Page 23 of Ring Rust

“I’m not working with Logan.”

Jasper stared at Ryan for a few seconds, then nodded. “Of course.”

“What?”

“You decided Logan was incompetent. You decided I needed help. You decided to intervene, despite what I wanted. What I demanded, actually.” He unlocked his car and opened the door,putting one foot inside. “You wanted a second chance to show me how much you’ve changed. Well, so far, I haven’t seen it.”

“You haven’t given me a chance!” Ryan said.

As soon as he said it, he wished he could shove it all back inside. Jasper’s lips were pressed together in a hard line and his nostrils flared. But then he seemed to give up, throwing himself into his car without another word.

He drove away, leaving Ryan alone in the parking lot. Ryan turned, landing face to face with Logan’s work truck. Cursing under his breath, he limped the entire way back up the trail.

Chapter Eight

Jasper stoodfrom his desk where he’d been sitting for three straight hours reading budget spreadsheets he’d been sent by the state. His legs ached, despite being underutilized all day, and his back hurt from being hunched over. He’d kill for a massage, and if this had been a couple months ago, he could have used Ryan’s CWA perks to do just that.

But Ryan didn’t work for CWA anymore. Jasper had to pay for his own massages, which he couldn’t afford to do, at least not until he and Ryan figured out their expenses. They hadn’t done that yet, mostly because Ryan’s habit of fixing problems with gifts and cash added a layer of complication to every single discussion they had about money.

Anyway, it wasn’t just things like massages—Jasper also had to shop and pay for his own food, which he kept forgetting to do, and now he was leaving work, having eaten only a disgusting protein bar Ryan had left in a random kitchen drawer.

Jasper’s social life had slowed down once he’d been promoted to Principal. Expected, he supposed, but boring. The teachers he'd once been friends with had stopped inviting him to Happy Hours now that he was their boss, and the membersof district leadership he spent time with were boring and stuffy, but he was desperate for something fun to do that didn’t involve hanging out with his sister.

“You done for the day?” Jasper asked, leaning his head into his friend Craig’s office. Craig—the district’s speech-language pathologist—was managed by someone at the main offices, which meant he might be willing to be actual friends with Jasper.

“Yeah, I think so,” Craig said, leaning back in his chair. “Long day.”

“Tomorrow will be better.”

“I don’t believe you. Love an optimist, though.”

Jasper grinned. “That’s me. Glass half full all the way.”

Craig laughed. “If you’re here for the signed reports, I have to be honest and tell you they’re not done yet. End of week, I swear.”

“No, that’s not it. But good to know. Actually, I’m just starving, and I wanted to see if you wanted to get some dinner. I don’t want to go home quite yet.”

“I thought Ryan retired. He’s not waiting at home for you?”

“Nah, not today. Um—” Jasper stumbled over his words, stung by the reminder that he should have been there. They were in the same town, but with endless distance between them.

“When my dad retired, my mom had to pick up a new hobby outside the house because he was constantly trying to hang out with her. She wasn’t used to him being around so much, I think it stressed her out,” Craig laughed. “But I suppose it’s different when you’re forty, not sixty-five.”

“Right, yeah.” Jasper wouldn’t know.

“So, dinner, let’s do it! Canopy Court has a new bar attached to it.”

“Oh! Okay. Let me get my coat.”

“Let’s drive separately. I live in Worcester.”

“You live inWorcester?You commute here every day?”

Craig shrugged. “It’s not so bad. I listen to a lot of books that way. Plus, we live with my in-laws, and you can’t beat free rent when you’re trying to pay off grad school loans and save for a house.”

“That’s true,” Jasper said. He didn’t know that, since he didn’t have any grad school loans. And he didn’t have to worry about a house. He could agree it was nice to pay nothing in rent, though. “I’ll meet you there, then. I just need to grab my coat.”

“And the thingabout Ryan is, he’s a nice guy,” Jasper said, tapping his fingers on the table between him and Craig. “That’s what’s so annoying about it. He’s nice and he’s funny and he’s hot. There was a time when I really did feel lucky, like, of all the people on the planet, he chose me? But that all changed when his priority became work.”