“What’s up? You looking for me?”
“We need to have a family game night. Why don’t we do that anymore?”
Cash shrugs. “Probably because we all live together and work together and are sick of each other by the end of the day.”
“We’re growing apart. I’m scheduling a family game night.”
He gives me a sympathetic look even as he pulls his headset back on. “No one’s going to show up.”
He goes back to his game, and I wander the house, looking for Seb and Ry.
I find Sebastian in the dining room, scowling at the computer screen.
“Finish the cabinet install?” he asks without looking up.
“It’s done. Another happy customer.”
He grunts, and his scowl intensifies. “Tell Cash to quit fucking around and find us a receptionist. We’re drowning in missed calls and paperwork.”
“I can help.”
He finally looks up, eyes wide. “You have the time?”
“I can make the time.”
He grabs a notebook and tosses it over. “Call these people back.”
The top page has numbers and names scribbled on it. Sebastian is so old-school. “It’s after eight, man. I’ll call them in the morning.”
“When they’ll be at work?” he asks. “Some of them have called three times. Just try them.”
I settle in, pull out my phone, and start making calls. When I get a customer on the line and they want to talk dates, Sebastian slides the laptop over and I schedule them in the calendar. I don’t know what he’s doing while I’m chatting up customers. He could be ordering supplies or running the numbers on our in-go and out-go. The work to be done for this company never ends. Which is probably why Sebastian never stops working.
“We should start family game night back up,” I say, once I’m halfway through the list.
Sebastian grunts noncommittally.
“I can’t tell. Is that a yes or a no?”
“Not up to me,” he says, his voice gruff. “I do enough bossing at work. I’m not going to force my brothers to hang out after work.”
He doesn’t look at me. His expression is entirely closed off, showing zero emotion. For the first time, I’m immensely glad not to be in his position. He’s just as miserable about bossing us all around as we are being bossed around.
“If I organize it and browbeat everyone into showing up, would you enjoy a family game night?”
He looks up, and the pure exhaustion in the shadows under his eyes and the droop of his eyelids hits me hard in the gut. “I’m not sure there’s time for it, but I think it would be good for morale.”
I nod. “You only have to show up if there’s time, how about that? Family dinner on Sundays and game nights on Thursday. I’ll work on getting it set up.”
“Sure.” He turns his attention back to his work.
“What else can I do?" I ask half an hour later. “I’ve called everyone on the list.”
He looks at me, brows high in surprise. “No shit?”
I suppress my annoyance at being doubted. I goof around, but I work my fucking ass off too. “I called every person and set up appointments with everyone who answered. Give me something else to do.”
“We need more than one fucking laptop to work off of,” he says, annoyed.
