To Nash: I’m enjoying talking with you too, bad jokes and all.
We continue like that for the next hour. Asking her questions about herself. Nothing too invasive, just finding out what she likes. Her favorite food, movies, her fears. Though on that one she never really answered. I told her mine was spiders. I even told her about the time I woke up with one crawling on my forehead and the girlish scream that erupted from me. But finally I let her go, knowing that I need to get some sleep and she and my brother need to get some sleep.
Tomorrow I plan to talk to her more. And to hopefully catch a glimpse of the mystery girl.
Chapter 25
River
The last two days Roman has been at the house. Alone. I only know that because both Nash and Holden have told me. But have I gotten the chance to see him? Fuck no. Torin managed to plant his ass up here before he got here both times, staying well after he left. It didn’t give me the opportunity to hack into the system and spy. I could’ve done it earlier, but I don’t want to risk the guys finding out what I’m doing. So it’s a play as we go type of spying.
“Hey, Buttercup.” Callux opens the door and calls for me.
“What’s up, Apple Pie?” I reply back to him, covering my snicker.
“Excuse me, Apple Pie? Please don’t make me hurl.” He grins widely, shutting the door behind him.
“You started it,” I remind him.
“Okay, how about we call a truce?” He holds his hand out for me to shake and I creep up to him, inspecting his hand thoroughly. Last time he called a truce, he shocked me when I shook his hand. I’m definitely not letting that happen again. Only when I’m sure he’s free of any tricks do I shake.
“So, are you my babysitter today?” I ask sarcastically as I turn and head to the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee, then pulling another cup out of the cabinet for Callux.
“It’s not like that, River.”
“Then what is it? You told me to stay in the apartment while they were here working on the deck. I’m pretty good at understanding directions and following them, but yet Torin has shown up everyday before they are scheduled to get here and stays till they leave.” I cock my hip out to the side, placing my hand on my hip as I slide his cup across the counter toward him. “What am I supposed to think?”
He blows out a breath of air as he sits down on the barstool. “We don’t want you to think we’re babysitting you or that you can’t follow directions. It’s just, we worry about you. And Torin didn’t want you to be up here alone. None of us do.”
“Then stop babysitting. I’m a big girl.”
“We know that.” He blows on his cup, the steam billowing up from the coffee, then takes a sip. “I came to tell you that Torin, Tav and I are going to be gone today working on a case. Josh will be here to make sure nothing happens. But I’ll tell him to stay in the house and not coddle you.”
My eyes tear up and I rush from behind the counter, wrapping my arms around his neck and hug him tightly. “Thank you,” I whisper into his ear.
“Just promise me that you’ll stay in the house, otherwise the guys will castrate me.”
“I promise.” Holding out my pinky finger he interlocks his with mine, and we each kiss them at the same time.
“Okay, and by the way, thanks for the coffee and muffin.” I move onto a barstool beside Callux and we sit there side by side enjoying our coffee and a blueberry muffin before he leaves.
A giddy ball of excitement erupts in me as Callux leaves. Today, I’m going to finally be able to hack into the system. I’mgoing to be able to watch and finally hear their voices. I’ll be able to find out more about them without them knowing.
I pour some more coffee into my cup, then move over to my desk and power on my laptop. Time to get to work. Blowing on the hot liquid before I take a sip, I clear my mind, pushing the nervous anxiety away.
“Time to find out why I’m drawn to these men.” I blow out a breath as my fingers begin flying over the keyboard. It’s not going to be hard to take control and have the feed from the cameras directed to me. The guys have given me passcodes to everything. The key is not letting them know I’m watching. But I happen to be good at what I do. Torin trained me well, and I was a quick study. It gave me something to do to keep my mind off cutting.
I get control of the cameras, placing them in a nice grid box on my screen giving me the perfect view of the entire backyard. Now I just have to wait.
“Popcorn,” I say with a giggle. “All good shows need popcorn.” I hurry and pop a bag, knowing that they are supposed to be here any minute. I can’t help the excitement overtaking me. Even if I’m not down there with them, this kinda makes me feel like I am. Before I head back over to my desk I decide to grab a Pepsi as well. Might as well be comfortable and have everything I need.
I place everything on my desk and then go and ensure that my front door is locked and turn the volume up on my laptop just enough to hear before sitting down.
And now I wait. Thirty minutes later I see them come into frame. They’re wearing jeans, crew neck shirts with a logo on them, boots and hats. The way the shirt hugs at their muscular frames has my mouth watering. I click the volume up a little more as I pull my legs up in the chair, covering myself with a blanket.
“Roman, are you seriously going through with this fight?” Nash asks.
“Yeah. Saturday night,” he replies. “I want to shut his fucking mouth. This time I think I’ll break his jaw.”
