Theo clears his throat. “Umm, sir. Well...it’s a long story involving an opossum and a whole lotta crazy. Unfortunately, the car is totalled on the side of highway fifteen, about a hundred and fifty miles back, give or take a couple of miles,” Theo tells him sheepishly.
Zeke runs a hand over his face in exasperation, and my dad coughs to cover up the fact that he’s laughing. “Remington, that car was only a couple months old. What the hell?” Zeke asks, his arms shooting out in exasperation.
“Why they hell do you think this is on me? I wasn’t even driving!”
“It was totally her fault, sir,” Madix calls up, throwing me under the bus, just like that. I go to yank my hand out from his but he clamps down on my palm trapping my fingers between his. Madix looks down at me, speaking just for my ears. “Come on, Remi, you could burn this whole place down, and they’d obviously find it adorable. Promise I’ll make it worth your while if you take the blame. I mean, technically, it was your opossum that started this whole mess.”
I shoot visual daggers at him and then proceed to do a mental kickboxing session with his balls. “How worth my while are we talking here?” I ask, and Madix smiles devilishly at me. My stomach flutters to life in response, but I keep my poker face on. “I want serious kinky fuckery,” I tell him, and he narrows his eyes at me.
“How kinky are we talking here?” he counters. “I’m not doing ass shit, or anything involving flamingos.”
Itskat him and try to keep from smiling. “Oh come on, you might like ass play. I know I do.” I watch Madix shift on his feet so he can try to adjust his hardening dick without my father noticing.
“You can suggest things, but I reserve the right to say no.”
“Fine, but I reserve the right to try to convince you thatnois a very limiting word, and in using it, you might be denying yourself pleasure, so you should keep an open mind.”
“Fine,” he agrees, and I pat him on the cheek and grin.
“We’ll be happy to replace the car or try to tow it back into town and see if it can be fixed,” Brant offers.
“Whose car was it?” I ask. I just assumed that it belonged to one of the guys.
“The Robisson’s” Dad tells me, and I turn to hiss at Madix. “Oh, youreallyowe me for this one! The Robisson’s hate me. Apparently, dyeing their precious poodle, Tank, bright pink was a step too far for them. They’ve wanted me to suffer ever since,” I grumble. “Honestly, I think they were just mad because helikedbeing pink. I could tell. It put a pep in his step he did not have before,” I say seriously. Madix just laughs, and it’s such an aural orgasm to my ears that I almost forget why I’m irritated.
“Tell them I’ll pay them for the damage, or for the car if it can’t be fixed, and that I’m sorry,” I say up to my dad. “Now can you please let us in?”
It’s weird to be here, talking to my dad like I never left. We’re both moving on from the fight that we had before I bailed, but I know we’ll have to work stuff out. I’m just glad to get the short reprieve before we have to havethatconversation.
“We’ll bring Madix’s truck down for all of you,” my dad answers. “After the weeklong quarantine is up, we’ll talk,” he tells me, and I give him a nod of understanding. Even though the quarantine thing is frustrating, I’m glad I have an excuse to be holed up alone with the guys and get to know them even more.
We all nod in agreement, and Brant and Theo both shout “thank you” to the top of the gate.
My dad pauses, and his eyes well up. “Welcome home,” he tells me, and the tear that streaks down his face is my undoing. I want to run and hug him, but I know it will have to wait. We need to talk first before we can have the full reunion we both want, and that’s going to happen the second we are cleared from quarantine.
“Missed you, Daddy.” I reply, and my voice cracks with the admission. He gives me a watery smile, and Zeke pats him on the back.
“We’ll talk soon,” he tells me affectionately, and I nod in agreement. I watch as he climbs back down from whatever they’re standing on and disappears behind the huge metal gate. I exhale loudly, and wipe at the tears in my eyes as the words “Welcome home”echo around in my head.
19
Theo
When we finally pull up to our house, it feels like we’ve been gone forever, even though it’s only been just shy of a week. It’s weird how much has changed in that short amount of time, and I realize that’s a bit of a running theme in my life. Things happen in the blink of an eye sometimes, and they can change things forever. I look to Brant and Madix, and realize the same can be said for all of us. I don’t know too much about Remi, but I’m looking forward to finding out.
I wasn’t sure what I expected when Sheriff April showed up at the top of the gate, but it wasn’t the hostile exchange I suspected it might be. I figured he was the main reason behind why she hates this place, but after observing how much they clearly care for each other, it’s obvious that it’s bigger than that.
When Madix throws the truck into park, we climb out, all of us once again quiet and tired. The silence is comfortable, and I watch all of us as we look around and get reacquainted with our surroundings. This house has been our end-goal since we left, and it feels good, but it also feels somewhat anticlimactic to be back.
“I like the color choice,” Remi says as she walks around the back to grab her things.
“Theo picked it. I thought it was too dark, but it turned out awesome,” Brant tells her, and we all turn to the formerly mustard-yellow house that is now charcoal-gray with light-gray trim.
Puddles hops down, and Madix hands us the rest of the stuff from the back before slamming the tailgate shut. I lead the way into the house and chuckle at how nervous I suddenly feel. What the hell is my deal? I’ve seen Remi’s house,andI’ve seen her naked. Hell, I’ve been inside of her for fuck’s sake, so why do I suddenly feel like I’m about to meet a blind date or something?
I shake off my apprehension and unlock the front door. I don’t bother untying my boots like Madix would normally demand. Knowing him, he’ll probably spend all day tomorrow cleaning. Me? I plan on spending every second of tomorrow fucking Remi, and learning everything that makes her writhe and scream my name. If Madix would rather get his rocks off wiping out the already perfectly clean refrigerator, that’s his loss.
The three of us stand in the entryway, watching as she takes it all in. If I had to guess, I’d say that Brant and Madix are just as nervous as I am at having her seeing our place for the first time.
