“They’re okay, I guess. Nothing to report I assume, since they haven’t.” He shrugged as if it didn’t mean much. “I don’t feel any particular way about it, either.”
I hummed, then squeezed his fingers. “Well, we have our own family now.” I glanced at him and saw him beaming, a pleased flush on his cheeks.
* * * *
Rey called River at one point to ask how far from home we were. Cook had asked him to call, because they were planning something. Knowing the guys like I did even though I wasn’t close with either of them yet, it was bound to be a feast of some sort.
When we got to the rescue, I managed to get the trailer right where it was handiest to unload. I was proud of myself; dragging it behind the truck had been easy, but maneuvering it in the yard wasn’t.
Theo, Lake, and Seb appeared from somewhere as we got out of the car.
“There you guys are!” Lake said brightly, then hugged River. “Let’s get your stuff inside.”
I blinked, and watched for a few seconds as Theo opened the trailer and he and Seb grabbed the solid wood desk to carry it into the cabin.
I jerked into motion when River patted me on the back as he passed me. These people were our family. They were being lovingly efficient because we meant something to them.
It took us about twenty minutes to get everything inside, because there wasn’t much to unload to begin with. Then Lake told us that we had an hour before we were expected at the house, and everyone left.
River and I stood in the middle of the cabin, looking at each other, and burst out laughing.
“Okay, that was…” He gestured at the door Lake had closed after himself.
“Efficient. Yes.” I glanced at the boxes we’d piled against the wall and shrugged. “All that can wait, now that the desk is in place.” We’d put it exactly where River said it would go well, and he’d been correct.
Then I realized there was an addition. My jaw dropped as I turned to look at the space between the windows on the left wall of the cabin. Then I turned around to where the old TV-stand had been, and there, too, were built-in bookshelves with a perfect entertainment center for the TV and everything else.
“W-what?”
River stepped to me and hugged my side. “Well, you have plenty of books. Lake might’ve mentioned it to Theo, who decided that he and Seb could help with that.”
I was moved. My eyes filled with sudden tears as I took in the new shelves. No wonder I’d registered the scent of wood being more prevalent when we’d walked in, I’d just been too concentrated on carrying to look up.
“I’m going to need like one half of one shelf for my books,” River said suddenly.
“You have books?”
He guffawed. “Of course I have books. They’re at the house with Lake’s books. We sent those ahead when we were moving here, because we didn’t want to get rid of them.”
I kissed his temple and toed off my shoes. “I’m going to go shower, then nap on the couch until we need to go. Come keep me company while I shower?”
“Okay.” His response came so easily, I smiled.
He knew I wanted to talk with him while I showered, but I didn’t want himinthe shower with me. Not that we would’ve fit. We really needed to renovate the bathroom sooner rather than later. Not that I wanted to do that just to be able to shower with River. I blushed at the thought.
It felt easy now to undress in front of him, even though he leered at me playfully. It didn’t bother me, and neither did the fact that I could tell he was getting turned on.
I dropped my clothes in the hamper and turned on the shower without stepping in. I glanced at River over my shoulder, and his eyes were firmly locked on my butt. I chuckled, making him look up and blush.
“What? It’s a very nice ass!”
“Yours is not half bad either,” I teased.
I stepped under the water and sighed. However you planned it, driving for as long as we had made your body feel icky by the end of the drive. I could feel the tension melt from my shoulders and back with the hot water, and sighed again.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” River asked in a tone a bit huskier than his normal speaking voice.
He leaned his butt to the counter and watched me.
