Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“Sure.” I watch him open the door, and Gemma rushes inside, bypassing him to come to me. Ira, who is not okay with the wild pup’s excitement, takes off toward the doorway to the living room and disappears out of sight. “It’s like you didn’t just see me a few minutes ago.” I laugh, sliding off the stool I was sitting on when she lies down and rolls to her back, giving me her belly.
Feeling eyes on me, I look up at Bax, and his eyes wander over my face, making me self-conscious before he clears his throat and looks away.
“Ready?” he asks.
“Yeah.” I grab my cell phone off the counter, then follow him to the front door.
When we step out of his house, the police cruiser the guys were taken to is gone, but there is now a police SUV and a tow truck parked on the street next to the semi. As Bax and I make our way down the sidewalk to the street, Cobi and a large, older gentleman come walking around the side of the semi into view before parting ways. As Cobi comes toward us, the older man walks to the tow truck and starts speaking to the driver, who has gotten out.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, wondering if I should have made sure that I’d be able to unload my stuff before I phoned my parents.
“The moving company signed off on you removing your items from the truck, but we can’t move it from where it’s parked, and we have to take photos of everything since there is another delivery in the back,” Cobi says, looking between Bax and me. “Did you get ahold of anyone?”
“My parents are on their way. I couldn’t get in touch with Liam, but I sent him a message.”
“Talon and Jax are coming,” Bax adds, and Cobi lifts his chin before looking at the back of the truck.
“We should open it up and see what we’re working with.”
I stand back while the two guys unlatch and lift the rolling door at the back of the semi and figure out how to use the lift. By the time they have that sorted, two trucks are pulling up, and just like Cobi, I recognize Jax and Talon immediately from when I would spend time at Bax’s parents’ house, and all his cousins and siblings would be there.
“Thanks for coming, man.” Bax gives his brother a one-armed hug and a slapping handshake to his cousin’s hand before motioning to me. “You remember Olivia, Liam’s little sister, right?” he asks Talon.
“Olivia?” He shakes his head with a smile as he meets my gaze. “Liam told me you moved back. How have you been?”
“Good.” I smile and shift on my feet. Having known him for years before I left home, it’s difficult to ignore the instinct to give him a hug. The reason I do is because after I hugged Bax at the bar days ago, I replayed that moment over and over in my head a million times and realized I shouldn’t have done that. He knew me when I was younger, and even though he and Liam have always been friends, we haven’t. If anything, he only tolerated me because I was his best friend’s little sister.
“Nice to meet you, Olivia.” Jax smiles at me before sending Bax a look I don’t understand.
“All right, guys, let’s get this done so we can get this truck moved,” the older gentleman I saw Cobi with when we came outside says as he walks up to join us.
“Olivia, this is Chief Marshall,” Cobi introduces before pulling out his phone and passing it to me. “You take pictures as we pull everything out.”
“I can help unload stuff,” I offer, the guilt compiling once again.
“You can, but you’re not going to,” Chief Marshall says with a kind smile that makes me feel slightly less insulted.
As the guys begin the process of unloading the boxes closest to the doors, my parents pull up, and my mom comes to stand with me while my dad jumps in to help. It’s a relief to hear the guys all joking and laughing as they work to remove everything that belongs to me from the back of the truck. I know they would much rather be spending their evening at home with their families than here doing this. Heck, I don’t even want to be here doing this.
After all the pictures are taken, we begin the process of moving everything into the house, with my mom and me helping to carry the smaller items and the guys taking care of the larger things. As I’m walking up the sidewalk with one of my lamps, my cell phone starts to ring, so I step to the side so I’m not blocking the path and take it out of the pocket of my shorts, seeing it’s Liam calling.