I shook my head. “This is my fault. I should have taken them with me last week. I knew he was upset. If I’d taken them with me—”
“Oh, honey, no.” Sean crossed the room, pulling me up from the floor and into his arms. “You did nothing wrong.”
If I’d thought things through better, I could have avoided this. I knew Neil lashed out when he was upset. “I hurt him,” I said out loud, my mind spinning. “And he’s been calling. I won’t even answer his calls. I wouldn’t even talk to him.”
“Because he’s a fucking prick,” Sean muttered, his beard tickling my cheek as he lifted me to settle us on the couch.
“It’s just—” My breath hitched. “They were all I had. The Millers didn’t have much. I sold the house and donated their clothes. Neil said the furniture was too old, so I got rid of it, too. There really wasn’t anything else, but I had the records…” I squeezed my eyes shut.
The couch dipped near my legs, and Jack’s hand ran over my hair. Neither of them said anything, but what could they say? Words wouldn’t make this better. Nothing would. I shouldn’t think about it anymore.
“It’s fine. Everything’s fine.” I scrambled up from Sean’s lap, knocking Jack’s hand away. “You were hungry. We should eat.”
“Hailey…” Jack said, standing again. The way he looked at me made me want to burrow against his chest.
“Please. Can we just eat?” I asked, my voice shaking. “Sean mentioned watching something. Let’s do that.”
“Okay. If that’s what you want.” Sean pushed up, patting my shoulder as he passed, heading to the kitchen.
I took a deeper breath before reaching for the remote. “This is a new TV. I still need to figure out how it works.”
“I can help with that,” Jack said, taking the remote from me. “You help Sean with plates and drinks.”
I wandered over to where Sean was going through the various boxes.
“You went all out. Dipping sauces and soda, too?”
I shrugged, bumping against him a little as I moved past him for the cups. “Soda is a requirement for pizza.”
“A girl after my own heart. Except for the pineapple, of course.” He lifted the boxes. “I’m going to set these up on the coffee table instead. Bring some napkins?”
“Got it.” I filled three cups with ice. I hadn’t gone shopping yet, so all I had were real plates, though I’d snagged a roll of paper towels from the house. When I went to tuck the two-liter under my arm, Jack snagged it along with one cup. I trailed him to the living room, but he paused, letting me have the center seat.
Jack set up my plate while I poured the drinks, making sure I had a slice of pineapple pizza.
“Is this a documentary about… pizza?” Sean asked, pausing with his slice of meat more than pizza halfway to his mouth.
I blinked, looking at the screen.
Jack shrugged. “It seemed fitting. We can find something else.”
“You’re even a food nerd?” Sean asked. “Why didn’t I know this about you?”
Jack nudged the remote closer to Sean on the table. “Fine. You choose something better.”
“I like documentaries,” I admitted, dipping cheesy bread into the marinara sauce Jack had given me a whole container of, as if he already realized I liked to use it for my pizza, too.
“As long as our girl is okay with it.” Sean grunted before devouring mostof a slice.
It wasn’t an evening curled up on the couch listening to music, but it was something. The tension in my stomach eased as I listened to their voices around me. Pretty soon, most of the pizza was gone, and I had their arms and legs pressed against me on each side. My head found a place on Jack’s shoulder. To be honest, I don’t remember much about the documentary, just that feeling of peace as I spent the second evening in my new apartment with them, not alone like I’d expected.
When I woke in the morning, I was still on the couch, my head resting on Jack’s chest and my arm slung across his stomach. He was tucked into the corner with his body tilted toward me. I couldn’t see his face, but his breathing was steady and deep, his chest rising under my cheek.
Sean found my dangling hand, crouching into view as he brushed his fingers over it. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” I mumbled, taking in his smile.
“I’m going to take the moving truck back before the twenty-four hours are up.”
