The Humdrum Life of a Hero

Chapter 10.

I only made it five minutes before I found myself leaning against the doorframe of the basement door, eavesdropping on Jay and Tony's conversation. Granted, it was entirely about me, so technically I had the right to listen.

"What exactly is going on between you and Sarah?" Tony asks. "I know I haven't known you as long as I've known Sarah, but you seem distracted with smittenness for my sister. You're not the best at hiding that. And as far as Sarah goes, I don't have much of a basis to work off of because she's never dated, but I can tell she's got a thing for you."

"Am I right or am I right?" Tony teases. I can hear my brother's smirk from all the way at the top of the stairs.

"Of course I like Sarah. She's wonderful, but i just don't know if she likes me the same way."

"Dude," Tony begins. "She likes you no doubt, but I don't know if she'll do anything about it. She's got a lot on her plate, you know."

"Trust me, I fully realize that. Why would I be doing this whole thing if I didn't know that?"

Doing what "whole thing"? What is Jay doing and why don't I know about it? I scoot the door open further just enough so I can crouch down and sit on the first step. There's a wall that runs along the stairs, effectively giving whoever inhabits the basement more privacy, so they won't be able to see me unless they walk to the end of the stairwell.

"This is true, Jay, but remember what I said when you asked me about this when you started?"

"'As long as she doesn't get hurt.'" Jay quotes Tony from an earlier conversation that I didn't know was had.

"After that," Tony says.

"'And don't fall in love with her either,'?" Jay asks. Tony must nod his head, or I just can't hear him confirm to Jay that that was what he meant, because Jay then says, "I thought you were kidding."

"You just hadn't figured out yet that I don't joke about family." Tony clears his throat before continuing. "When either she figures it out or you tell her what you've been doing, she won't accept it as a compliment because she'll just think you're trying to get into her pants."

"You really think that after I show her the finished project she won't accept it because she won't see the sincerity and appreciation behind it?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Tony replies. "If I were you, I'd just keep things the way they are, sexual tension included, that way she doesn't get suspicious when you stop trying to make out with her at every every opportunity."

I blush, and I figure Jay must be blushing as well because Tony's "advice" sounded more like an order. Out of nowhere I feel a finger poking me in the back. "Sarah, we're hungry," Connor and Nick both whine really loudly, blowing my cover.

I scramble to my feet just as I hear the creaking of the ancient couch he has downstairs and the subsequent footfall to the stairs. I scurry the four steps from the basement door to the kitchen. I hurriedly pull out a griddle, making it look like I just walked into the kitchen.

Well, hopefully it looks like that.

I'm pulling the plastic container of butter and the cheese slices out of the fridge when Jay appears at the top of the steps: Tony's right behind him, but he's not the one I was waiting for. He looks a bit on the frazzled side. Being chewed out by Tony would definitely cause that, but once he spots me standing with one hand full of cheese singles and butter and the other hand gripping the refrigerator door handle way too firmly, he relaxes and a warm smile worms its way onto his lips.

I match his smile and ask, "Would you like a grilled cheese sandwich, Jay?"

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"If you want to go trick-or-treating, both of you will smile for this picture," I chide Connor and NIck who this evening prefer to be called Iron Man and Thor. Nick adjusts Thor's winged helmet and then whacks Connor's Iron Man mask with his hammer. I step forward and forcibly take away the hammer. Nick huffs, but at least he isn't whining verbally, just doing it through his nose.