Page 13 of Rory Rides Her Fake Fiancé
I swear she’s well behaved for me. Kit just brings something out of her.
Probably because he lets her do whatever the fuck she wants. As soon as he comes in the door, she’s all over him. “Princess,” he laughs while she pogos up to try to lick his face. “Down, girl.”
He has no authority, so she ignores him, and I leave Kit to manage the trouble he inspires. By the time we get Leo and Jared cleaned up and Princess calmed down, Hunter’s pacing, too strung out to sit anymore, apparently.
“Okay.” He sets his bottle down. “I have a proposal for you all.”
“You’re a handsome man but I’m not marrying you,” Kit jokes.
Hunter rolls his eyes.
“I have an idea. It’s not a plan yet, but it could be. I just thought we should talk about it first. But I feel really good about this. I’m totally certain that between all of us, we can figure this out. It’ll take a lot of work. But we’re good at that. Morgan, you’ve always wanted your own bar. And Kit, your parents have already invested so much into this town. And Leo?—”
“Leo’s wondering what the hell you’re talking about,” Leo says.
“Right.” Hunter makes a rewinding motion with his hands. “We should buy Sirens Valley Lodge.”
There’s a moment of silence, and then Jared growls, “Fuck. Off.”
Kit laughs. Hard. Tuan and I make eye contact and chuckle. Bailey and Silas are quiet, but Bailey watches us all with wide eyes. I’ve known her since she was a kid too—as Hunter’s older sister, she was always on the outskirts of our group. But a few months ago she moved back to Here to be with Silas, occasionally driving into the city for work.
“I don’t get the joke,” Leo complains.
“It’s not a joke. I think we should buy Sirens Valley Lodge.”
Kit’s still laughing, but it’s tinged with hysteria now. “How the hell do you think we can do that?”
Hunter holds up his hands. “Okay, think about it?—”
“We are,” Leo says.
“I mean for more than thirty seconds.” He holds out a finger. “The property is for sale but the closing won’t happen until April, the end of the ski season.”
“How do you know that?” Quinn asks.
“I talked to Meredith about it.” Meredith’s one of the other real estate agents in the area. She’s Silas’s main competition, but like him, it’s only one of her jobs.
Hunter holds up another finger. “That gives us time to save up and apply for loans. If we can get a bank loan, we probably only need twenty percent or so of the deposit. We may even be able to talk the Schaefers into self-financing.”
“Okay, but twenty percent is still . . .” Leo trails off.
Hunter opens up his phone. He doesn’t type anything, but he reads the number off. I bet he’s got a spreadsheet started already.
“That’s a lot of money,” Leo says faintly.
It is a lot of money. Money none of us have, except maybe Hunter, though he hasn’t actually said if he has enough. Bailey might have the money too . . . she works for a firm in the city—New York, that is—as some kind of manager . . . in renewable energy, maybe?
“Split nine ways with all of us in the room,” Hunter points out. “Or more if we invite other people to buy in. It’s not that much.” He gestures to me. “Morgan’s already saving for his own bar. Well, you could buy the bar you already work in.” He gestures widely at the room. “I already have some money in the bank. Kit’s saving up for a house. Now I’m not saying he has to spend it on the lodge, obviously, but it’s an option, right?”
“I will be saving up for a house someday,” Kit interjects. “I’ve only been in business two years. I’m barely profitable, living at my parents’ and trying to pay back the money they lent me to start.”
“Okay, well. Leo? Silas? Quinn? I’m sure you all have a bit of savings.” Hunter’s shoulders are sagging under the weight of our objections.
“Uh, no,” Leo says. “I don’t have”—he counts on his fingers—“five figures of extra spending money lying around.”
Silas rubs his hands over his face. “I work three jobs, man, and I’m saving . . . I’m saving up for some renovations. Do you think I have a ton of money?”
Close one, Silas. We all know he’s saving for an engagement ring.
