swallowed hard. Traveling the world, working with Mom to help those in need was all I’d ever wanted in the world.
My entire life, I’d wanted nothing else.
Until two pink lines changed everything.
5
Nixon
“That’s the last of it.” Roman set a cardboard box marked textbooks on my dining room table.
“You’re sure?” I scanned the contents of the dining room. There were maybe a dozen boxes and three suitcases. It was hardly what I expected when Liberty agreed to move in with me. Was this really all she owned?
“Looks right,” she said as she walked right past me and planted a kiss on Roman’s cheek. “Thank you so much for helping. Really.”
“No problem.” He gave her the smile that had melted a thousand panties, but I knew it wasn’t intentional flirting. Roman was just that damned charming by nature. Had it been Hendrix, I would have kicked his ass.
“It would have gone faster if you’d let me help.” Liberty fisted her hands on her hips and tilted her head at me.
“What?” I balked. “You’re not supposed to lift anything heavier than twenty pounds. I read it,” I wagged a finger at her.
Her mouth twisted to the side, but she finally sighed.
Nixon one, Liberty zero.
“Fine, then we could have asked Cory and Tyler to help. I hate that you two had to give up a perfectly good Thursday afternoon, especially since you’re leaving tomorrow for Buffalo.”
“That was never going to happen,” I muttered.
Roman rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced.
“What am I missing here?” Her gaze darted between us.
“Most of us like to keep our houses…you know…private, that’s all,” he answered.
Her eyes danced with mischief as she turned toward me. “Are you saying that you big, macho men are scared of the fanboys?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“Absolutely,” Roman agreed. “Besides, is there actually a point to owning a pickup truck if we don’t use it to help someone move at least once?” He lifted his palms.
“Excellent point. You were really just doing us a favor.” I nodded emphatically.
“You two are ridiculous.” She rolled her eyes, then looked over the contents of the table. “Man, I really need to purge.”
Roman and I exchanged a look of pure confusion.
“I wouldn’t consider being able to fit your entire life on my table as needing to purge.”
She snort-laughed, which might have been the cutest damned thing I’d ever heard. “Owning more than I can fit in two suitcases is a reason to purge.”
Suitcases. Right. Because she was planning to leave as soon as she got her doctorate. But May felt like a whole lifetime away, and maybe by the time the whoosh got here, she’d change her mind. If not…well, we were going to have to eventually broach that topic, but not today.
Today she was moving in, and I was counting that as a win in my column.
“Okay, so I’m heading out,” Roman excused himself with a wave. “Liberty, it was nice to officially meet you. I’m sure the rest of the guys are going to love you. And don’t stress about meeting the wives and girlfriends. I’ll send Teagan over to coach you up.”
“Rest of the guys?” Liberty’s brow furrowed.
“Well, yeah. Everyone is going to want to meet you.” He smiled.
Liberty didn’t. She looked just as perplexed as before. Guess I was going to have more than a few questions to answer.
I walked Roman to the door and thanked him again before he drove off.
“I was kind of hoping to meet Hendrix, too.” Liberty’s voice bounced off the walls as she walked into the foyer, taking it all in.
“Oh?” My stomach tightened. Was Hendrix more her type?
“Yeah. You said he and Roman were your boys, and it seems only fair since you got to meet all of my friends.” She shrugged slightly.
Relief nearly took my knees out from under me. “Right. Well, I figured I should start you out with the most normal of my friends.”
She arched a brow and folded her arms under her breasts. “Nixon, you guys all make millions a year. There is no normal. There’s just shades of less weird.”
“Hey, I grew up on a farm. The fact that I can throw a ball just happened to buy me a house big enough to move my baby mama in.” I stretched my arms out and gestured to the rest of the house behind her.
“Oh God, you’re not actually going to call me that, are you?” She laughed.
“Not if you don’t want me to.” I grinned as I headed toward her. “I can also call