Chapter 19 #3
Troy and Seb follow us back to the house in the same SUV from the airport.
Troy heads into the office as soon as Zander unlocks the front door, talking on his phone.
Zander motions for Seb and me to follow him to the garage.
After unlocking the side door, we follow him inside.
“Seb, Summer and I were planning on digging through my grandma’s gardening stuff.
Perhaps you could help her do that, so I can figure out this wedding with Troy? ”
“Can do Z. We’ve got this. You go help Troy.” He’s already stepping forward, looking through everything.
Zander looks over at me, checking to make sure I’m on board. I give him a smile and nod. “Okay, we’ll be in the office if you need us.”
Zander heads out as Seb unlocks both garage doors and opens them. “Gotta get some airflow in here, Sunshine, or we’ll pass out. Now, where is the gardening stuff?”
“Zander said it’s up in the loft. The boxes are labelled.”
“Let’s go.” He bounds over to the stairs, full of energy, climbing up.
I follow him up the steps and look around.
There’s two lights hanging from the rafters, so I find the switch by the stairs and flick it on.
On the left wall, there are shovels, rakes, and hoes, as well as a rototiller, with boxes lining the right wall.
Seb hauls some boxes into the center of the room as I join him.
“There’s a lot of boxes up here, Sunshine. What exactly are we looking for?”
“Mara, my great grandmother was a gardener. Zander said I can search through her belongings here to find anything still usable. I, uh, like plants and wanted to get the yard back in shape and maybe start a vegetable garden.”
“No shit? E will love you! He’s always trying to drag one of us to the farmer’s market for fresh fruits and veggies. He’s a total food snob. If you grow a bunch here, he can grab things from your garden instead.”
“Um, okay?” Seb seems determined to insert both himself and his friends into my life with or without my permission. It’s…sweet.
Seb grabs his phone and starts typing. When he finishes, he pockets his phone and gives me a smile. “Let’s get sorting these boxes.”
We spend the next hour making piles of boxes. Everything is clearly labelled, so it’s simple work, only dusty.
As we’re finishing the last few boxes, someone yells from outside. “Seb, we’re here. Where are you?”
Seb leans over the loft railing. “Up here sorting boxes. We’ll be right down.” He looks over at me and smiles sheepishly. “So I might have asked the guys to help when I saw all these boxes and your plans for a garden. That’s okay, right?”
Gulping nervously, I reply. “All your friends are down there?”
“Well, not everyone, just E and Bay. Nick is at martial arts class. He’ll probably be over afterwards. Come on, Sunshine, it’ll be fine. They’re all gonna be your friends, too. Might as well get the introductions over with.” He dusts off his hands and heads downstairs.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. Meeting Seb was easy, I tell myself. His friends will be too. Zander has them working for him, so they can’t be bad guys. You can do this Summer. It’s a new life.
“Sunshine, get your cute butt down here. E has iced tea and croissants,” Seb yells.
Opening my eyes, I head down the steps, not looking up. When I reach the bottom, Seb is standing there and gives me a big smile. “Come on, they don’t bite,” he jokes.
I walk out of the garage with Seb and see two guys facing the hood of a Honda Civic talking. They’re both taller than Seb. The shorter one is slightly taller, while the other must be over six and a half feet tall.
“Hey guys, meet Summer,” Seb calls. Both guys turn around as we walk up.
The tallest one smiles down at me. “Hi Summer, I’m Elijah, but everyone calls me E.”
“Hi E,” I say with a small, awkward wave.
E is, for lack of a better word, stunning.
Curly, light brown hair falls over his ears and around his neck.
Long lashes and light amber eyes gaze down at me.
A square jaw with golden stubble and high cheekbones makes him look like a model.
I can see his muscles through his t-shirt, too.
The other guy is leaner than Seb and E, with straight blond hair cut shorter on the sides and pushed up in the front. Bright blue-green eyes gaze back at me, with an angular jaw and full lips. “Hi Summer, I’m Bay.”
“Hi Bay. Nice to meet you.”
“Come and grab some sweet tea and croissants, Summer. I made them fresh this morning,” E offers. E has a velvety soft voice, almost honeyed. Not as deep as Alex, but similar in tone.
“Seb said you’re the chef, right?” I walk closer to the hood to see a box of croissants and a liquid container.
“One day, for now, I love cooking. These heathens keep me busy with how much they eat.”
“Hey man, I’ve never heard you complain about cooking for us before. We’re still growing boys. We need our sustenance!” Seb exclaims.
Bay pours, then hands me a paper cup of iced tea. I take a sip and scrunch up my nose. Bay chuckles at me. “First time drinking sweet tea?”
“Yeah,” I nod. “I wasn’t expecting it to be that sweet.” It’s not bad. I have a sweet tooth, but that was very unexpected. I’ve never had tea so sweet before, or cold.
“It’s a staple around here. E and I grew up on the stuff.” Bay has a strong southern drawl, the strongest I’ve heard of the guys, and speaks quietly but clearly.
E looks over at me in concern. “Do you not like the sweet tea?”
“It’s fine,” I quickly explain. “I wasn’t expecting the sweetness.”
He looks me over and nods to himself. “I’ll bring unsweetened next time.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I hurry to say. Geez, I don’t want to appear snobby or demanding, having just met these guys.
“Don’t bother, Sunshine.” Seb puts his arm around E’s waist. “He’s a mother hen about food. He’s never satisfied unless everyone loves his cooking. You’ll be trying the unsweetened whether or not you like it.”
E wraps his arm around Seb’s shoulder. “Stop calling me a mother hen, you dipshit.” He places a kiss on his cheek.
Oh. Oh. They’re cute together. “Um, do you guys want to take the tea and croissants inside? I need to wash my hands before I eat,” I say, holding up my dirty hands for them to see.
They agree and grab the box of croissants, tea, and cups to follow me inside.
Bay pops his head into the office as we walk by and tells Zander and Troy about the food, and both of them join us in the kitchen.
Seb heads for the powder room as E washes his hands in the kitchen sink, then puts his head in the fridge, rooting around.
The guys each grab a croissant and sweet tea and sit on the stools at the island.
“Okay, I’m making panini-style sandwiches with fruit. We’ve got ham and roast beef. Who wants what?” E asks.
I look around quizzically as everyone calls out their orders and E grabs ingredients.
What is happening right now? Zander walks over to me and smiles.
“This is what E does. He loves to feed everybody,” he whispers.
“It’s lunchtime, so he’s going to cook something.
I’ve tried to tell him we can feed ourselves, and so have the other guys.
It does no good. Just let him do his thing. ”
I watch E and the rest of the guys again for a minute, then walk over to the sink to wash my hands. Grabbing fruit from the fridge, I wash it and place it in a bowl. E looks over at me. “Do you know your way around the kitchen?”
“Yeah, I used to cook all the time back in Virginia.”
“Thanks for the help,” he smiles. Man, this guy is lethal when he smiles. I wonder if he models in his spare time. He could make a fortune.
I cut up several fruits and put them in a big bowl on the island. Seb tries to stick his hands in the bowl, and I hit his fingers with the serving spoon. “Bad Seb. Wait until everyone has their sandwiches.”
The guys find that hilarious, while Seb pouts. “Oh, Summer,” Troy laughs. “I’m going to enjoy having you around. Seb needs someone to keep him in line.”
I shake my head and grab some plates for the sandwiches. I cut up each sandwich as E hands them over. Once we’re all sitting down, I hand the fruit bowl to Seb first, and he smiles at me.
The guys trash talk and joke as we eat, telling Zander and me what they’ve been up to while he was in Virginia.
Zander and Troy offer to clean up when we’re done, so the rest of us head back outside.
As we’re entering the garage, I hear another car.
Looking up, I see a tan Jeep with the top down coming up the driveway.
“Oh, hey, Nick is here,” Seb states. We all turn around, waiting for the Jeep to come to a stop.
A guy with long dark brown hair pulled into a bun with shaved sides gets out of the driver’s seat.
He’s huge, as tall as E but even broader.
There are tattoos climbing up both arms and one peeking out from under his shorts on his right thigh.
Dark eyes meet mine as he stalks towards us. “Hey man, how was class?” Seb asks.
A gravely voice responds with “fine” as he keeps staring into my eyes like he’s challenging me to look away.
I keep eye contact with him. “You must be Nick. I’m Summer.”
All I get is a blank stare in return. He looks over at the other guys, raising one eyebrow.
That seems to be enough of a question for Seb, as he explains why we’re here.
I’m not sure how to take that. A dismissal maybe?
Or is he not talkative? The guys enter the garage unfazed, so I follow them upstairs.
“Sunshine, what’s next?” Seb asks.