Phoebe put her hands on her face, fingers splayed wide, eyes narrowed as she looked at the floor, clearly thinking hard.
I stepped closer to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. “Babe, don’t stress out.”
“I’m not. I’m just trying to remember everything you had in the fridge and figure out what I should cook.”
“Relax,” I told her. “We’ll eat anything.”
“Yeah, literally anything,” Wyatt said. “You can even order pizza.”
Phoebe lowered her hands, straightening up. “No way.”
“Babe, you’ve got plenty of time, okay?” I said. “It’s going to take us about two hours to unload these boxes and carry them to the bedroom.”
“Oh, that’s right,” she said, as if she’d completely forgotten that two hours was indeed a lot of time. “Unless you guys are hungry right now.”
Knox shook his head. “Don’t worry about us, Phoebe, okay? We’re not hungry. We all had breakfast, so take your time.”
“All right. Do you mind if I leave you alone to carry everything in so I can cook?”
“Not at all,” I assured her.
She rose on her tiptoes, giving me a quick kiss. I fought my instincts with all I had so I wouldn’t kiss her back hard and make a spectacle out of us. I still kept her close to me for longer than intended, only letting her go when I felt her smile against my lips. She hurried up the stairs to the house.
Only when we heard the front door close did Knox say, “Anyone else feel like we’re missing a piece of the story?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Let me see if I got this straight,” he said. “You two started by faking this so you could get in Jude’s good graces. Then you started having a fling, and now you’re moving in together.”
I grinned. “You’ve got it.”
“Come on. Throw us a bone,” Finn said. “How exactly did this happen?”
“I don’t even know,” I said. “It just did. And now I’dappreciate it if you wouldn’t make Phoebe uncomfortable with your questions.”
Wyatt dropped his head back theatrically. “Dude, give us some credit. We’ve been on our best behavior.”
“Yeah. Why do you think we waited until she was gone to corner you?” Knox asked.
Chase shook his head.
Duncan pointed at them. “Be careful, because questioning your brother can quickly turn into you not being able to keep your mouth shut around Phoebe either.”
Knox and Finn exchanged a glance, and then they both looked at Wyatt.
“You’re right,” Wyatt said. “Our older brothers are judgmental assholes sometimes.”
“No, we’re not,” Chase said coolly. “We just know you three very well.”
“So, let’s just nip this in the bud,” I concluded.
They grudgingly agreed, and then we started unloading the boxes.
I’d have to warn the rest of the family, too, when we went over to Chase and Hannah’s later. I knew everyone had the best intentions, but Phoebe was gun-shy as it was. I didn’t blame her. She’d been through a lot. But if everyone started questioning my decisions, she might get the wrong idea.
I wanted her to have no doubt that I really wanted her here. She thought this was all temporary. But I wasn’t so sure about that.
CHAPTER 30
