“Noah does the same thing! I feel like I’m always sweeping or vacuuming.” A smirk crossed Remington’s face as she said, “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about...”
Before she could finish her thought, Rafe came up behind us with Hawk and Shotgun. Apparently, they’d overheard some of our conversation and felt the need to add in their two cents. As Shotgun pulled up a seat, he looked down at Remington and asked, “How many times you’ve thought about what?”
“Tossing your boots out on the front lawn.”
“And why would you do that?”
“Because you don’t take them off at the front door and end up tracking mud and dirt all over the house.”
A smile crossed his face as he asked, “Is that right?”
“Yep.” Remington motioned her hand over to me as she told him, “We were just telling Marlowe about some of the hardships that go along with living with a man.”
“And what about the hardships that go with living with a woman?” Hawk asked as he sat down next to Delilah. “Have you talked about that?”
“No,” Delilah nearly busted out into laughter. “Because there are none.”
“Oh, yeah?” Rafe sat down and placed his hand on my thigh, listening as Hawk asked, “What about all the makeup bottles, hair sprays, perfumes, and God knows what else you leave piled up on the bathroom counter. Hell, I don’t even have room for my toothbrush anymore.”
With her eyebrows cocked high, Delilah replied, “I might get rid of some of my toiletries if you would stop leaving empty water bottles by the bed.”
“What about how women always say they’re ‘fine’ when clearly they’re not.” Shotgun’s eyes skirted over to Remington as he continued, “Stomping around the house, slamming cabinet doors and cursing like a sailor. I ask what’s wrong, and all I get is her saying ‘Nothing, I’m fine!’”
“Okay, what about you and your football? A guy misses a pass or a field goal, and you act like he’s shot the president!”
“I’ve got one.” Rafe, who hadn’t said a word through the entire conversation, leans in towards the group and asked, “What about all the hair in the drain?”
I dropped my hand to my hip as I huffed. “What hair?”
“Your long-ass hair is always clogging up the drain.” He actually looked disturbed as he whined, “It’s like I’m pulling Cousin Itt out of the drain every time I take a shower.”
“Well, that’s a little dramatic.”
“It’s the truth! I keep expecting the thing to talk to me.”
“Fine,” I giggled. “I’ll do better about the hair, but you’re gonna have to do better about putting the toilet seat down.”
“I always put the seat down.”
“Umm,” I cocked my brow, “My ass hitting that cold water the other night says something different.”
“Oh, man.” He laughed for several moment before saying, “I didn’t know about that.”
“Well, it’s something I won’t soon forget.”
The group erupted into laughter. We were still giggling when Remington asked, “Either of you have issues with the TV remote?”
“What kind of issues?”
“Noah never puts it back on the coffee table, and it ends up wedged between the sofa cushions.”
“At least you always know where to find it. That and all your hair ties. Bet you’ve got a thousand of those things.”
“I do.” Remington leaned towards Noah and wound her arms around him, gazing at him adoringly. “I guess you boys were right. We have a few minor bad habits.”
“Yeah, but we love you anyway.”
“And we love you.” Remington leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “I hate to break up the party, but we better get going. I have to be at work in the morning.”
“Me too,” Delilah sighed. “And I have a double shift.”
As he stood, Hawk said, “Then, I guess we best get you girls home.”
“We’ll follow you out.” Rafe took me by the hand as he asked, “You ready to head out?”
“Whenever you are.”
I’d barely stood when both Delilah and Remington came rushing over to say their goodbyes. Delilah hugged me and said, “We’ve got to get together again soon.”
“I’d really like that.”
Once Rafe and Hawk let the other brothers know we were leaving, we all headed out to the parking lot and said one last farewell. Moments later, Rafe and I were on our way back to his place. Both of us were quiet on the way home. I wondered if he was thinking about everything the guys had said about their ol’ ladies and their bad habits. I couldn’t help but wonder if the conversation had made him second-guess his suggestion of us moving in together. It was a thought that weighed on me as we quietly made our way into the bedroom. He didn’t say a word as he threw his keys on the dresser and kicked off his boots. I couldn’t stand the silence a moment longer, so I asked, “Is something wrong?”