That's Great!

Jonah shook those thoughts free. He still needed to respond to Eden's text. 'Nothing to be ashamed of. My aunt loves those. She would probably be thrilled to be a part of your movie night'

Aunt Mel would probably be thrilled to meet a girl either of her boys were interested in period. Even though they were in their mid-to-late twenties, she still called him and Troy 'my boys' and fussed over them every time they were at her house. Once a mother, always a mother.

He had a feeling she would really like Eden and not only because she was also a Jane Austen fan. She was kind, smart, and loved the outdoors.

Jonah had gotten his love of hiking from his aunt and uncle. They went on all sorts of backpacking trips when he and Troy were younger. It was a tradition to go to the mountains and hike as a family every Mother's Day even now.

Everyone in the family had already requested time off so they could take a four-day trip to Yosemite this year. They hadn't been there in a while so it would be fun. They hadn't done every hike even after visiting there a few times.

The reason they were all taking so much time off in May was because they were hiking Half Dome. They were going to do some shorter hikes too but that was the main attraction.

Aunt Mel and Uncle Bob had hiked Half Dome before when they were younger but they wanted to do it again with everyone and had never gotten around to it. Jonah was looking forward to going on such a famous hike.

Eden texted him back. 'Your aunt has good taste. Are you up to anything fun tonight?'

Not a thing. Troy had a gig with his band, Mirrorscape, at seven so he was on his own. He still hadn't decided what to do with himself because he had been so out of it all day.

After their conversation the other day, Troy had confided that part of the reason he was so attached to his job at Freddie's was the schedule. He had Sundays off and only worked Saturday mornings so he had plenty of time to play at parties and things.

'Not at all. At least I have plans tomorrow so I'm not a total loser' Jonah replied with a smiling tongue-out emoji so she knew he was mostly kidding.

'A total loser, you? Please. What are you doing?' Eden asked.

'I have a standing basketball game on Sundays at a nearby park. We're a rotating group but there are usually about four or five of us that are always there'

Troy had started the tradition back when they were in high school. It was a way to get his antisocial cousin to interact with other guys from their school and the neighborhood in general. Over the years, it had turned into something almost official.

Now there were teens, guys in their twenties, and even some dads with young children who played while their kids were at the park involved. A lot of the guys that originally started this had moved away but there were still a couple of Troy's friends that showed up once or twice a month. He came too whenever he didn't have anything more pressing to do.

'So you're a basketball guy. That's cool. All I know about the game is that I'm a total magnet for getting hit with the ball. It happened a lot in P.E. growing up so I never exactly got into it'

Jonah laughed out loud at that because he could almost picture the look on her face whenever it happened. Poor Eden.

'Ouch. It's happened to me before too so I offer you my deepest condolences'

She replied with a string of laughing emojis before sending a second text. 'And before you ask, my only plans for tomorrow are going out to brunch with Aubrey's family and freaking out about what my first day of work will be like'

Eden had read his mind. He had been about to ask that. He was smiling like an idiot as he composed his next message, right when Troy walked in the front door.

He shot his cousin a funny look. "Dude, what are you so happy about? No wait—don't tell me. Eden listened to my advice yesterday and finally texted you."

"Yeah, she did. Thanks for that. Whatever weird thing you must have done worked."

Troy made an affronted expression. "Who says I did anything weird? I think I managed to play it perfectly cool considering a girl that has a crush on you was essentially confessing to me in your stead."

That wasn't how Jonah would put it but he couldn't deny that it must have been strange for Troy. He probably did his best.

"Whatever. Remind me where your gig is tonight."

"A bar downtown that showcases local bands. In other news, that guy at the studio that's helping us mix our album finished up with it today and sent it over. It sounds lit! I'll have to show you what he sent me after I shower," he said excitedly.

"We have a pretty decent YouTube following—about twenty thousand or so subscribers—and we've been advertising our album on there and our social media pages. It should be ready to release in the summer once we've gotten enough hype for it.

"This could be it, man. Our music is going to be available on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, etc. That'll seriously widen our listener base. And if the right people hear our songs, we might get asked to be openers for more popular bands. That would be huge!"

His enthusiasm was contagious. "That's great! I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, so you totally saved my life by taking over my Freddie's job so I could record. I swear I'll find a way to make this up to you eventually. I know it was rough for you working so many hours in a week," Troy said apologetically. "Anyway, I'm gonna shower. Be back to show you what I've got."

It was hard working two jobs at the same time but Jonah couldn't completely regret it. Playing Freddie Funnington brought him to Eden.