bChapter /bb97/bb: /bbLa /bbPOV /b

    :

    ))

    The second I pull up in my car behind Hunter’s in front of their house, I know I won’t have to carry anything inside.

    b73 /b

    The doors to Hunter’s truck swing open simultaneously, and they all pile out as if they’re on a mission I wasn’t made privy to.

    Cade bounds up the steps two at a time to unlock the front door, already calling back over his shoulder, “First dibs on the heavy box!”

    “Like hell,” Xavier mutters, mming his door and grabbing the heavy box with my college textbooks from the truck bed before I can properly get out of my car.

    AJ trails behind, smirking, his one hand in his hoodie pocket, and my smaller duffel slung over his shoulder like it weighs nothing, with the other. Like it, and I, by extension, belong to him in some unspoken way.

    Stepping inside, I first notice the house smells likest night’s leftover pizza and freshly brewed coffee. Secondly, I realize that even though the house is abuzz with voices and activity right now, there is a peaceful calm I haven’t felt for a while underneath it all.

    Hunter sets his first box down in the entryway and turns toward me, his voice low but certain, “We figured you’d take thergest room with its own ensuite.”

    “The one next to mine,” Cade adds, tossing me a wink. “It’s prime real estate.”

    AJ disappears up the stairs, his voice floatingzily back, “And next to my room.

    So…behave.”

    Xavier brushes past me to collect his next load outside and, in a voice that’s for my ears only, says, “Or don’t. We’re adaptable.”

    When my few things are inside and the front door is locked behind us, the atmosphere in the house settles into a feeling of contentment.

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    Chapter 97: La POV

    Hunter reappears with a pot of fresh coffee, which he pours into mugs for everyone.

    Cade opens one of the kitchen windows, his arms stretched wide, inhaling the spring breeze ruffling through his dirty blonde hair. His grin is absolutely adorable, and I automatically smile along with him.

    Xavier drops onto the couch like a heavy sack of potatoes and starts flipping through channels with unnecessary concentration.

    AJ leans against the kitchen ind with his arms crossed as he watches me intently, making me blush at the raw emotion I see swimming in his mocha eyes.

    b73 /b

    I slowly nce around at all of them and the rest of the room, at everything, including the TV’s noise, as Cade walks over and starts arguing with Xavier about what to watch. And I instinctively smile, because this is my new home and I can’t wait to see what it, and they, have in store for me.

    We’re barely five minutes into dropping my stuff off in my room (which is way bigger than 1 expected) when Cade ps his hands like he’s calling a team huddle. “Alright, house rules for our new resident!” he announces as he paces around the dining room table.

    Hunter snorts as he sets down a boxbeled ‘Random Shit‘ in sharpie, before he says, “You’re thest person who should be giving a speech about rules.”

    Cade ignores him entirely because he’s too busy prowling around the room like a coach prepping for an inspirational halftime speech. “Rule one,” he deres. “No eating thest slice of pizza without a formal apology to the group.”

    b“/bUnless it’s pepperoni,” AJ cuts in, his voicezy from where he’s still leaning against the ind, “Then you have to offer it to La first.”

    ying balong /bwith the moment’s silliness, I lift an eyebrow and ask the room, “And if I want the whole pizza?”

    Cade’s grin is wide and shameless as he starts prowling towards me, where I’m still

    8:18 Sun, Sep 7

    Chapter 97: La POV

    standing between the living room and dining room. “Then we marry you, immediately. Those are the rules, Sunshine. I don’t make them, I just enforce them.”

    With his arm draped over the back of the couch, Xavier seriously says, “Somebody get

    the paperwork.”

    At that, Hunter mutters, “We’re doomed,” but there’s nothing but a smile and a wink in my direction behind it.

    I cross my arms and cock my hip, feigning seriousness as I ask, “Any other vital rules before I start unpacking my incredibly intimidating two duffelbags?b” /b

    b73 /b

    “Yeah,” Cade says as his eyes flicker with heat and mischief. “If you sleepwalk, you must pick a designated room to stumble into. We can’t exactly have you wandering around,

    half–dressed, and causing incidents.b” /b

    Heat immediately crawls up my neck at his suggestivement, but before I can scrape the courage together to say something equally suggestive back, AJ smirks with enough sciousness to make a nun blush, and then in a tone that’s low and rough, says, “She

    can stumble into my room anytime.”

    Hunter shakes his head where he’s leaning against the kitchen counter next to the coffee machine, like he’s above all this tomfoolery. But we both know he’s not. At all.

    Xavier doesn’t even look up as he sips his coffee and says into the depths of his mug,

    “Call me if she gets stuck.b” /b

    At that, I burst outughing, because it’s either that or I’m sumbing to spontaneous humanbustion right where I stand. As soon as I can breathe somewhat, I suggest, “Maybe you guys need a rule about keeping your hands to yourselves,” with a sweetness to my voice that would cause someone a toothache.

    “Oh, Sunshine,” Cade says as he steps in closer, his voice dipping to a gravelly rasp, “That’s not a rule. That’s a suggestion we’re not inclined to heed,” and my heart feels as if it’s participating in a race I forgot to train for

    With slow precision, AJ pushes off the ind and prowls closer to me. “Don’t worry,” he says, tilting his head slightly as he rakes his gaze from the top of my head to my toes in

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    Chapter 97: La POV

    :

    an excruciatingly slow perusal, “We’ll give you a grace period.”

    “How generous,” I reply softly after swallowing deeply a few times to give my voice the chance to remember its job in life.

    The smile he gives me as he steps that much closer to me is small, and slow, and oh so wicked, and has my panties wet within seconds.

    73

    “For now,” he adds as he steps in behind me, ces his hands on my hips, and runs the tip of his nose up the side of my neck. Without hesitation, I lean into him as a sigh escapes my parted lips.

    But before I canpletely lose myself in the moment, he licks the shell of my ear and whispers, “Go upstairs and unpack. Or I might bend you over this couch as the others

    watch.”

    With a tiny squeak, I rush up the stairs and to my new room. Not because his words embarrassed me, but because his words conjured an image in my mind that almost had me begging him to make good on his ‘threat‘.

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