Her hands went to her hips.
“I don’t mind doing that with you,” she confessed. “But you’ll have to schedule it around my work, and my schooling.”
I nodded once. “I think I can make that happen.”
She finally let the suitcase go, and the bag popped open all over again.
My lips twitched when I saw how hastily the bag was packed.
“I really like the idea of you being here,” I said. “Because, now, we can take care of your aunt problem.”
“My ant… oh!” She paused. “My aunt! And yeah, she’s definitely a problem. But, saying that, She’s not too big of a problem. Just an annoyance at this point. She’ll die eventually and it’ll revert to me out of default. I have a steady, good paying job. I also have no bills, thanks to you, and a steady flow of cash that goes straight into my 401K or my savings. I can live off of scraps. Her, on the other hand? She’ll get desperate eventually. And when she does, she’ll cave.”
I didn’t like that answer.
She shouldn’t have to wait.
And I would make sure that she wasn’t doing it any longer.
Anticipation for what was about to come started to hum through my veins.
I hadn’t had my hands on my own computer equipment in years.
“I’m going to take a shower. Do you think you can order pizza? Or something delivery? I’m not picky on what. While we’re waiting… I’m going to go get on the computers.” I rubbed my hands together in anticipation.
“I’m surprised you’ve gone this long,” she admitted. “That computer room looks like it was constructed out of love and care. The rest of the house pales in comparison. But, lucky you, I was able to have it all tuned up by your friend, Mordy, just last week.”
I grinned wickedly, and her face went slack with shock.
Or worry.
“What?” The grin fell off my face.
She shook herself free of her blank stare.
“Nothing.” She smiled tightly. “I’ll order pizza. You go get your shower and head into the Bat Cave. I’ll let you know when the food is here.”
I winked at her. “Thanks.”
With that, I headed to the shower.
It was quick.
I was in and out in under five minutes—I learned not to linger in the showers because that invited touch—and was dressed in sweatpants and nothing else two seconds later as I went to my computer room.
I pushed the door open and felt something lift off of my chest at the sight in front of me.
“Do you want something to drink?” Wyett hollered from the kitchen just as I stepped foot inside.
I looked all around me before answering. “Whatever you happen to have that’s cold, I’ll gladly take.”
Then I dove in.
CHAPTER 9
Anything you can do, I can do better. Unless it’s whoring. Then you win hands down.
-Text from Wyett to Six
WYETT
They hated me.
Absolutely, no doubt about it, detested me.
I should’ve known that they would hate me based solely on the fact that I was showing up married to the baby prodigal son.
It hadn’t all started out bad, of course.
When we’d first walked into the mini-mansion on the lake, I’d been worried because of Hunt.
He hadn’t looked like he’d wanted to be there at all.
That was, I think, why I hadn’t pushed him about seeing his family over the last two weeks since he’d been home.
Then again, every time he said he was thinking about going the next day, I’d had to work.
So it’d been a very good excuse not to go.
The only problem was, the longer his mother knew that he was out, the more persistent she became in demanding that he come.
Now, there we were two weeks after he’d gotten home, and I was spending the entire day with him.
It was nerve-wracking.
I’d done my level best to stay out of his hair over the last two weeks, going out of my way to make sure that I didn’t bother him in any way.
At first, I thought it was going to be hard, but then I realized that it wasn’t hard at all because he was always in one of two places. His room, or his office.
He didn’t come hang out in the living room, which was where I liked to spend my time reading, studying, or watching television.
He didn’t go to the kitchen unless it was to throw away his trash or grab a quick bite to eat, and even then he always took his food back to his office.
Honestly, it was quite comfortable being where I was with him home.
I had the ability to talk to him—because he seriously didn’t mind when I came to talk to him about random stuff I’d remembered he should probably get taken care of—but I also had the ability to just be by myself. Which was what I really liked.
Being by myself had always been my default setting.