The low murmur of male voices drifts up to me as I continue down the stairs.
In the living room, Win is sprawled across the red couch, clutching a beer. His clothes are a bit dusty, and he looks exhausted. Murph and Joel are sitting on the other couch, each with a beer in hand and a big bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. The TV is on a football game, but the volume is way down, and none of them are paying any attention to it.
For a couple of seconds, before they notice I’m there, I stand in the doorway, smiling softly as I watch them talk about their day. Even before Ben and I came along, they were a family, and the moment we moved in, they made us feel like family, too.
Murph notices me as he’s about to take a sip from his beer. He lifts a dark eyebrow. “Call go well?”
“Sorry I took so long. I was talking to my mom about you. There was a lot she needed to know.”
“Oh?” Murph asks.
I smile. “She thinks you’re all pretty great.” I straighten as they relax. “Got room for one more?”
Murph pats the center of the couch. “Saved you the best seat in the house. Get over here, sweetheart.”
On my way, I stop in front of Win, bending to brush a kiss on his lips, surprising and pleasing him.
“Hey,” I whisper. “I wanted to do that earlier, but you weren’t here.”
“Hey,” he says, smiling softly. “Any particular reason?”
“For lots of reasons. Hence me up in my room, talking my mom’s ear off,” I ruefully admit, and he grins, looking a lot less tired than he did a few seconds ago.
“Did you finish Nico’s office?” I ask him after I’ve settled on the couch beside Joel and Murph.
The second my ass hit the seat, Murph’s arm was sliding around the back of my shoulders, and his fingers were toying with the ends of my hair. He keeps doing that, I won’t last five minutes into whatever movie we put on.
Win makes a face. “Nope. There is no way to get that space to work. We’ll try again another time.”
“Want a soda before we pick a movie?” Joel asks me, starting to get up.
I shake my head. “If I have a soda now, I’ll need to pee all night. What are we watching?”
Joel leans forward to pick up the remote from the coffee table, resting his blue-socked feet on the edge as he flicks through the movies available to stream. “We have a few options, but Murph will want something gory.”
“I don’talwayswant gory,” Murph grumbles, glowering at Joel, even as he gently combs his fingers through my hair.
“Name one movie you have wanted to watch that did not result in at least three dead bodies by the time the credits rolled?” Joel asks him.
We all look at Murph.
And we continue to watch him as we wait. The seconds tick down, and I can definitely sense Murph thinking hard.
He lets out a defeated sigh. “Shut up.”
Joel and Win chuckle.
“I can handle maybe one violent scene,” I say. “But you have to warn me when it’s coming so I can look away. And it can’t be a chainsaw going through bone or anything. I’d still hear that, and it would definitely give me nightmares.”
“Chainsaw through bone?” Murph shudders. “Damn woman. That’s too much gore even for me.”
Joel flicks through the channels on a hunt for the perfect movie. “He likes it when a few people get killed off in epic quests and shit. Skewered with a sword, or betrayed and shoved off a cliff as they reach for help. You know?”
“I know you’re mocking me. As if I haven’t seen you sitting over there hugging your cushion like you weren’t loving every damn minute of it.” Murph grumbles.
“Hugging a cushion?” I laugh.
Joel lets out a sigh. “It wasonetime.”
