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“You know,” Aiden said, grabbing a chip. “If you had a house, Theo, you could host sometimes.”
“You have a house, and we still always end up here,” Cal said.
“Yeah, but I can’t cook for shit, and no one delivers that far out.”
“We could pick up something on the way next week,” Cal said grinning at me. “Right, Theo?”
It’d been almost two years since Aiden bought his farmhouse on the outskirts of town, and Cal and I had yet to be invited inside. Cal was offended until one of Aiden’s sisters told him none of the O’Malleys had been allowed in either. It was odd, but I’d known Aiden long enough to figure he had his reasons. I worried he was hiding something. Of the three of us, he’d been the first to attempt to move on from the accident, but it seemed unhealthy to me that he chose to live next door to where Logan spent his last night alive. He even bought the neighboring farm and cleared a view to the barn where we partied before the accident.
Aiden shook his head. “It’s still a construction zone. I keep getting sidelined by other projects. Like the house on Maple.”
“What house on Maple?” Cal asked as I reached for a chip and loaded it with whatever heavenly concoction Rowan had put together.
“There’s a little rancher for sale that I’d love to flip,” Aiden said with his mouth full. “Only problem is most of my guys take off in the winter since work usually slows down. Damn, Rowan. That’s good.”
“Is it livable?” Cal asked.
Aiden nodded while he worked to swallow a huge mouthful of chips and dip. “Outdated as all get out, but it’s built solid. Little old lady who lived there decided to go into a retirement community after her husband passed.”
“Mrs. Jenkins?” Rowan asked.
Aiden nodded.
“That’s the house right behind Principal Twillings. It’s practically next door,” Rowan said, gripping Cal’s arm.
“You want to move?” he asked.
“Not me, Poppy,” she said. “She wants a place of her own. Too bad Mrs. Jenkins is selling now. In a year or two it’d be perfect, but I doubt she could swing it yet.”
“Maybe Theo could buy it,” Cal said, avoiding eye contact. “Renovate it with Aiden and then sell it to Poppy in a few years.”
They all paused. I looked between them. I finished chewing the chip and dip, which was delicious. Then I took another sip of water and let the silence settle around the room. “How many times did y’all practice that performance?” I asked once they all looked good and nervous.
Rowan winced. “A few times. But come on, Theo, it’d be perfect.”
“We went over this last night,” I said. “Banks don’t like lending to felons.”
“Max thought you could get a mortgage,” Aiden said, leaning back in his chair. “He knows a couple bankers and said he’d write you a glowing letter of recommendation. We all know you don’t spend shit on yourself, so I’m guessing you have enough for a pretty good down payment.”
I did. But that didn’t mean I wanted to buy a house. “When did you talk to Max?” I asked.
“Well,” Aiden said, stretching even further back in the overstuffed chair. “After you ditched us last night and left little Max’s picture behind, we decided to take a trip to your boss’s house this morning to deliver it before we called you to bring back our keys.”
“He loved the picture, by the way,” Cal said. “T-Rex holding an umbrella.”
“That was a T-Rex? I thought it was a gecko,” Rowan said.
“Definitely a T-Rex,” Aiden said. “My nephew draws them the same way.”
“Did you go with them?” I asked Rowan.
“I drove. Plus, I had to make sure they behaved themselves. They got a little heated last night after you left. I told them they needed to give Max an opportunity to explain why he evicted you before they went all alpha hole on your behalf.”
“As usual, you were right,” Cal said, kissing her neck.
“To get to the point before kickoff,” Aiden said. “We all agree it’s time you got a decent place to live.”
“Max didn’t mention it,” I said, rubbing my forehead. We’d worked hours together and talked about everything except the eviction. I’d even noticed the new dinosaur picture at his station, but figured it was a gift from one of his girls.