Page 44 of Will Bark for Pizza
For Kira’s sake, I hoped it did.
I couldn’t help but wonder how she’d feel about it being sold. It was entirely possible Connie or her dad warned her I was a possible buyer. Either way, she deserved to hear it from me.Tonight, I promised myself. I’d tell her tonight. If I had an ounce of energy left when I crawled into the house anyway.
“You going to buy Karl’s cabin too?” Connor asked.
“Considering it,” I admitted, though I was still holding out for that rent-to-own option. I left him a voicemail yesterday but hadn’t heard back.
“I hate to break it to you, but Dad’s not going to sell that cabin.”
All three of us turned at the male voice in the doorway. Thoren Hayes held up a stack of pizza boxes in one hand, and a small cooler in the other. “Boys ready to take a break?”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Luke asked, crossing the room and relieving Thoren of the pizzas. He slapped him on the back of his shoulder hard enough that he dropped the cooler to the floor with a loudthunk.
“Surprise, assholes!” Thoren wore the signature shit-eating grin he sported so well.
“How long you back for?” Connor asked, helpinghimself to a Gatorade from the cooler. Whether he didn’t feel like a beer or was skipping out of respect for me, was anyone’s guess. I told them all I didn’t care if they drank around me. My disdain for alcohol had nothing to do with any of them. Even drunk, they were good fucking people who’d never dream of harming a fly.
“Just for the weekend.” Thoren swiped a large slice of meat lover’s pizza and took a big bite. “This shit isgood.”
“It’s Beckett’s place,” Luke said.
“I’m just the landlord,” I explained. “I can’t take any credit for the food.”
“Shit, if I’d known that, I would’ve name dropped you. Might’ve gotten free pizzas.”
After washing my hands in the connecting en-suite—I hadn’t ripped out the pedestal sink yet—I pulled up an empty five-gallon bucket and flipped it over to sit on.
“You want your Dad’s cabin?” I asked.
Luke shot me a look that saidyour funeralas he stripped off his gloves and served himself a slice of cheeseburger pizza.
“My old man would never sell me that cabin. Not if I paid him double what it’s worth.”
“Do youwantit?” I asked again.
“Nah. What would I do with it anyway?”
Of the five of us—Owen was missing from our impromptu dinner—Thoren was the only one still active duty. We all got out before twenty years for one reason or another. But Thoren was a lifer.
“It’s been sitting empty since Aspen moved out,” Connor said, drying his wet hands on the inside of his T-shirt.
“Because my dad is one stubborn son of a bitch.”
“You have an issue if I buy it?” I asked him.
“Nope,” he said. “But Dad won’t sell. It’s like he thinks selling it would be selling what’s left of Aaron. Makes no fucking sense since he won’t step foot on the property. But good luck.”
“What’s the special occasion?” Connor asked, no doubt sensing the heightening tension, and trying to ease it.
“Mom’s birthday is Saturday. Aspen begged me to come back. Thought if I showed up, Mom would decideIwas her surprise and not suspect they’re throwing her a big-ass party.”
Maybethatwas why Kira was in town. From what I was told, she and Aspen were close. Not only because they were cousins, but because they were best friends. If she was here for the party, she’d probably leave, like Thoren, when it was over.
I only had to survive the next few days without doing something stupid. Like pressing her up against the wall and kissing her senseless. Fuck, I really needed Karl to call me back about that cabin. I’d find a way to convince him.
“Now it makes sense,” Luke said, shaking his head.
“What?” Connor asked.
