Play With Me - Brittany Cournoyer Page 0,86

His expression was as raw as my throat felt, and the emotion behind his eyes nearly took what little breath I had left away. He hadn’t said it yet, and he would whenever he was ready. But I knew. Stellan loved me.

“Was it okay?” I finally forced myself to ask. Too much silence had passed between us, and now that I was no longer in the moment, my old pal anxiety creeped back up, and I was worried I’d done something wrong.

But he didn’t say anything to ease my fears. Instead, he launched off the couch with enough force I was knocked backward onto the floor. His large body covered me, and his mouth sealed over mine as he swallowed my gasp. Any thoughts I had vanished. He showed me, rather than told me, that I’d done just fine. And there’d be plenty of opportunities to practice in the future.

Moving day had finally arrived, and between work, rehearsals, and gigs, Stellan helped me pack my belongings into boxes I’d procured from the bar. Mina had been a gem and allowed me to take a few days off to get settled, and Jimmy gladly took the extra shifts. While I was anxious to get moved into the new place, I remembered how daunting it would be to get everything over there and unpacked. But Stellan had that covered and surprised me when he arrived.

“I brought reinforcements,” he announced after he let himself in, and I saw the rest of the band directly behind him.

“Oh my word, how…what…why?”

“Stellan promised us wings and beer,” Baylor explained as he walked over to a box and hefted it into his arms.

“And I have a truck to haul all this,” Weston added and grabbed a floor lamp.

“Besides, since it’s Sunday we have nothing better to do. And he’d help us if we needed it, right?” Maverick pointed out.

“Absolutely,” Stellan answered.

Maverick made a noise and grabbed another box, and the three walked out of the apartment to load it into the truck.

“I can’t believe you did this,” I said in awe as I stared at him.

“Believe it. It’ll get you out of here faster with extra hands, and I knew you wouldn’t ask for help yourself.”

I nodded. “You’re right. I was just going to move what I could in my car and figure out the bigger stuff later.”

“Now you don’t have to,” Stellan said and planted a quick kiss on my lips.

“Thank you,” I murmured against his mouth.

“Hey, you two, less kissing and more moving,” Maverick shouted from the door.

I pulled back with a laugh and looked at the band. “Thank you all so much. I really appreciate it.”

“You can thank us later. Let’s get you the hell out of here.”

Stellan was right. With the rest of the band, we packed up what belongings I had into the bed of Weston’s truck in no time. And since I didn’t have much, it only took us a few trips there and back. I fought with Weston numerous times to take gas money from me, but he wouldn’t hear of it. His excuse was that I was an honorary band member now, and he didn’t charge us.

Once we finally had everything in my new place, I turned in the keys and then the guys helped me get the bed set up and the living room furniture in place. Baylor and Weston went to work getting the television set up, while Stellan and Maverick left to grab the chicken wings and beer.

“I really appreciate all your help,” I said again as I grabbed a box of dishes to unpack them in the kitchen.

“It’s no problem, really. They all helped me when I got my new place, so I was glad to return the favor,” Baylor said.

“I mean, aside from the goo-goo eyes you two kept tossing at each other, it wasn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon.”

I snorted at Weston as I stacked the plates in the cabinet. “Goo-goo eyes? Whatever.”

“Please. Don’t ‘whatever’ me. It’s obvious you two are madly in love with each other. You might as well admit it.”

I shrugged even as I looked at the men who’d come to hover in the doorway. “I mean, if it’s obvious, what’s there to admit?”

“Have you said the words out loud to each other yet?” Baylor asked.

“Nope. I worry it’s too soon, and then there’s the whole trying to figure out when it’s the right time to tell him.”

Weston grinned at me before shooting a look to Baylor. “Why