“Would it matter if I did?”
Hmm. On one hand, I’ve never been one of those people who worries too much about money so long as I have enough coming in to live a decent life. That said, I also don’t like handouts, and the money we’re talking about here would be a lot. I don’t want to have to rely on Beau for every little thing. “If I keep leaning on you when I need something, I’ll never learn to do shit myself.”
“Do you need to learn that?”
“Of course I do.”
“Says who?”
I tickle his ribs and make him squirm. “Literally every self-help person goes on about being self-sufficient.”
“I think that’s the worst thing you can be. I offered you a room I wasn’t using, and in return you showed me I could be myself around someone and they’d accept me. Whether anything happens between us or not, I’m not going to settle for less. What I gave you was material and worthless to me but meant a lot to you. And what you gave me can’t be replaced. When did sharing what we have with people become this huge deal? Pooling resources used to be necessary for survival, and now all people do is hoard what others need.”
“Yes, but me showing you basic decency isn’t the same thing as you giving me a place to live.”
“Says who? You’re the first person to offer that to me. I needed it. I was the first person to offer you a room because you needed it. Seems the same to me.”
I tip my head forward to press a kiss to the trail of light hair running down to his groin. I’m still not sure I agree with him, but he does have a point.
His fingers run through my hair, and he gives it a tug, coaxing me to look up at him. “We can at least look into it, can’t we?”
Every stubborn bone in my body is telling me to say no, to do this myself. But … I want Beau’s help on this. “We can try.”
26
Beau
Since Payne pointed out that Jaciel is supposed to be with Tombra, this book has been flying out of me. It’s like the whole plot exploded in front of my eyes, and suddenly those snippets I was writing make sense. Klein is the ultimate betrayer, and somehow, I set the entire thing up without even realizing I was doing it.
High fives to my erratic brain.
I’ve been pulling all-nighters, and Payne’s been working all day, but somehow we’ve found our way into each other’s beds a few times this week, and every time it happens, I have no idea what I’ve done to get so lucky, but I swear the second I figure it out, it’ll become part of my daily ritual.
We might not have planned anything more than what we are, but whenever we’re together, he holds me like I’m precious, like he’s in awe of me, and seeing Payne look at me that way, makes me fall deeper and deeper in love.
Emotionally, we’re still in limbo, but hooking up is better than nothing, and Payne made it clear he wants to at least continue that side of things once he finds his own place, so I’m being Helpy McHelperson and trying to make that happen for him.
Even while I desperately pray that him moving out won’t be the end of … whatever this is. I need to trust him, and I’m trying so hard to focus on the fact that if this is meant to be, it’ll be.
I set three different alarms today, but I’m still ten minutes late getting to the Killer Brew, and I cross my fingers Trent hasn’t left already.
Thankfully when I walk in, I find him sitting in one of the booths, basket of wings in front of him and half-finished mug of beer beside it.
“Sorry I’m late,” I quickly say.
Trent waves me off. “Ten minutes is nothing to worry about. I was enjoying the music.”
I nod, though I can barely hear it over the sounds of the market on the other side of the old warehouse.
“So, you wanted to talk about the land?” he asks.
“Yeah, it’s for Payne actually, but he got held up at work. We’re both proving our reliability already.”
Trent lists his head. “Reliability for what?”
I know Payne wanted to be here for the conversation, but Ford couldn’t let him out early today, so he told me to go ahead. It sucks he couldn’t do it himself like he wanted, but I’m excited that he trusts me with this, and I’m determined to prove he was smart to.
“We’ve had an idea for the land you’re selling.”
“Really?” Trent leans forward, small smile almost hidden behind his beard. “What’s that, then?”
I fill him in on the plan Payne came up with, along with some of the logistical things we’ve worked through. Payne’s drawn up numbers and a list of the planning permissions needed to create his vision, and I’m excited to be able to help him with it all.
“That’s interesting,” Trent says. “We want the land to be used, and that sounds as good a use as any.”
“Yeah, Payne’s been working really hard on it.”
“So why are you bringing this to me?”
I cringe. “That’s the tricky part. Without knowing the exact price you’re selling the land for, Payne’s confident he doesn’t have enough, and no bank is going to lend him the kind of money he needs to put into the place without some collateral.”
“Okay …”
It suddenly hits me what his wary tone is about. “Oh, no. No, no. We don’t want it cheap. We—”
“Sorry!”
I glance up at Payne’s voice and find him crossing the brewery toward us. His Ford’s Garage polo clings to his chest, giving a peek of his tattoos under where the buttons are undone.
“I got caught at work.” He holds out his hand and shakes Trent’s. “Did Beau fill you in?”
“He’s given me a rundown of your plans so far.”
“Awesome.” Payne shoots a smile my way as he slides into the seat beside me, and I’m caught, totally off guard, when he presses a kiss to my cheek. “In that case, I’ll cut to the chase. Money is my number one barrier. How much are you selling the land for?”
“One point two.”
Yikes. Slightly more than we were expecting.
Payne looks as relaxed as always. “I have a third of that.”
Trent looks between us. “So what’s your request? Because four hundred isn’t going to cut it.”
“No, I know. So obviously my biggest barrier is funding. What I’m hoping we can talk about is me leasing the place for twelve months while we get everything set up. In the meanwhile, Beau is going to be applying for small-business grants and funding for the type of place I want, and I’ll be organizing the build. We’ll start small with the accommodation, permissions, and licensing and begin some of the setup for the smaller activities. Once that’s in place, I’m confident I’ll be loaned the remaining amount.”
Trent rubs his beard. “What rental amount are we talking?”
“I was hoping to negotiate that and the sale price. Whatever we pay you, a percentage comes off the final price.”
“And if you don’t get the funding?”
“Then you keep whatever I’ve paid and built, and the place goes back on the market.”
“Interesting …”
There’s no way I’m letting Payne throw away all that money though. “If the bank doesn’t front the money for it, I will. I have it. I’m not using it—”