PHOEBE
While cooking,I texted Veronica, informing her about this unexpected twist. My friend was over the moon.
Veronica: That guy is a KEEPER. Yes, yes, yes! I’m so happy for you.
Phoebe: Thanks, V.
I smiled, dancing around the kitchen the entire time.Despite insisting that they wanted to load up all the boxes first, the guys took a break after about an hour. It turned out that carrying them from the car up to the house took much longer than bringing them from the bungalow to the car back at the old house. Plus, the guys genuinely liked one another, so there was a lot of banter among themselves that slowed down progress.
“All right, I’m going to spoil you for a bit,” I said as I brought lunch to the table.
The casserole didn’t take long. I didn’t want to sing my own praises, but this recipe was delicious.
“Why are you in such a good mood?” Griffin said as we sat down.
“I just like cooking in this kitchen. I feel like it’s made my food even better.”
“No, babe, that’s all you,” he said. “You’re a fantastic cook.”
My heart gave a mighty sigh. I hadn’t even cooked that often, but I loved that he was praising me.
“Holy shit, this is good. I wonder if it seems even better because we’ve been doing manual labor,” Knox said. Laughing, he added, “It’s objectively fantastic.”
Duncan and Wyatt were both scarfing down food so fast that they weren’t even talking. Only after Duncan cleaned half of his plate did he say, “Damn, this is good. I was starving.”
“Oh my God. Why didn’t you say anything before?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t even realize until I started eating.”
Knox looked at Griffin and me a few times with disbelief. I’d give a penny for his thoughts.
“So… you’ve got a plan for living with this bozo?” Knox asked.
“I didn’t know I need one,” I said between bites.
“Ha!” Finn exclaimed. “Well, it’s his first time living with a woman, so I’m betting you’re going to need a book of plans to deal with him.”
He’s never lived with a woman before?Was that my face turning into a smile? No, it was a downright grin.
“Dude,” Duncan said, “you don’t have to put her on the spot.”
“To be fair, he’s puttingGriffinon the spot,” Chase added.
My God, I loved these guys.
Griffin held his hands out, shrugging. “Well, I haven’t, and I’m not ashamed of it. I know Phoebe and I will sail through this without any issues.”
“I’m counting on you to tell me the truth,” Knox said, pointing at me.
“Yeah,” Finn added. “Take notes, you know, for any proof to the contrary that we can hold over his head.”
I laughed after taking another forkful. The two of them looked at me, stunned. I took my time swallowing and then said, “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I have my man’s back through and through.”
Griffin pulled me closer to him, kissing the side of my head, and Duncan whistled. Chase actually burst out laughing.
“One of these days, you two will learn what it’s like to feel this sort of loyalty to someone,” Chase said to Finn and Knox.
“Interesting that you’ve left me out,” Wyatt said.
