Page 15 of Taming You

That answer seems to please him as he nods.

Taking mercy on him, I move the conversation away from my collection of sex toys and onto more mundane things. He seems to relax into the conversation, and the weirdness between us fades.

When we finish lunch, Matt helps me load boxes into both of our cars. Henry is out of town for work right now and can’t help me move, Maggie is working on a major fundraiser for her job and couldn’t get the time to help, and I didn’t want to bug the rest of my brothers, so I’m doing this move solo, except the newly recruited help from Matt. I text him Henry’s address, and we make our way to his place.

Henry lives in a very family-friendly part of the city. Him and Maggie bought a house with enough space for the two of them, plus room to host. Even though they’ve decided against kids, I know they plan on being the fun aunt and uncle who have sleepovers and host family dinners.

Pulling into the driveway, I take in the two storey house and the groomed front lawn. This house is very different from the run-down one I grew up in. The grass is green, the front porch is clean, the paint on the front door isn’t peeling, and an inviting fall-themed welcome sign leans beside the front door. The curtains on the front windows are open, and you can see that Maggie has already gone all out in her fall decorations inside.

I take a deep breath, settling myself. At least it’s not my parents’ place, I tell myself. I may be moving in with my brother, but I’m not moving back to that run-down home that didn’t always have heat and very often felt cold the second my parents walked in the front door.

A knock on my window startles me, and I clutch my chest as I look over to see Matt standing beside my door.

“You okay?” he asks.

I nod and reach for the door handle, pushing it open. “You nearly gave me a heart attack,” I say, leaning against the car.

He chuckles. It’s light and airy, the perfect sound to remind me I’m not moving one hundred percent backwards. “Sorry, Zo. You got the keys so we can start getting you moved in?”

I reach into my purse and hold up the spare key Henry gave all of us the minute he bought this house. He wanted us to all know that no matter what happened in life we have a safe place we can go.

“Right here. Let’s start with your car,” I say.

He nods and makes his way back to his car while I unlock the front door. The second the door opens, the smell of fresh-baked cookies hits me. I move immediately into the kitchen and see a covered plate on the counter with a note.

Zoey,

I’m sorry I couldn’t help you move today, but I wanted to welcome you home. I’ll be home in time for dinner. Can’t wait to see you.

Maggie

It’s very like Maggie to make sure I feel welcome here. Henry was always so cautious about dating, because he had a lot of damage from dealing with our parents and having to raise his five younger siblings. He wanted someone who would be able to accept the responsibility he put on himself to make sure the six of us stayed close so he could be there for us even as we became adults. I was only twelve the first time Henry brought Maggie around. They were just friends at the time, but it was nice to have another woman around. Maggie was the one to talk me through my first period. She gave Henry a list of items to get at the store and told me how to use all the products and then sat with me on my bed and watched Disney movies, shunning Henry to go hang out with the guys while she chilled with me.

Maggie’s been a constant in our lives since then. I was so ecstatic when they started dating three years later. I’m not sure who was happier when he finally proposed, Maggie or me. I finally got the sister I always wanted, and Maggie was getting to spend the rest of her life with my brother. Maggie is more than a big sister, though. She took on a motherly role I never got from my own mother. She became a trusted friend who I could tell those secrets to that I couldn’t tell Liv, like the brief stint in eighth grade when I had a crush on Matt.

Liv is and always will be my best friend, and I love her dearly and she is my sister in every way but blood. Watching her get to grow up with Gianna and have a sister she could connect with always left me wanting that for myself. I’m grateful for my friends and how they’ve always had my back and become the sisters I didn’t have as a kid. They’ve made all these years fun and exciting and less lonely than they were before our group.

“Zo,” Matt’s voice pulls me out of my head as I stare at a cookie in my hand. He leans over as he takes a bite of it, and I glare at him.

“What the hell, Matt?” I huff.

“You weren’t answering me, and I know the best way to get a response is to take your food,” he says with a grin.

“Maggie made those for me,” I say indignantly.

“And I’m a growing boy moving boxes. I needed the fuel.” He smirks, and I punch him in the arm.

“Growing my ass. You’re twenty-nine. The only thing you’ll be growing is a dad bod.”

He raises a brow before taking another bite of my cookie, causing me to huff again. “I thought you guys were into the whole dad bod thing? Weren’t you girls just talking about the hot single dad you were reading about?”

I roll my eyes. “Of course, you were eavesdropping. And for your information, it’s not the body we love about the single dad’s in our books, there’s so much more to it. And some of them are well toned athletes or cowboys, and some of them are office guys, they don’t all fall under one type. We were just swooning over the single dad who knows how to take care of his kids and his girl.” I plop the final bite in my mouth. “We look at more than a man’s body, Matthew.”

I turn, leaving him, and head into the entryway and grab a box before making my way up the stairs and to my new room. Thank God it’s on the opposite side of the house as Henry and Maggie, because I don’t want to hear any of their extracurriculars.

I drop the box on the floor at the end of the bed and notice the new desk Henry set up for me. I rented my place furnished for the most part, so all of that stuff stayed behind. I run my hand over the top as I walk past it, noticing a comfy chair in the corner next to an empty bookshelf. I squeal as I run towards it. A note sits on the top shelf, and I snag it as I settle in the chair.

Hey Kiddo,

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