Page 91 of Wood Riddance
I had ordered them for my team last year, because our company merch was bland and masculine. “Can I use your bathroom? I gotta pee.” She didn’t wait for a response before she charged through the entryway and deeper into the house.
My stomach churned, but I willed it to settle. They’d be in and out quickly. Nothing to worry about.
“You left it when you came over for dinner,” Tucker explained, his hands in his pockets. He was officially a teenager now, complete with floppy hair in his face and the ever-present cell phone.
I ruffled his hair, knowing it drove him semi-crazy. “Good to see you. You haven’t been by the shop in a while. I have a feller engine for you to work on.”
His flat expression morphed into a gleeful grin immediately. There was nothing that kid loved more than taking apart engines. I had no doubt that when the time came, he could get into a great engineering program.
“Can I, Dad?” He looked at Henri, that grin turning hopeful.
“You can come to work with me on Thursday.”
Tucker pumped his fist and followed his sister into the house.
“Why didn’t you answer?” Henri asked, eyeing me, then scanning what he could see of the house behind me. “And why are you all sweaty?”
Alice hopped up the steps and threaded her arm through his.
“I was cleaning,” I said, impressed with myself for coming up with an excuse off the cuff like that. “And I didn’t hear the doorbell because of the music.” Genius.
“I didn’t hear any music when the kids were ringing your doorbell over and over again.”
“Henri!” Alice chided, patting his arm. “Don’t interrogate your sister.”
He scrutinized me again, looking for the lie. I wasn’t usually this flustered. Of course, if the kids weren’t here, I’d tell him to mind his fucking business and get the hell off my lawn.
“Headphones,” I said nonchalantly, hoping to move this conversation along and get them out of here.
Finn was hidden in my garage, hopefully clothed, but it didn’t change the fact that he had just been eating me on the kitchen counter.
Goldie’s and Tucker’s voices echoed from inside. They were both crouched on the tile floor outside the kitchen, playing with He-Man. Jesus, this would never end.
“Auntie Adele,” Goldie said. “Can I have a glass of water?”
I turned and scurried inside to help her, worried she’d open the garage door, and Henri and Alice followed me back toward the kitchen. Great, this was a full-blown visit now. Exactly what I needed.
“We’re going out for pizza. Wanna join?” my brother asked.
I shook my head and wiped at the sweat collecting on my brow with the back of my wrist. “Thanks. Having a quiet night of cleaning.”
Alice put her arm around me and gave me a squeeze. “Come with us. The kids miss you. You’ve been so busy lately.”
God, I adored her. If anyone else was pressuring me, I’d be ready to do battle, but she was so fun and sweet and well intentioned. Henri might be a grumpy pain in my ass, but at least he was wise enough to lock her down quickly.
I smiled. “Next time, I promise. I’m exhausted. This one—I nodded in the direction of her husband—works me too hard.”
He raised one eyebrow and pressed his lips together in a flat line. I made my own hours, we both knew that, but it was the best I could come up with in the moment. Shit. Flustered, I paced around my kitchen, smiling maniacally. They knew. They totally knew there was a half-naked Viking in my garage.
Henri was standing three feet from the door that would lead straight to him too. I hoped Finn had enough sense to put all his clothes back on.
If it was only sex, it would be easier to explain.I was in a bad place.Needed to scratch an itch. Sure, the conversation would be uncomfortable, but it’d be worlds easier than admitting I had feelings for him.
Big, scary feelings that I was trying my best to ignore, despite how much space they’d taken up in my mind and in my heart. Sleeping with the enemy would be a huge issue in my family. But falling for him? My brothers would probably disown me. Not that I’d blame them. I’d do the same thing in their shoes.
While Henri had given Finn a chance, he was annoyingly pigheaded about me and who I dated. In high school, Ritchie LaVoie, my first boyfriend and the guy I lost my virginity to, opened his damn trap and bragged about it. He came to school with two black eyes and a dislocated shoulder the following week. I knew exactly what my brothers were capable of.
I scanned the kitchen floor, where Goldie was throwing a squeaky toy to He-Man, and my heart stopped. Balled up, right on the tile, were Finn’s boxers. They had little anchors all over them. He was predictable like that. They were hanging out like they owned the place. Right there on the goddamn kitchen floor.
