Page 12 of Feels Like Love
“I wondered if you could do a favor for your favorite brother?” He paused, and then she said something that made him chuckle. “Right?”
Asher and Tristan went inside the house, while I held my breath and waited to see what would happen. Liam explained the situation to Wren, his smile slowly growing larger.
“Awesome. You’re the best.” Silence. “Yep. Yep. Thanks. Love you too. Bye.” He placed the phone on the table. “She’d be happy to have you.”
Wait. What?Am I dreaming?
“So…” Tristan said as he and Asher returned with a tray of pastries.
“Oh, fuck me. Those look good.” Liam reached for one of the colorful pastries topped with berries and cream.
Asher slapped his hand. “You need to cleanse the palate first. And wash your hands.”
Liam rolled his eyes, and I followed him inside so we could wash our hands. He seemed preoccupied, but my mind was reeling. Liam had just asked Wren if I could stay with her. In her house. For six weeks. Or however long it took for the repairs on my house to be finished.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Huh?” He shook his head. “Oh yeah. Work is just a little insane right now.”
“That inspection you just got back from?”
He nodded. “Yeah. The site is pushing back on some Code testing requirements.”
“What’s new?” I muttered as we headed back outside to join the rest of the guys.
Liam and I grabbed a slice of apple from the bowl Tristan had set on the table.
“What did Wren say?” Tristan asked.
Liam crunched on the apple. “As expected, she was totally cool with it.”
“I can’t believeyou’recool with this,” Asher said, voicing my exact thoughts.
Liam shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I be? It’s perfect. Bennett’s always been like a big brother to Wren. I have some inspections coming up, and I trust him to watch out for her, scare any guys away. It’s not like he’d ever be stupid enough to try anything with my sister.”
“Mm-hmm,” Asher said into his beer. Fucking stirring the pot. I narrowed my eyes at him.
Liam just brushed his comment aside. “She’s not his type.”
“Blond hair, big—” He stopped talking when Liam cut his eyes to him. “Eyes.”
Liam glared at Asher, his gaze downright lethal, as did I, though for an entirely different reason. “You better not be looking at my sister’s ‘eyes.’”
Liam trusted me. We were friends. And, yes, I’d been looking at his sister’s “eyes”—both the ones on her gorgeous face and the ones he alluded to on her chest. I was a bastard. The worst kind of friend. And I needed to put an end to this. I was supposed to be avoiding Wren, not moving in with her.
“I’m sure I can find somewhere else to crash,” I said. “Maybe Susan would be willing to work out a deal with me to stay in one of the rooms at the main house.” Though I couldn’t say the idea was particularly appealing. She was an interesting woman, but I liked my privacy. And a busy bed-and-breakfast with a nosy host wasn’t that.
“Don’t be silly,” Liam said. “Wren adores you—River too.”
“Great,” Tristan said. “It’s settled. Now can we please stop talking and start tasting?”
We laughed, the tray of pastries taunting us.
“Has everyone had their apple slice?” Asher asked, turning serious. He didn’t mess around when it came to pastries. And Liam didn’t mess around when it came to Wren. I had a feeling the next six weeks were going to be torture.
* * *
I squeezed my eyes shut,trying to block out the sunlight streaming through the domed roof of the yurt like a beam from an alien ship. It was way too fucking bright in here. But at least the bed was comfortable. Maybe I could handle six more weeks. Maybe I didn’t need to torture myself and risk my friendship with Liam by moving in with Wren after all.
