Andrew stopped in to supervise for a few seconds, and I tried not to smirk as his brow furrowed when I tossed a second bag of chips on the lower shelves—along with cookies, popcorn, and bags of candy. “For movie nights,” I said innocently, looking over my shoulder.
I almost laughed at how adorably confused he looked that his order hadn’t been carried out without a single deviation. Poor guy, he’d be used to it by the time he finished living with me.
“Where did you want to start with getting the house into shape?” Ethan asked as he strolled in, paint tins in hand.
“Eve’s room,” Andrew offered, and I was shocked enough tostumble as I attempted to navigate all the empty grocery bags on the floor.
“Wait, no,” I said as I caught my footing and straightened. “There’s no need for me to go first. Maybe we should focus on shared spaces?”
Ethan shook his head. “Andrew is right. You’re the only one of these assholes who doesn’t deserve to be here. Your room is first.”
He headed out then, and a few seconds later I could hear him hauling shit up the stairs. All of the food was away now, so I went to help the guys tackle my room.
First we got all the furniture out or covered up, and it was Connor—to my surprise—who showed the most skill as he sanded my floors, before sealing the wide boards with a dark stain. “Try not to walk on them for a few hours,” he said. “We can finish your walls tomorrow.”
While I’d been cleaning up the dust and other debris from the floors, Haze and Ethan had been prepping my walls, scraping off the old paint and wallpaper, before getting everything undercoated. Andrew had been mostly supervising and helping me clean. His anal-retentive ways meant he cleaned like he was the boy in the bubble and a speck of dust would kill him.
“Hopefully the smell will be completely gone by night,” Ethan said, looking around with a worried expression. “We got all the low VOC and environmentally friendly products, so it really should.” Plus, they’d left all the windows open and the fan on to give everything a chance to dry before I had to sleep in there tonight.
Connor, standing there covered in dust and giving blue-collar vibes for the first time, scoffed. “I’m sure she can share your bed, Eth. If hers is out of service.”
Ah, and that was when nice Connor fucked right off to make way for the asshole again.
That had been a nice reprieve.
I expected Ethan to snap back, but he just leveled the hottest fucking look I’d ever seen on me. “Excellent plan. Thanks, bro.”
Connor shook his head. “You’re the worst fucking professor. You know that, right?”
Turning away to hide my pink cheeks, I half hoped that the stain and paint scents lingered for a few days, because it was growing abundantly clear that at some point Ethan and I would be fucking. Neither of us was trying to fight our attraction, and as far as I knew, there was onlyoneway to get this level of attraction out of our systems. Just as long as Idid not get attached.
“Like I give a fuck what you think,” Ethan replied with a shrug.
“I think you all need a shower,” Andrew announced, casting a disgusted look my way. “Might I suggest a cold one, Eth? Things are getting a bit heated.”
Ethan just smirked, looking a whole lot like Connor in that moment. “Great idea. You wanna join me, Lilith?”
“What the fuck did you call her?” Connor snarled, and at the same time, Haze knocked over the ladder propped against the hallway wall. It went down with a crash and startled me enough to realize how out of hand things had gotten.
As quick as possible, I grabbed some clean clothes from the chest of drawers we’d moved into the hall and ducked into the shared bathroom. After just a short hesitation, I locked the door.
What wasgoing onwith me and Ethan? He wasn’t even remotely trying to hide his attraction, and neither of us had addressed the age gap or somewhat taboo nature of our roles within Meadowridge. I really, really needed to have a serious chat with him before I slipped and fell onto his dick.
To my relief—and slight disappointment—no one knockedon the door to interrupt my shower, but I kept it brief anyway. The house had three bathrooms but one was in desperate need of a whole gut-out renovation and wasn’t currently usable. Which meant I needed to be mindful of others waiting on this bathroom.
After I dressed, I checked my phone and found a message from Nina asking if I wanted to meet her and Ursa for dinner. I debated declining, but then glanced at my room, which wouldn’t be habitable again for hours. Downstairs, the raised voices of an argument echoed up to me and I grimaced. Somehow, I had a feeling that was about me, so I replied to Nina and said I’d be there shortly.
Not wanting to be saddled with another escort, I slipped quietly out the back door while the guys continued arguing in the living room. None of them saw me, and by the time I reached the main campus, I found I could breathe a little easier. It had gotten more intense than I’d expected in the house with all the guys.
“Yay, you made it!” Nina exclaimed when I approached her little picnic set up on the lawn. “I wasn’t sure if you had like a curfew or something…” She trailed off with a grimace and I shook my head.
“Nah, nothing like that.”
She’d already cornered me yesterday to apologize for breaking Laura’s nose, so we’d moved past that. But Iknewshe’d want gossip from the house, and I was legally bound to hold my tongue.
“So…tell us everything,” Nina urged with a grin. “What’s it like? Are they being nice or total assholes? Has anyone punched anyone? Give us the juicy details, girl.”
“Yes!” Ursa enthused. “Tell us!”
