I slid off the stool, carrying my tea with me. I had a feeling this was going to be one of those conversations that required either an entire cup of tea or something to hang onto so I didn’t strangle him.
“What’s up?”
“Uh…” Shoving his hands in his back pockets, he smiled sheepishly at me. “Well, I was looking around town for a new place to stay. You’ve been so great about us living here, but it’s really not feasible.”
“Oh.”
The thought of him leaving was shocking, but I couldn’t deny that it was a good idea if he was going to stay with the cougar. There was no way for the three of us to live amicably together.
“So, I found a place for us, but it’s not really in my price range right now.”
“Sawyer, I would help you out if I could, but I don’t have any extra with the shop?—”
“Oh, no! That’s not what I was getting at. Actually, I was thinking since we can’t move yet, maybe you’d be willing to switch rooms with us.”
Yep. I definitely needed something to hang onto. My eyes slowly drifted to the cougar behind the counter, who was batting her eyes at my brother. Underneath that fake love was a woman out for anything she could get.
“Um…Sawyer, I’ve always had that room.”
“I know, and I’ve never minded, but it is the bigger room, and…well, there are two of us.”
“Yes, but like you said, you’ll be looking for somewhere else to go?—”
“Josie,” he lowered his voice, the desperation in his eyes clear. “I don’t want to beg. Please don’t make me. She needs this. We’re practically on top of each other in there.”
“I thought that’s the way you liked it.”
“If it was up to me, I wouldn’t care, but you have that huge closet?—”
“And she didn’t bring that much stuff with her. This shouldn’t be a problem,” I argued.
“Right, well…the rest of her stuff is arriving today,” he winced. “I know I should have told you sooner, but I forgot. I mean…we’ve just been so busy.”
“Yeah,” I snorted. “I know what you’ve been busy doing.”
That quirky grin was back as he rocked back on his heels. “She’s really something.”
“Eww. Please don’t talk about it.”
“What? I can’t help it. Your brother is in love. You’d better get used to it.”
I’d get used to it when he found a woman actually worthy of his love. Until then, I’d never be able to handle all this crap.
“Josie, please. If you don’t, we’re going to be storing boxes in the living room.”
I really didn’t want that. And my closet was only half full, even if I didn’t want to give it up. I loved my room, and there wasn’t a single ounce of me that wanted to move, but that puppy dog look was impossible to refuse.
Rolling my eyes at myself, I knew I would give in as soon as I walked in and saw all the crap piled around the house. “Fine. I’ll switch with you.”
Scooping me up around the waist, he wrapped me in a hug and spun me around. “Thank you so much, sis. I love you, you know that?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just do me a favor and try not to make the switch too chaotic.”
“Don’t worry about a thing.” Setting me down, he stepped back and grinned at me. “I’ll take care of everything. You won’t have to worry about a thing. I have the whole day off.”
Before he could leave, I snatched his arm and gave him my most serious look. “Hey, I want that carpet vacuumed before you move my stuff in. And the windows washed. I don’t want any of your man germs.”
“What germs? You know, I’m offended by that.”
