualfuck?” He turned in a slow circle. “Bowling lanes? Game machines? And how big is that TV?”

“That’s no ordinary TV, bud.” I strutted to the center of the room and began pointing at things. “What you’re witnessing is a state-of-the-art Sony laser projector teamed with a 106-inch screen.” I held out my arm toward another wall. “This TV is only 98 inches, but it has all the latest tech. To top it off, I have more channels than you could ever watch, every sports package under the sun, plus…” I pointed at each one as I called them out, “PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, an old Wii, a vintage Atari, and—as you already noticed—pinball, air hockey, foosball, Galaga, Pac-Man, Centipede, and Gauntlet.”

“Holy fuck!”

“I’m not finished yet. There’s also a mountain of board games, a huge movie collection, a fully stocked wet bar, seating so comfortable she’ll want to fuck on it, and enough room for the whole goddamn team to watch Sunday football.”

Dog’s eyes were wide. “How do you find time to play hockey?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I was too busy recovering from the jolt that shot up my spine when our eyes met. After a few beats, I cleared my throat. “Well, sacrifices have to be made, but…”

“But what?”

“We’ll enjoy ourselves down here. Don’t worry.”

He tilted his head. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I…” What the hell was wrong with me? I took a deep breath and ignored how my pulse was pounding in my ears. “Got a little lightheaded. I’m fine.”

I stepped toward him, wondering if I was about to have a stroke. If so, I’d better show him where his room was. He’d need to rest at night so he could take care of me during the day. “Let’s head upstairs and get you unpacked, but first, one more thing.”

I slapped my hand against a side door, grinning like a villain about to reveal my secret lair. “Prepare yourself because the next room is legendary.”

“There’smore?”

“Oh yes, my friend.” I pushed the door open and smiled. “You will note how the lights came on automatically because this room knowsI’m a badass.”

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