Chapter 6
CHAPTER
SIX
Jude
Being invited into Berlyn’s house has been an unexpected boon.
Not only have we been able to see her blush the same way she does whenever she gets to a really steamy scene in one of her books up close, but I also should be able to check on all of our cameras and set up a few new ones.
They’ll be especially nice in getting new angles of our girl throughout the house.
“All good Jude?” Ezra asks from below me.
“It’ll be an easy fix,” I answer. “New air filter and the start capacitor needs to be replaced. I should have everything I need in my truck.” He nods along to my words, clearly in thought about something, but somehow he feels smug. I can’t have possibly missed much. It’s barely been a few minutes.
“Everything good out there?” I ask, wiping the dust and sweat from my hands onto my pants. It really is sweltering in here. I’m glad Ezra was able to convince Berlyn to let me come fix this for her.
He looks over his shoulder as West suddenly appears coming from the opposite direction of the living room. Ezra rolls his eyes as he stares at the phone still locked in his grip.
“The girls are whispering to each other in the living room right now,” he explains. “I think Berlyn is anxious about having us here.”
I can’t help but smile. “Anxious because she thinks we’re hot.”
It was cute how flustered she was when we first got here.
Over the years, I’ve seen her do the whole rambling thing but never quite like this.
And never with the knowledge that it’s because she’s been watching us for even longer than we’ve been watching her.
Even if her watching is nothing compared to ours.
Knowing the thoughts behind those hazel eyes at least look at us in a positive–some might say panty-melting–light made it that much easier to flirt with her. To keep her on her toes. To try and get that beautiful pink to paint her cheeks once more for me.
Ezra’s grin is as wicked as I know my own must be. “Exactly. She isn’t sure what to do with us in her space, but her friend seems to be trying to calm her down.”
I wasn’t sure about the friend at first. Berlyn has had a tendency of trusting the wrong people in the past—like us, for example. Even in high school, her friends were much more likely to throw her into shark-infested waters than to reach out a helping hand.
That was just the town we grew up in.
This girl doesn’t seem that way though. Even if she makes it painfully obvious she had no intention of doing homework by coming here tonight. She came for a show. Even that makes me a bit more tolerant of her presence. She thought there would be something to see here with my brothers and Berlyn.
She’s basically cheering us on. Building her “ship” for Berlyn.
I wonder who’s in the lead amongst the three of us.
Or maybe she’s also a fan of the same why choose books Berlyn sometimes reads.
I might more than tolerate her if that’s where her vote lies.
We could use every ounce of support to push Berlyn where we want her.
“If she feels awkward with us, we just have to make her more comfortable,” I say.
West finally looks up from his phone. “How?”
“You could stop ignoring her for starters,” I point out, but he clearly has no idea what I’m talking about and gives me that blank stare that means he knows he’s missed something. I sigh, not wanting to get into it when we need to be focusing on Berlyn.
Tonight could really change things for us. It could be the perfect way to get closer to her. To make our way into her life as us and not only the shadows that stalk her every move.
“What if we start by telling her what’s wrong?” Ezra asks dryly, not thrilled with my sarcasm directed at West. “And then we can focus on showing her we’re at ease. If we’re relaxed, she’s likely to follow suit.”
Sounds simple, maybe too simple. Seeing as how I don’t have any better ideas though, I just nod and let Ezra lead the way back through to the living room. The girls instantly stop whispering at the sight of us and Berlyn’s cheeks already look flushed as she looks us up and down.
“Everything okay?” she asks, jumping to her feet. “I mean, with the AC,” she clarifies. “I’m sure you guys haven’t changed at all in the last ten minutes it took to look at the unit. Unless you weren’t good before. I don’t think I ever asked which was so rude. I’m so sorry. How are you guys?”
Each word makes my smile grow wider and wider. Her friend doesn’t even bother to try and stop her this time, just looks up at her from her spot on the couch and shakes her head.
“Surely alcohol couldn’t really make it worse,” she mutters, making Berlyn kick her. Not very subtly either.
“We’re fantastic,” I answer, going for the whole at ease thing Ezra suggested. “Your AC also isn’t in bad shape. It’ll just be an easy part replacement and new air filter and you should be set.”
“Really?” she asks, her whole face brightening as the word vomit seems to be forgotten.
I nod my head. “Won’t take me long at all.
” I drop my smile into something of a stern expression and arch a brow.
“However, the air filter does need to be changed out much more often than once an eon,” I chastise lightly, enjoying the way she squirms when she spies the filthy one I left in the hallway behind us.
“The what?” She looks over her shoulder at her friend who also shrugs.
Of course she doesn’t know what it is. That’s okay.
That’s what she has us for. Her clueless expression makes her all the more adorable.
“It’s like the oil in your car,” I tease.
She also had trouble wrapping her head around that one.
“It needs regular maintenance so I’ll stop by and replace it for you every once in a while,” I offer. Any excuse to see more of her.
Berlyn is already shaking her head. “You really don’t have to do that,” she says. “If you show me how to do it, I’m sure I can figure it out.”
It’s cute she thinks she’s going to get her way.
“I’d much rather stop by and help than imagine you climbing a ladder by yourself.” See, just a safety concern. How can she possibly argue with that?
She scoffs. “I can climb a ladder without falling.” So she can argue with it.
I smirk but before I can even say anything, her friend kicks her from behind before jumping to her feet. “You fall walking on flat ground,” she says loudly before dropping to a not-so-subtle whisper. “When a hot tattooed man wants to fix things around your house, you let him.”
I can’t help the snort that escapes and Ezra chuckles while Weston nods to himself, all while still typing on his phone.
I’m seriously going to have to kick his ass.
He’s barely looked up from the damn thing the entire time we’ve been here.
Berlyn noticed it too. I caught her watching him curiously multiple times, just waiting for him to meet her eyes, and yet he never did.
This jackass.
He thinks differently than most people, but I know damn well he’s been eagerly awaiting this opportunity to see more of her. To interact with her. He is the one out of the three of us that has the least opportunity to see her.
Ezra makes sure to always have at least one class with her every semester and purposely bumps into her around campus. I do all of her oil changes and other car maintenance, but West doesn’t have regular excuses to bump into her.
Yet instead of taking advantage of this rare opportunity, he’s completely wasting it. Ezra’s annoyance flickers in his eyes whenever his gaze passes over him too.
“I really don’t mind,” I insist, putting my focus back where it should be. On Berlyn. “So that settles that.”
She scrunches her nose, glaring at me with the least threatening presence I’ve ever experienced.
Just like a little bunny. “I’ll concede, but only if you guys let me buy you dinner tonight.
” I wait for her to launch into another ramble, but she only locks her hands behind her back and her teeth sink into her bottom lip once more.
The unspoken tangents swirling wildly in her hazel eyes.
If we stay quiet for a moment too long, all those thoughts will come spilling out of her perfect mouth in a chaotic rush like a dam bursting with overflow.
As much as I love to hear her, I want her to be comfortable with us more.
We exchange looks, and Ezra nods, though spending more time with her was always the foregone conclusion.
“We can stay for pizza,” Ezra answers. Her shoulders immediately relax and she releases a breath she probably didn’t realize she was holding. See, I’ve learned things from her books.
“And beer,” Summer adds, pumping her fist.
“Not beer!” Berlyn scolds. “Pizza sounds good though. What toppings do you guys like and I can order a couple of larges.”
Not bothering to go through the whole charade and back and forth, I cut out all the bullshit. “It’s kind of an odd combination, but you’ll have to trust us on this one.”
Ezra arches a brow in question, but I don’t take my eyes off her.
“It can’t be weirder than what she eats,” her friend jokes, making me grin.
Berlyn reaches back to smack her. “Hey, you liked it when you tried it.” She meets my eyes and puts her hands up. “Promise no judgment from me.”
“No promises from me,” her friend retorts.
“Settle down there, Fall,” I taunt, making her roll her eyes.
“Still the wrong season, big guy.”
I guess she isn’t that bad. I can see how she and Berlyn fit. She draws out a different side of our girl, balances out her careful nature with her own brand of sass. It’s good for Berlyn.
Ignoring her though, I find Berlyn smiling as she looks back and forth between us. I guess we can be nice to the friend if it’s going to make her smile like that.
“Pepperoni with jalapenos and pineapple,” Weston interjects, looking up from his phone to meet her dubious gaze.