5. Chapter 3
“Wait here until I get my stuff?” I asked, but he was already opening his door, circling the truck to open mine.
Goddamn.
The stranger-danger alarm should be blasting in my ears right now, but I was nothing but giddy at the possibility of getting into that cabin.
Theo accepted my offer. He didn’t even blink when I proposed payment. Suddenly, we were out of the bar and jumping into his truck to grab my stuff at the B&B.
Apparently, I was moving in today.
I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but Theo seemed solid, and I meant that in every sense of the world.
I held my tongue from asking if his truck was custom-made. The thing was as big and tall as him, and he had to lift me up by the waist into the passenger seat.
That should’ve made me feel like a child, but instead, I blushed hard and hid behind my hair so he wouldn’t notice.
Now, here we were again. “You don’t need to—” I started, but he was again at my door.
This was embarrassing.
I just asked the guy to be my landlord—I couldn’t be developing a crush.
If I thought really about it, it would be my very first crush. I was never at school to see a boy across the class and wish for seven minutes in heaven during a party. When it was time for college, I was too invested in my studies. I always had too much to prove. Partying all night long was the last thing on my mind.
I finished college and started taking sculpting seriously. Mom and Dad were huge supporters, showing me off to their friends, but I always thought they were just being nice.
Then, when I was about to turn twenty-five, they died and left me alone in this world. Rich, sure, with more connections than anyone would ever need, but still utterly alone.
Connections don’t build a family. Business transactions don’t guarantee loyalty. I had no one, and caring for the big man seemed too easy.
Before my feet reached the snow-covered ground, my whole body slid against his, and I could swear my panties went damp. I looked up at him, blushing like crazy while Theo looked tortured. His mouth dropped open, his eyes wild.
“Go gather your things,” he said roughly, taking a step back. “I’ll let Lana know.”
Lana and her husband were the owners of the B&B. When I said husband, I meant I was sure one of them was her husband. Lana and four men ran the place. I gathered they were all family, but I wasn’t quite sure what the relationship was yet.
Part of me was very curious.
Okay, I was very, very curious.
I nodded dumbly, following his instructions without arguing. Only when I reached my room, when his form wasn’t so overwhelmingly against mine, did I take a big gulp of air and start to rethink the whole thing.
I was going to someone’s house, someone who I knew nothing about it, who accepted my offer too quickly. Someone so controlling, he wanted to check out for me?
I shook my head, stepping away from my suitcase and running downstairs yet again.
“Are you sure?”
“Lana…” the big man said in a warning.
Lana raised her hands up. “I worry, Theo, especially for Noah.”
“She’s just staying in the spare bedroom.”
Lana sighed, wincing as she took in Theo’s face. “I just don’t want you boys getting your hopes up.”
“We’re forty, Lana.” He smiled, wrinkles taking over the sides of his green eyes. “You can stop mothering us.”
“Never,” the older woman replied warmly.
I was ready to listen in more, but Lana’s eyes found me, and she straightened her spine, taking on a professional air.
“I’m sorry you have to leave us, Julia.”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Um, thank you for everything.”
“Where are your things?” Theo asked, his eyebrows furrowing.
I looked down at my empty hands, sighed, and tracked back upstairs.
What had Lana meant by not getting their hopes up? Who were they?
I packed my things in record time, taking only extra care of my art supplies. Once everything was stuffed into my suitcase, I dragged it behind me, making Theo jump into action when he saw me coming down the stairs.
“Thank you,” I murmured when he took my suitcase.
I went to the front desk, offering Lana my credit card, but she shook her head, “Oh no, dear, it’s all taken care of.”
I whipped my head around to find Theo, but he was already outside.
“I—I… Thank you for everything,” I said before bolting out the door. “You paid my stay?” I practically screamed as I ran toward him.
He grunted, opening the back door of his truck and throwing my suitcase in.
“Theo?” I called after him, baffled. “Theo?”
He closed the door and turned to face me. The bang of the door startled me, but he remained unmoved, looking down at me with his arms across his chest.
“You wanted to stay at my house.”
“Yes.”
“You paid for two weeks at Lana’s.”
“Yes.”
I was prepared to pay for my double booking. It wasn’t Lana’s fault she didn’t have the right view, after all.
“Lana is family. We agreed on something between us.”
“I should pay for it, regardless of your agreement.”
“It’s taken care of,” he said with finality before he headed to the passenger seat, opening the door and waiting for me.
“Also, you can’t be lifting me up like this,” I sighed but went to him anyway.
I let his arm circle around my waist again, feeling his warm breath on my neck, making my toes curl inside my snow boots.
This wasn’t the time for a crush.
It was time to prove myself, to get started on my career. It was time to be an Apaza, because I deserved to be. But instead of laser focused intent, my insides were turning into mush every time the big man touched me.
He shouldn’t be touching me this much.
“This isn’t right,” I huffed as he buckled me up like a child. “Who are the others, by the way?”
“Others?”
“I heard Lana talking.”
He turned pink. He couldn’t hide. Even his ears turned bright pink as he quickly left my side and banged the door closed.
Not that easy, mister.
The second he took the driver's seat, I was on him again.
“So?”
“Wylder and Noah. They live in the house, too.”
I nodded. Three men and me? This was getting unsafe by the minute, but I never asked him to stop the car.
“Are they okay with me moving in?”
“They will be.”
I didn’t like that at all, so I tried to smooth things over. “It’ll be only for a couple of weeks. I can definitely get a good sketch by then.”
“Just that, huh?” he asked, looking away from the road for a second.
“Yeah, definitely just a couple of weeks.”
It was going to be easy for them. I wasn’t a permanent guest. I wasn’t anything to anyone, and that was the truth. I never stayed too long in one place, even during college, when I went through a couple of transfers.
I said to myself it was because I wanted to be closer to my parents wherever they went, but maybe I was just as relentless as them.
Nowhere was home. Nothing was worth the stay, and here wasn’t any different.