Charlie looked directly at me and said, “I couldn’t get where I knew his son from out of my head. He was so familiar, and I didn’t know why. And I asked Robert about it, and he laughed at me. He said I probably needed to see him in full leathers to remember.”
“What?” Sandy screeched.
“Jeremy Olsen was Mr. Leatherman for the last year,” Charlie said, and my brain broke right in half. “And starting last weekend, he’s hosting the competition for the new Mr. Leatherman.”
Silence.
Charlie stared at each of us in turn. “Huh. I didn’t expect to be able to shut you all up at once. I should have figured this out years ago.”
Sandy spoke first. “But—but he’s so skinny.”
Charlie rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to be fat or muscular to be named Mr. Leatherman. It’s not always about appearance. You should know better than that.”
“But—but it’s June,” Paul said.
“The title runs from summer to summer,” Charlie said. “Are you really all this stupid?”
“That completely changes how I see him,” Vince said. “Sure, he was like, nerdy professor hot before, but now? Wow.” He looked at Paul, a worried expression on his face. “But you’re my one and only. Forever.”
Paul waved him away. “Yeah, yeah, forever and stuff. But you’re right. I didn’t expect that from him.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Like, full leathers?”
“I can see it,” Darren announced. “I mean, he’s not my type, but I think it could work for him. I thought there was a sort of kinship with him. Us manly guys have to stick together.”
Charlie laughed. “Boy, they would chew you up and spit you out even before you knew what was happening. You weren’t nothing but a chicken hawk until you pulled your head out of your ass and got with Sandy. You should stop talking before you find yourself with your butt in the air by a true daddy making sure you know respect.”
Darren said, “Meep,” and it was almost enough to break through the fuzz in my head.
“I would probably pay to see that,” Sandy said. He frowned. “Never mind. I just realized I’m extremely possessive and would probably cut a bitch if that happened.”
“Corey?” Charlie asked. “You haven’t said anything.”
I needed to articulate exactly how I was feeling. “Blargh,” I said. “Urgh. Marf.” Perfect. That about summed it up.
Darren grabbed the sides of my head and tilted me back. He sat forward and peered down at me. “I think he’s broken,” he said. He pushed me forward again so that I could stare off into nothing.
“Why tell us now?” Paul asked. “I mean, I get the enjoyment of seeing Corey drooling over the thought of—” He managed to duck when I snapped out of it and threw the umbrella from my fruity drink at him. I was aiming for his eye. He was quicker than I expected.
Wheels yawned as he opened his eyes. He went back to sleep when Vince rubbed his ears.
“I’m not drooling,” I managed to say. It certainly didn’t help that I had to wipe drool from my chin.
“Sure you’re not,” Paul said. “But this seems like something we should have heard from Jeremy if he wanted any of us to know.”
“Two reasons,” Charlie said. “First, it was unavoidable. I was in the office with Mike today when he got a call from the owner of Build-a-Bear. He wanted to know if Helena was available Sunday for the final show. Mike told him as long as it didn’t interfere with her regular show, he didn’t see why not. I told him I’d handle it.”
“That’s certainly flattering,” Sandy said. “Short notice, though. I don’t know if I can put together anything that quickly.”
Charlie nodded. “They had a queen coming in from Phoenix that canceled at the last minute. They were going to have a replacement drive down—”
Helena came roaring forward. “From Phoenix?” she hissed. “You’re telling me a queen from Phoenix was going to put her filth all over my town? Oh, not on my watch. I’ll be there, and you can bet I’m going to give those bear men the show of their lives. They won’t even be able to pronounce Phoenix by the time I’m done with them.”
“I thought you’d see the light,” Charlie said dryly. “And I knew that if you agreed, you’d figure it out when you got there. And there was a chance that the others might come and see for themselves anyway.”
“And the second reason?” Darren asked.
Charlie looked at me again. “Something Robert told me. Said that Jeremy was a little down after our meal. Apparently our Corey here invited him to Jack It that night, but he had to decline.”
“You did what?” Sandy asked me. “You never told me that.”