I tweaked her hair one more time before stepping back. “Let’s get the rest of your things to my place.”
We worked in mostly silence, hauling the bed and the mattress down the stairs along with the other furniture she’d had in her studio before finishing up with the boxes. She’d moved most of her things on her own this week, and I hated that almost as much as I hated how her dad had made her cry.
Maisey had always tried to do as much as possible on her own. She hadn’t wanted to be a burden, not even at fifteen, taking care of a dying mother. She’d felt guilty every time Fallon or I had done something to help. While she wasn’t the desperately sad teenager she’d once been anymore—in fact, most days she was full of sass and confidence—the last few days had torn at the scars she’d healed. It was easy for wounds that deep to break open when targeted. I should know.
Some days, I wondered what it would take for both of us to cleanse our souls and start over.
When we finally locked up her apartment and drove back to my house, Tejas was still there, sitting on my leather couch with my dog at his side and the kitten curled up in his lap. My teammate was eating my chips, feeding them to my animals, all while watching a soccer match on my television that was just a hair too big for the space above the fireplace.
During the remodel, I’d kept as much of the Craftsman design as possible while knocking out a couple of walls to turn the unused dining room and living area into one big open space that flowed into the kitchen. I’d kept the original built-ins but moved them to frame the new energy-efficient windows and then decorated with dark woods, wicker, and copper fixtures to give it a fiery warmth. While I wasn’t anywhere close to being a decorator, I’d liked the outcome, and I was even happier when Dad’s jaw had dropped, and he’d gone on about it for weeks.
Just as Tejas went to feed Vader another chip, I grabbed it out of his hand. “Who said you could eat all my chips? And no more fried food for Vader and the cat, or I’ll be cleaning up runny shit for days.”
Vader whined, and Tejas smirked. “Providing a snack is the least you can do for the muscle I provided.”
Maisey came in the door behind me, and my dog bounded from the couch to spin circles around her. She greeted him with pets and a smooch to the top of his head. Vader’s tongue rolled to the side, and his eyes turned goofy. I swore the dog loved her more than he loved me.
“Hey, Tejas. Thanks for helping,” she said. “Is my dad in his room?”
“He shooed me out so he could, quote, ‘unpack in peace.’ Vader and Itook it to mean it was time for a well-earned break.”
I’d bet Lewis had kicked Motor-mouth from the room more out of self-defense than because he didn’t want the help.
“Well, now you can earn a beer by helping me get the furniture out of Maisey’s truck,” I told him.
It was a sign of what a good friend and crew member he was that he didn’t hesitate.
I locked the kitten in my room while we hauled Maisey’s things in. We stored the larger furniture she didn’t need at her dad’s house in Chelsea’s room and carted the rest to my guest room. Despite Vader’s best attempts to trip us as he ran back and forth between us, the three of us had her truck and my SUV almost completely unloaded in no time.
It wasn’t until we were on the last load, grabbing her bookshelves, that I realized our mistake. The last thing we needed was Tejas wondering why Masiey wasn’t moving into my room if we were a happily engaged couple. So, as I hauled one of the shelves toward me, I looked over at her and asked, “Are these going inourroom or the guest room?”
She inhaled sharply and started to snap a reply before my eyes darted to Tejas, hoping she’d catch on. She bit her lip and said, “I thought I’d make a little reading nook in the guest room, so let’s set them up there.”
After we’d gotten the shelves situated, I patted Tejas on the back and all but tossed him down the hall, saying, “Drinks on me tonight. See you at Frank’s around seven?”
“You trying to get rid of me?” he asked, his lips twisting into a knowing grin.
While I was trying to get rid of him, it wasn’t for the reasons he thought. But I played along, shoving him hard enough for his shoulder to hit the wall. “Yeah, get the hell out so I can help my Maisey-girl unpack.”
“Is that our new euphemism for sex?” He laughed. “Wouldn’tpackbe better thanunpack?”
Maisey came out of the bedroom while his words still hung in the air, and it was obvious from the red that coated her face that she’d heard every word.
“Just get out of here. I’ll see you at the bar later.”
Tejas headed toward the front door and looked back to where Maisey stood next to me. His smile disappeared, expression turning somber as he said, “I’m really happy for you, man. Both of you. You two are couple goals. Hurts that I lost the bet, but I’ll forgive you.”
“What bet?” Maisey and I said simultaneously.
Tejas’s humor reappeared. “How long it would take before Romeo herestopped fooling around with Delilah and fell for the real deal.”
Maisey inhaled sharply, and I knew she was going to say something that would blow our cover, so I hauled her up against me, kissed the top of her head, and growled, “How many times did I tell you there was nothing between Del and me?”
Tejas raised his hands in defense. “You did. You did. Our bad. Just glad to see you happy.”
He didn’t wait for us to respond, heading out of the house instead.
Maisey exhaled a shaky breath and moved away from me. “I hate lying almost as much as I hate the idea they all thought I was just waiting around for you and Delilah to be over.”