Page 60 of All Packed Up

Arlo hummed as he pulled out another plank. “Anything for you, honey,” he drawled, tossing his wood to the pile.

Griffith’s laugh echoed around the truck, and Arlo distantly noticed how warm it sounded. And kind of rusty, as if he didn’t use it a lot.

Arlo smirked. If anyone was going to give this alpha a laugh, it would be him and Tate. And probably Wendy. That omega had some attitude.

They collected what they needed, only having to brainstorm a few substitutions. Mr. Small Town had a basic collection of paint and stains, so they picked the least horrendous ones and called it a day. Then they had to hit up some old lady for fabric. Then… mattresses?

“Griffith, why is there a mattress store, but no furniture store to go with it?” Arlo asked. Where was the logic?

“You can call me Grif if you want,” he corrected, and Arlo tried to ignore how the alpha’s cheeks flushed. “And tell me about it,” Grif complained. “But the woodworking guy makes his living by designing custom furniture, who the mattress guy always refers his customers to. They offer discounts or something if you buy from both. But Jeff, the woodworker, takes way too long to get his shit done. I bet we can have at least one bed put together by this evening.”

Arlo nodded, hoisting the second mattress box into the bed of the truck. It clacked against all the wood below and he winced.

“With five of us? Absolutely,” Arlo agreed.

By the time they were making their final stop, Arlo was tired. Too many friendly, curious faces. Too much small talk that blessedly shifted into a natural flow. Griffith even had a cooler tucked behind the truck seats for all the cold items.

It must suck to live out here, Arlo couldn’t help but think as Grif closed the lid.

The cooler did its trick, and none of their food was spoiled by the time they got home.

“Thanks for all your help today,” Grif said as he threw the truck in park. “That would have been too… overwhelming,” he said, echoing Arlo’s earlier verbiage with a smile.

Alright, fine. Arlo would admit it. Grif was hot.

The dark hair, his huge build, and something about his laugh lines just made Arlo want to trace them.

And of course it could have something to do with the way his huge hands wrapped around a two-by-four as if it was nothing. The way he carried a whole armload of wood effortlessly and dumped it in a pile near the side of the house.

“This is the most open space I have. Sorry it’s in the cold.”

“That just means we’ll have to work faster,” Arlo assured him. “And we’ll even have a comfy bed to sleep in afterwards, so it’ll all be worth it.”

“Well, realistically you probably won’t get your bed until tomorrow evening. Assuming we don’t fuck Wendy’s up the first time.”

“Please. How hard can it be?” Arlo teased with a laugh.

Chapter 15

WENDY

“This isn’t bad,” Wendy remarked as she dragged her pencil across a plank of wood, bracing against the tape measure she’d stolen from Arlo.

“That’s because we haven’t started building anything yet,” Griffith called over to her from his pile of wood.

Once Arlo and Griffith had returned from town, the sun had already been making its descent through the sky, so they’d split up into groups to tackle the groceries, the interior bed stuff, and the building supplies.

She and Arlo were measuring and marking the pile of wood while the others took care of the rest. The wood hadn’t stood a chance against the Arlo and Griffith duo, and now Griffith was on standby for the next measured piece.

Wendy had agreed with them all to skip the staining part—for now—so they could get the damned thing built before dark. Griffith claimed they should dry for about a day after staining, and they just didn’t have that much time.

“Will it really be that hard? Do you know what you’re doing?” Arlo called over.

Griffith rolled his eyes at Arlo, though the latter took no offense.

They seemed to have gotten along on their trip. Such a manly thing, bonding over a construction project. Wendy almost laughed.

“Don’t worry, it’s not going to fall apart,” Griffith retorted. “Give me some credit, here.”