Page 6 of Finding Finn (Foggy Basin Season 2)

JIM

“ H e is absolutely fucking adorable,” Buffy whispered. “Totally gay.”

“You think?” I laughed. “There was only ever a five percent chance he was straight. He’s a Broadway chorus boy.”

“Like you know anything about Broadway, Jim James.”

“You said he had pink luggage with purple polka dots, so… It was a good guess.”

“What do you think?”

“I think he’s a little annoying.”

“But cute?”

“He’s not ugly,” I shrugged.

“And this is why you’re still single. I swear, the number of men who try to get your attention is staggering, yet you never notice.”

“I’m busy.” My sister always knew exactly how to annoy me.

“You’re crotchety.”

“What? I think you mean grumpy.”

“Same fucking thing. You act more crotchety than grumpy, though. You have grandpa vibes,” she teased.

“You are the most annoying person on the planet.”

“I love you, too. Now let’s get back to Finn. He’s incredibly handsome.”

“Yes, ok, fine. He’s hot. Is that better?” I blurted out and instantly regretted it. My sister had been trying to set me up with absolutely anyone gay that she met for over a year.

“You should ask him out.”

“He’s my boss, dude.”

“He’s my boss, too.”

“Yeah, but your brother isn’t trying to play matchmaker. My sister is.”

“He doesn’t know anyone. You could introduce him to the community.”

“You know more gay people than I do.”

“Once again, we get to the reason you’re still single. It’s starting to get embarrassing.”

“He has a lot of ideas.” I whistled.

“That’s a bad thing? See – crotchety. You hate change.”

“I don’t. I just hate change for the sake of change. It’s stupid to change something before you know why it’s the way it is.”

“Is this really about painting the stupid train?”

“For one example,” I scoffed.

“Why is it red?”

“Ok, maybe that’s not the best example.”

“God, you are so annoying. Just invite him out for a drink.”

“Isn’t that where we’re going?”

“Momma needs her juice. You think he’ll find the place ok?”

“He just needs to walk down Main Street. If he can’t find it, then he really is a moron.”

“Try not to scare him away, ok? I like him. I think you will, too, if you just give him a chance.”

“It’s just frustrating. He gets hired to run the place with absolutely no knowledge of what he has to do. We’re going to have to teach him everything.”

“It’s our job. Besides, I’m happy to take on some extra responsibility. I have a degree in business for a reason, so budgets, forecasting, and grant writing are right up my alley. It takes a community to run a community theatre, dumbass. Give him a break.”

“What will he actually do, though?”

“Well, he’ll start out by directing Annie as he learns about everything else. Besides, having someone who’s been on Broadway in charge of our theatre doesn’t hurt. It could actually help us with the fundraising. God, you really are Debbie Downer. Stop it.”

I sighed. “I’ll try, ok? I’m just…”

“Crotchety? I know. Maybe you should introduce him to Ben and Percy.”

“Oh, he’ll meet Ben. I have a meeting scheduled for next week.”

“Oh, yeah. The resort. I forgot about that. We definitely need to plan on doing that for the operating budget. Another hundred thousand a year would really help us. Ok, here we are. Now remember, please be nice.”

“I’ll even give him a hug,” I smirked.

“I wish you’d grab his ass. You really need to grab someone’s ass.”

“I think you just want me to get arrested for assault. Not all gay guys meet and fuck right away, you know.”

“That’s just depressing. Now get out of Bernadette Peters and don’t slam her door.”

We walked into the bar, and I nodded at Nate as he stood behind the bar. “I don’t see him.”

“Let’s grab a table. I’m sure he’s on his way.”

I glanced at the door and caught my breath. “He’s here.” He looked even better than he did today. His blue polo fit tightly against his chest, and the shorts showed what the legs of a real dancer looked like. God, he could break a person between those thighs.

“Found it,” he grinned as he walked over. Buffy jumped up and gave him a huge hug. I stepped up, and he opened his arms and then thought better of it. He stuck his hand out and I shook it.

“I’m ok for a hug, dude.” I chuckled. “But a handshake is fine too.”

“What’s this place? An inn of some sort?”

“Yeah, it’s… There are rooms for rent above, and this is one of the best bars in town. Do you play pool?”

“I swim in one,” he laughed. “I mean, I’ve played, but I’m not very good.”

Buffy started talking about something, and I stared at his handsome face.

He had the most beautiful bow-like lips.

If I had met him out somewhere, I would have been instantly attracted to him.

But he was my boss, and kind of a prissy asshole, at least on first impression.

I knew I wasn’t being fair to him. I needed to give him a chance.

But there was something about the way he said things that got under my skin.

“What do you think?” Buffy put her hand on my arm and broke me out of the Finn-hole I found myself in.

“Sorry, what?”

“Drinks and dinner,” she laughed and pointed to the waiter.

“Did I bore you?” Finn grimaced.

“Sorry, I was… day dreaming, I guess.”

“Well, order, dumbass,” Buffy ordered.

“I’ll have the burger and the Ranger on tap, please,” I ordered without looking at the menu.

“For you?” The waiter turned to Finn.

“Do you have Prosecco?”

“Do I look fabulous in these shorts? Of course, we do. And to eat, handsome?”

“I’ll have the chef salad.”

“Oh, he’s healthy.” The waiter was flirting hard.

“Alright, Andre,” I chuckled.

“Coming right up.”

“Sorry, I… I really spaced out, didn’t I?” I smirked.

“For a small town, there really are a lot of gay people,” Finn whispered.

Buffy and I almost fell out of our chairs as we laughed.

“Well, they say ten percent,” I grinned.

“At this table, I’m the minority.”

“Oh! You’re…”

“As a three-dollar bill.” Buffy winked. “And still single because he’s such a grouch.”

“Will you please stop?”

“I had no idea.” Finn looked at me seriously. “I totally thought you were straight.”

“Was it the Dodger’s shirt? It confuses people,” I chuckled.

“No, I just… I mean, you’re the tech guy.”

“Wow… stereotypes, huh?”

“No, I… Oh my god.” Finn covered his pretty face with his hands. “I’m sorry. I have no excuse, I haven’t even had my drink yet.”

“A prosecco guy, huh? I guess that fits with you being a dancer and all.”

“Oh, stereotypes! I get it.” He looked at me through his fingers. “I apologize.”

“Apology accepted. But I really could use that drink. Andre auditions for us a lot. He’s nice, but he’s also a lot.”

“Jim went out with him a couple of years ago.”

“You talk too much.”

“You’re too picky.”

“And we’ll segue,” Finn smirked.

“Let’s hear more about you.” Buffy looked at me wickedly. “You’re single?”

Finn swallowed and took a deep breath. “Oh, yeah. My boyfriend and I broke up about four years ago. I was very career-driven, and so was he, so I thought we were a good match. We were not.”

“What happened?”

“He… He was not who I thought he was.”

“Was it a bad breakup?”

“Ignore my sister. That is none of our business.”

“It’s fine. It was horrible. He had never been faithful, I found out, unless I was in town, and to be honest, I’m not even sure he was then. Monogamy was just a word – not a way of life for Marcus.”

“Why did you decide to come here and leave New York?” I asked.

“Opportunity. There wasn’t a lot of it in New York for an injured chorus boy who could no longer dance.”

“I bet.” Buffy sounded depressed for him.

“There’s always someone younger standing next to you in the audition, and as I got older, I knew that my time in the line was coming to an end one day. I just didn’t know it was going to be so soon.”

“That has to be hard.”

“It was. But I took a year and tried to decide what would be best for me. Here I am.”

I smirked. “You sure are. What do you do to stay in shape? Some friends and I go to the gym every other day around lunch if you’d like to join us. They’re guys from my football days, but they’re both very cool.”

“See, football? You just give off straight vibes.”

“Wait until you see him belting Taylor Swift at karaoke. You will totally change your mind.”

“Here we go, my fellow thespians. A prosecco for handsome, a martini for Miss Buffster, and a beer for you.” Andre placed our drinks down in front of us.

“About time,” I sighed as I picked it up.

“Wait!” Buffy held up her hands. “We need to make a toast.”

We all raised our glasses.

“Here’s to you both, and here’s to me, we’ll make this place a place to be. But if we ever disagree, momma’s right, so listen to me.”

We clinked our glasses, and Finn grinned happily.

“I think I’m gonna like it here.” He grinned. “But I really do hate Annie. Is there any way we can change that?”

“We’ll have to tell you no, tomorrow.” I chuckled. I couldn’t take my eyes off him all night.

Fuck.