no. I don’t want your family picking up things and moving them down to the truck.” That was just weird. They were billionaires. They paid other people to do that stuff for them. “We can do it.”
“And get all that stuff to the donation center?” He shook his head. “Not gonna happen. And you won’t let me pay to have someone move it, so what other choice do we have?”
“Okay, I’ll pay for it,” I said quickly.
“Baby, it’s fine.” He turned back to his paperwork. “My family doesn’t mind. We’re a tribe. When one of us needs something, we’re all there.”
On Saturday, Deacon and Derek came over to help move my stuff out of the apartment and into one of the trucks parked downstairs at the curb. I decided to donate all my furniture since Dex already had everything…and it was much nicer than the stuff I had. There was always a risk things wouldn’t work out and I’d have to buy stuff all over again, but I was confident that wouldn’t happen. Since Dex had conveyed marriage was something he wanted at some point, that was enough for me.
Derek and Deacon grabbed my three-seater couch at each end and prepared to lift it, using their legs and not their backs.
“You guys, I really appreciate you coming over, but you don’t need to—”
They lifted it with no effort and carried it out.
On the way, Deacon looked at me, wearing a confident grin that was very similar to the one Dex had sometimes. “I’m not an old man, remember?” He moved with Derek, his muscular arms popping with veins, his frame strong with definition, like he was the same age and fitness level as his son.
Dex came out of the bedroom carrying a couple boxes and set them on the counter. “They already got the couch?”
“Yeah, and your dad probably could have carried it by himself.”
He turned to look at me, giving me a knowing smirk. “You have the hots for my dad, don’t you?”
“What?” I asked, immediately embarrassed he would even ask me that. “No…I… How could you even ask me that?”
His grin widened. “It’s fine. Everyone thinks my dad is hot.”
“I don’t think he’s hot—”
“He is hot, so it’s fine. Besides, I’m gonna look like that someday, so…you’re welcome.” He gave a fake bow then turned to the boxes. “I don’t plan on jumping a guy in a bar, so I won’t have quite the sex appeal.” He grabbed the boxes and looked at me before he headed through the doorway. “Just don’t tell my mom. She’ll scratch your eyes right out.”
When everything was in the apartment, we had pizza and beers. Boxes were mainly in the bedroom and the closet, but my things were scattered everywhere. I could organize everything myself, so their work was done.
We sat at the dining table to enjoy the break. Derek had a couple beers and devoured the pizza, and Deacon stuck with water and ate his vegetarian pizza with no cheese. He was actually more ripped than his two youthful sons, but it was probably because he took his diet seriously, while the other two scarfed down whatever they wanted and relied on their metabolism to do the rest.
Dex pointed at his left eye. “It’s looking better.”
Deacon ignored his comment and took another bite of his pizza.
“Did you teach Daisy to hit like that?” Derek asked.
“That was all her, actually.” He took another bite and looked at his son across from him, who looked practically identical.
“Dad, you’ve kinda screwed us over,” Dex said. “Because Daisy is going to totally kick our asses whenever she’s pissed off.”
I chuckled because I could actually see Daisy threatening them a bit.
“Then don’t piss her off,” Deacon said simply, his eyes down on his plate of pizza.
“You think that’s easy?” Dex asked incredulously. “She’s always pissed at me for something.”
“Me too,” Derek said.
“Really?” Deacon asked. “Because she always looks happy to see me.”
Dex rolled his eyes. “Because you’re Dad.”
Derek drank his beer and washed down his last bite. “Did you get a lot of questions about it at work?”
“A couple,” Deacon said noncommittally. “I told them the truth.”
“Probably have attracted a lot of interest from the ladies,” Derek said. “Probably think you’re a professional boxer.”
Deacon picked up another slice and ignored the comment altogether, like he genuinely didn’t care about the women who threw themselves at him. To him, it was just a mild annoyance. It didn’t give him confidence or boost his ego.
“Ooh, I bet Mom