Page 60 of Ring Rust

“God, no.”

Logan grumbled. “If I’m so terrible, can youteach mesomething instead of forcing me to follow you around like a puppy?”

Ryan sighed. That was fair, and would probably be helpful for everyone, but Logan was just so annoying. The thought of spending more time with him was only slightly more appealing than listening to Jasper list all the ways he’d let him down. But with Ryan’s back still a little off, he decided Logan was right, if for no other reason than he didn’t want to have to bend over too much.

“Okay. I’ll teach you how to fix this gate.”

Logan bit back a smile. It was sort of cute, Ryan supposed. The way opossums are cute—rat-like and goofy.

“Okay!”

Ryan sighed and moved next to the gate, grabbing at a loose hinge. He wiggled it back and forth, and the whole thing drifted away from the post.

“First thing to know—that’s not good,” Ryan said.

Logan looked like he wanted to laugh but was afraid to. Instead, he said, “Uh huh.”

“That was a joke.”

“Right,” Logan nodded. “Good one. Um, can the gate be fixed?”

“Of course,” Ryan said. “Most things can be fixed with a little time and effort.”

Logan followed Ryan’s instruction to remove the remaining screws. They were caked in sawdust. He blew on them to clear them off, blasting the sawdust into Ryan’s eye. He squeezed them shut and hissed through his teeth.

“Fuck!” Ryan said, rubbing at his eye.

“Sorry,” Logan said. “I was trying to see better.”

“Well, now I can’t see at all,” Ryan said, blinking the dust out.

“Do we need new screws?”

“No, the issue is that the screws are grabbing onto nothing but dust in there. We need dowels to fill the wood.”

The actual repair took about half as long as the explanation, but Logan managed to do most of the work himself and not ruin anything in the process.

“Nice work, Logan,” Ryan said. He was still blinking excessively, and his eye was watering nonstop.

Logan tested the gate, opening and closing it a few times, and his face lit up with the excitement of… success, Ryan guessed. A little concerning, since he’d been hired to do an awful lot more than fix hinges. He still didn’t understand how Jasper had found this guy, but at this point, he didn’t want to know.

The latch clicked and Logan whooped, raising his fist in the air.

“We did it!”

“You did it, bud. Good job.”

Logan put his hands on his hips and nodded, smiling at his handiwork. “I did, didn’t I?” he asked. “Guess you won’t be needed around here after all, hm?”

Ryan waited much longer than he should have for Logan to say he was kidding. When it never happened, he shook his head and headed to his car. He needed a shower and to rinse his eye out.

Before he started driving, he looked at his phone and realized he was running behind, thanks to Logan requiring a lesson in hinges. He dialed Jasper’s number and hoped he could catch him before he left work to pick up Nina.

“Hello?” Jasper answered.

“Hey, it’s me. I’m running late and wanted to let you know. Should I pick up dinner on my way home?”

Jasper sighed happily. “That’d be great. I don’t feel like cooking.”