up at him and he quickly spanks my ass, leaving it stinging for more. “Excellent,” I laugh before glancing around the pool house and taking in the way the boys have been packing up the old house keeper’s things. “Let’s get this done, but first thing’s first. I’m not a control freak, but you guys are doing it wrong.”
Chapter 11
“Come on,” Elijah says, his eyes filled with excitement as he speaks through a mouthful of nachos. “Let’s go out. I bet they have the best nightclubs around here. You’ve still got that fake ID, right?”
I scrunch up my face as the other guys groan at the idea of staying out late and partying Eli style. I can’t help but think of Milo. He went home a few hours ago but I’m sure if he were still here, he would have been on his feet and dragging Eli out the door, rattling off all the best clubs within a 50-mile radius.
“Sorry, I’ve got my Netflix pants on. I'm in for the night.” He rolls his eyes as though he thinks I’m a bore, but we all know he loves me more than life itself. I glance across at Nic as he lounges on the couch with his third serving of nachos resting on his toned stomach. “Didn’t you say you had things to do tonight anyway?”
He shakes his head. “Did. I fucked them off so we could hang out a bit longer. Dad can get some other poor loser to do his dirty work tonight.”
“Are you sure?”
His eyes fill with emotion as he watches me, and a small smile lifts the corners of his lips. “Shut up and eat your dinner.”
I grin down into my bowl and just as I go to respond, the door of the pool house flies open and mom steps through looking all kinds of exhausted. “Oh,” she says, wide-eyed. “You boys are still here. How are you all? I feel like I haven’t seen you in months when it’s only been a few days.”
“I know,” Nic says, sitting up on the couch to make space, knowing her routine just as well as she does. “We’re feeling it too.”
Mom gives him a warm smile and despite all the shit she told me about spacing myself from the boys and trying to make other friends, she can’t help but love them too. Sometimes families aren’t the people who share our blood. Sometimes it’s so much more than that.
No friends, only family.
Mom walks across the room while glancing around the pool house, stopping when she sees the framed photograph of us with my dad on the edge of the counter. Not being one to show her broken heart, she quickly covers the emotion and beams at the boys. “You boys did all of this just this afternoon? There must have been twenty of you to get it all set up so quickly,” she says, dropping down onto the space beside Nic and kicking off her shoes.
Even though we all know there wasn't much to set up, the boys all grin proudly. I adore the way Mom likes to make them feel loved for doing something for us out of the kindness of their little overprotective hearts.
“It was no problem,” Eli says. “You know we’d drop anything to make sure you guys had everything you needed.”
Mom smiles across at him, her pride and love beaming through her eyes. “Thank you, sweetheart. I really do appreciate it. To be honest, I don’t think the old bat was ever planning on moving out of here.” She glances around, taking it all in before bringing her gaze back to me “It really is nice here. We’ve struck a good deal,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved my room in the main house but it’s nice to have our own space to relax and be ourselves. Staying in that room for the last few days was so …”
“Hotel like?” I offer when she can’t seem to find the word.
“Exactly,” she says, pointing across at me. “In here, we get to be just us.”
I smile across at her and it hits me just how much she’s loving it here. She’s thriving in her new job, loving the lifestyle, and making new friends. For once in her life, people other than her family are needing her, appreciating her, and valuing her time and she absolutely loves it. I just hope I’m not going to lose her to this world.