Page 16 of Structure of Love

Gage:I’m open Saturday and Sunday. I know that’s busy times for you, though. I can also do Thursday night.

My, my, he was thoughtful. How could this man get sexier? It was a real talent.

Me:Thursday night’s better for me. Say, six?

Three bouncing dots, and then Gage’s text came through.Six is great. BTW legit had no idea you were interested. My coworker is going to laugh at me all week.

Good thing I’d straight-up asked, then.Rolling a 1 on perception, huh?

I’d thrown that out deliberately to see if he was geeky at all. If he was, he’d get the reference.

Gage responded with laughing emojis andYou, on the other hand, rolled a nat 20 on charisma.

Oh! Not only was he a geek, but he thought me charming? Hell yeah. I did a mental happy dance.

Me:I thank you for the compliment. Now, I said dinner, but what do you eat? Or not eat?

I switched his contact from Gage, because that was boring, to Hopefully Boyfriend.

Hopefully Boyfriend:No sushi but I like just about all cuisines

Me:Why no sushi?

Hopefully Boyfriend:It’s a texture thing, I don’t like it. Mushrooms either

All right, I could work with that.You like Korean?

Hopefully Boyfriend:Sure, love it

Me:I know a good place in West Bloomfield, I’ll pick you up. Address?

He shot it to me. Mental note, clean out the Jeep. I couldn’t take a date out in the Jeep’s current state.

Hopefully Boyfriend:You’re using DnD references, so do you play?

Rueful, I typed,When I can find a group, yeah. I know I don’t look like a fantasy nerd.

Hopefully Boyfriend:You don’t but I like you better for it

Oh, he and I were going to have fun dating. I could see this now. Just this single hobby in common looked promising.

Hopefully Boyfriend:I can’t keep chatting, I gotta work,but chat with you later?

Me:Sure.

I should have been working as well, but I was delighted he’d responded so quickly.

Another text came through and I switched chats to find my little sister had texted me.

A lot of people in my shoes wouldn’t have a good relationship with Erin. My parents had only wanted girls, and after five sons, they’d managed it. Erin was the baby, the golden child, and Mommy and Daddy’s little princess. She’d been spoiled with presents and no consequences her entire life. Somehow, despite that, she’d grown up to be a good person.

In fact, she was tired of our parents’ shit. She was seventeen now and already eyeing the door, planning her escape. She couldn’t take the smothering for much longer, and frankly, no one expected my parents to handle it well when she came out to them as a lesbian. They liked her in pretty pastels and with long hair. Erin couldn’t wait to chop her hair off and pull on some combat boots.

I was as close to her as I could be, since I wasn’t allowed anywhere near her, and we texted a lot to make up for the fact. She was leaning on me to help her escape our parents’ house, and I was happy to help. I wanted her out, too.

She always texted me when our parents weren’t around and deleted our texts to keep them from finding out. They frequently checked her phone. I think they sensed she already had one foot out the door.

Erin:Bro, talk me down from the ledge