I nodded. “I think I’m gonna get a PlayStation.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Totally unrelated.”
Totally.
I’d get my steak tomorrow instead. Max had found a good deal on chicken tenders, so that was why I sat my happy ass down at the kitchen table while he ruled the food prep. I’d finished my task of slicing up vegetables for the oven.
Alex sat across from me, already studying for his midterms. He had his laptop open, three thick books also open, and two notebooks. And his phone.
I was damn proud of that kid. He was so disciplined when it came to school. He’d realized early that learning didn’t come easy for him, so his mothers and Max had helped him set up a structure in which he could retain information better without stressing himself out. The boy created his own flash cards, for chrissakes.
Back in the day, I wasn’t sure I’d even cracked my books three days before midterms.
I hadn’t gotten any A’s either…
I took a sip of my coffee and opened my phone.
“Was there anything else you wanted me to put on the list, buddy?” Max asked. “I’m gonna run errands after work tomorrow.”
Alex pushed up his glasses and glanced over at Max. “Just the markers, specifically orange and green.”
“Orange and green, understood.” Max made a note in his phone. Then he grabbed the tray I’d prepared with vegetables, and he placed them in the oven. “Remember to utilize Uncle Reid for economics. He’s great at that stuff.”
I smirked, fully aware of what he was doing, and inclined my head. “Utilize me whenever, son.”
Alex grinned and scrunched his nose. “All you do is complain about taxes.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, that’s not entirely correct, is it? I bitch about them when the money isn’t going to the right places. I think people are way off the mark when the arguments boil down to just raising or lowering taxes.”
He pursed his lips and nodded thoughtfully. “Makes sense.” He shrugged. “You already helped me score an A on my paper on market supply, so I’d definitely come to you before Dad.”
I chuckled. “Hear that, Max?”
He smiled wryly. “Uh-huh.”
Alex cocked his head and shifted in his seat to face Max better. “This is the third time today you’ve told me to turn to Uncle Reid for something. Like I don’t already know? Am I too high-maintenance for you?”
That cracked me up. The boy was sharp. He was onto Max’s unnecessary scheming.
“Of course not,” Max replied vehemently. “I was just…”
Nervous. He was nervous.
“Ignore me,” Max finished.
I didn’t knowwhyhe was nervous about telling Alex that we were together, though. Alex and I had a good relationship. We texted memes to each other, for fuck’s sake. It didn’t get better than that. In my day, that was the equivalent of my wandering aimlessly around Gramps’s garage while my old man tinkered with his car there. We hadn’t spoken much, but I’d eyed the walls of tools, checked the shelves with paint and thinners, and watched Dad pretend he knew something about engines. Quality time well spent.
Today, it was meme culture.
Alex shrugged and went back to studying, Max concentrated a little too hard on the cooking, and I rolled with the punches. I’d told him we didn’t have to have this conversation with Alex today; we were in no hurry, but he’d said he wanted it out of the way so we could start spending more time at my house.
I went to Mclean House’s website and figured it was time to check off the next item on my list.
Become a member in their online forum. We’d get to the paid membership eventually, so we could attend events out at their property, but I wanted to lurk a bit in the background first. Or rather, I didn’t want Max to think I felt an urgency to belong to another community. All I wanted was an upgrade of our socialcircle. With our out-of-towner friends so far away, we needed locals to hang out with.
Choose your handle.
I took another swig of my coffee and went with the same username I’d had on our shitty Discord server for Old Town. Max had once picked it for me after approximately seven beers.
