Obie snorts out a laugh, shaking his head. “All right, all right. I know when I’m beaten.” He gestures towards the crib, and a shiver vibrates through the air as the soundproofing spell evaporates. Much more quietly, he adds, “Tell Sam I say hello, yeah? And give Baby Addison a little nose kiss for me.”
“I will!” Keira says, waving as he strides towards the door. “Talk to you soon!”
Obie waves back before closing the door gently behind them and strolling towards the elevator. Chester waits until they’re safely inside before speaking. “Do you know all of your tenants personally?”
“I know all of their names,” Obie says, taking off his toolbelt and depositing it back into its pocket dimension, “but some of them prefer to keep to themselves. Even if I don’t go around banging on doors for rent, a lot of people are uncomfortable with the guy who controls their housing. I get that.”
A trickle of curiosity twines through Chester’s mind. “How much do you charge for rent, anyway? Two thousand a month?”
Obie looks scandalized. “What? Of course not. I don’t even charge that much for the two-bedroom apartments near Lakeside, and those are waterfront real estate. In this particular building, all of the apartments are studios, so I try to keep rent around four hundred.”
Chester’s jaw drops. “Four hundred a month? That’s it?”
“I’m doing my part to end the housing crisis,” Obie argues, leading the way out of the elevator and through the empty lobby. “And you saw Keira. She and Sam both work full-time, they both have student loan debt,andthey have a new baby. They couldn’t afford two thousand a month—or, if they could, they’d be living paycheck to paycheck.”
There’s a strange feeling in Chester’s chest. He valiantly attempts to ignore it. “I’m pretty sure most landlords don’t really care if their tenants are living paycheck to paycheck.”
“Well, I’m not most landlords,” Obie fires back, shouldering his way into the sunlight outside the building. “You up for another job? I can show you some of those apartments over at Lakeside—the hot water isn’t working in one of them.”
There’s a tinge of excitement in Obie’s voice. Almost like he’s having a good time visiting his tenants and working through their myriad problems.
Maybe he’s having a good time showing everything to Chester, too. The warmth in Chester’s chest glows brighter. “Sure. I don’t have anywhere else to be.”
“Excellent,” Obie says, and as they set off towards Lakeside, Chester takes a deep breath and tries not to think about how comfortingly domestic this all feels.
“Oh, my God,” Trevor says, grabbing Chester’s shoulders and shaking him lightly. “Oh, myGod!”
“Um.” Chester throws Obie a look of pure terror. “Hi?”
“Oh, my God!”Trevor repeats, and he rounds on Obie, his eyes wide.“Obadiah!Why would you not tell us that you have a boyfriend?”
“A demon is allowed to have his secrets,” Obie says defensively. “And it’s only been a few weeks, okay? I didn’t want to subject Kyle to all of you on the first date.”
Sasha rolls her eyes, elbowing Trevor out of the way and extending a hand. “Ignore my brother. He’s a drama king. I’m Sasha.”
“Hi, Sasha,” Chester says faintly, shaking her hand. “It’s, uh, nice to finally meet you all.”
Trevor gestures meaningfully at Chester. “See? Kylewantedto meet us! There was no reason to hide him!”
“I wasn’t hiding anybody!” Obie counters, exasperated. And that might be a blatant lie—after all, Chester has literally been invisible for their past three weeks of bowling—but there’s no reason for Trevor to know that. “Will yourelax,my dude? You’re meeting him now. You’ve met him. You’re friends now! So exciting.”
Maggie shoots Obie a sidelong glance. “Well, thisisthe first time you’ve ever brought a significant other bowling.”
Obie scoffs. “You don’t know that. You’ve only been coming here for a year.”
“No, it’s true,” Nack Bar George says, appearing out of nowhere with his cane and a container of mozzarella sticks to scrutinize Chester closely. “I can confirm that this is the first time in sixty years you’ve brought a significant other to Redwater Bowl.” He offers the mozzarella sticks to Chester. “Here. To bribe you to return.”
Chester’s eyes light up. “Thanks, George,” he says, taking the carton and tilting it in Obie’s direction. “You want?”
Obie suppresses a smile. “All yours, puppy. Also, George, he’s myboyfriend.You don’t need to bribe him to come back.”
“No, no,” Chester says, shoving an entire mozzarella stick in his mouth. “I will accept any and all bribes. Thank you.”
Obie rolls his eyes. “You’re such a cheap date.”
“You should be happy about that,” Chester fires back, licking marinara sauce off his fingers. “I’ve been deprived of greasy bowling alley food for most of my life. Let me enjoy my greasy bowling alley food.”
A pang twists through Obie’s chest. Right. Chester didn’t have bowling outings with his high school friends every Friday night.
