“You have any luck gettin’ a hold of Travis?”he asked when they reached the back patio door.
“Tried.Multiple times.I didn’t leave a message.Figure if he’s curious and ready to talk, he’ll call me back.”
Reese wasn’t so sure that was going to happen.Travis Walker was quite possibly the most stubborn human being who ever lived.
And Reese considered himself an expert on the subject since he was married to a Walker and knew firsthand how stubborn they all could be.
Atticus James planted his foot on thestep and hefted himself up into the back of the large box truck to join his co-workers, Darius Frost and Jay Hernandez.
“Have you never moved a piece of furniture before?”Darius asked, shuffling over to one end of the desk.
Based on his tone, Atticus knew thatnowas the wrong answer.However, it was the truth in his case.Despite knowing he would only be ridiculed by admitting as much, he went for it anyway.
“As a matter of fact, no,” he said, lending his help by grabbing the side of the desk.
His admission had Darius coming to a halt, causing Jay to slam into the rear end of the desk.Atticus’s grip slipped, causing the desk to tilt at an odd angle before they wrangled it back to level.
And to think the loading ramp was only a few feet away.
Professionals they were not.
“A little warning would be nice,” Jay said, recovering quickly as they shifted the desk into place over the motorized ramp so they could lower it to the ground.Thankfully, someone had thought ahead and rented a truck that would suit their purpose.Damn good thing they hadn’t asked Atticus to do it because clearly, he would’ve fucked that shit up.
Jay stepped to the side to press the button.The motor whirred as the desk lowered to the ground.
Rather than wait, Atticus hopped down from the truck, watching Darius ride down with the large metal and wood monstrosity.What the hell was Baz thinking when he ordered these things?They were enormous.And ugly.And quite possibly relics.
Once on the ground, Atticus and Jay moved into place to assist again.
“You can’t be serious,” Darius said, his eyes locked on Atticus as he backed off the ramp.“Never?”
“Never.”
“Never?”
“Tacking on moreneversisn’t gonna change my answer, dude.It’s notthatunusual.”Atticus looked between them.“Right?”
Jay chuckled.“Not if you’re eight.”
Atticus flipped him off without taking his hands off the desk, so the gesture was lost in the chaos.And that was exactly what this was.Fucking chaos.
When Darius asked him to come along for a ride to the office supply store, he had no idea they would be bringing back desks.Pens and paper, sure.He was all for taking a trip.It beat sitting inside with nothing to do.He’d met his quota of reviewing applications and backgrounds for people the team was looking to partner him up with.At this point, he was willing to work solo to avoid going down that rabbit hole again.
But this …thiswas bullshit.
The worst part was he hadn’t even seen it coming.Not when the guys at the store loaded all four desks into the back of the moving truck Darius had rented.Not during the drive back to HQ.And not even after Darius parked.It wasn’t until Darius and Jay shouted at him as he was heading for the barn that he realized they were expecting him to move this shit.
Life was easier when he was scrawny and weak.No one expected him to do anything then.Now that he’d bulked up and was working out religiously, they were expecting more from him.
“We just have to get them inside,” Jay told them.“After that, someone else can move them.”
“Is that all?”Getting them from the truck to the door was the hard part.“And why couldn’t we back the truck up to the barn?”
Darius’s dark brown eyes widened.“Uh…”
“Seriously?”Atticus barked a laugh.“And you thinkI’mthe idiot?”
That got Jay laughing, which then spread through them all, cutting the tension somewhat.
