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Andie finally finds her voice. “Noah… why are there four giants in our home? Is there a magical beanstalk nearby I don’t know about?”
I glance over my shoulder at the guys. Remy’s eyebrows are high on his forehead, most likely surprised she doesn’t recognize them. Remy isn’t cocky, it’s just that the Eagles are a big deal in D.C., it’s nearly impossible to go anywhere without being recognized.
Bruce is biting the insides of his cheeks, trying not to laugh, and Colby looks like he’s about to burst from holding in his own laughter. I give them a look of warning, then turn back to Andie.
“Noah didn’t tell you we were coming?” I ask.
She crosses her arms over her book shirt and glares at Noah, who’s now standing beside her. “Nope.” She pops the p for extra impact and her brother takes a step away from her.
I scratch the back of my head, feeling suddenly very weird about this. “We’re here to help with the gym.”
Andie looks from me to the guys behind me again and lifts her hands up to mess with her hair. The movement makes her tank top ride up just enough for me to notice that her belly button is an outie.
I gulp. That might be even cuter than her dimple.
“You seriously don’t need to do that. We’ll figure it out.” Her hands settle on her hips now, she can’t stop fidgeting.
I feel bad that we invaded her space. But in my defense, Noah was supposed to give her a warning like an hour ago. I should’ve just texted her about it, but I knew she’d come up with excuses or just flat out say no. But she needs height, and we have that in spades.
“Where’s the gym, blondie? We’re not leaving until your equipment is safely assemble—”
“What’s a sassy jar?” Colby interrupts from behind me. My eyes follow Andie’s to a hot pink glass jar that’s been bedazzled with fake gems and has a huge label on it that says sassy jar. The jar is stuffed full of cash. Almost overflowing.
She runs over to the kitchen counter and grabs the jar off of it, sticking it inside the nearest cabinet. “Oh, that’s nothing.”
“Andie has a potty mouth. She has to put a dollar in the jar every time she swears,” Noah tells us, ratting out his poor sister.
She gasps and pins him with the meanest look she can muster. But it looks more like the face of a cute, angry kitten. “Have you no loyalty!?”
Noah tries to hide his grin, unsuccessfully. Remy, Bruce, and Colby chuckle. I try to hide the smirk that’s trying so hard to creep up, but it’s difficult.
“But she says when we have enough we’ll do something fun,” Noah adds, trying to get back into his sister’s good graces.
She harumphs and crosses her arms.
Bruce says, “Looks to me like you already have enough to do something pretty fun.”
Remy clears his throat. “So, where’s the gym?” he asks Andie, then turns to me. “We should get started.”
She sighs in resignation. “Noah, show them where the gym is.” She glances down at her fuzzy socks and turns a bright shade of pink, somewhere between a strawberry and a tomato. She must’ve just remembered she’s in her PJ’s. “I’m going to change.”
She darts across the room toward the staircase that’s across from the kitchen. The woman moves so quickly up those stairs, you would think someone was chasing her.
“This way,” Noah says, leading the way again.
Ten minutes later, we’re all stuffed inside the downstairs bedroom. Bruce is holding up the top piece of the squat rack while Remy screws in the bolts. Colby and I are assembling the dumbbell rack, and Noah is holding a container full of screws, handing them to us when we ask. We already have things well in hand, it won’t take us more than an hour to get everything put together.
Andie walks through the doorway looking calmer now. She’s changed into dark pink leggings and a white hoodie… but I’ll never get the image of her bare legs out of my head.
“Sorry about earlier… I was a little caught off guard. What are your names again? I’m Andie.” She smiles and looks at my teammates.
Remy smiles politely back at her and says, “I’m Ford, but everyone calls me Remy. Nice meeting you.”
She squints, looking at the three men more closely. “Oh my gosh. I’m so dumb! You guys were at the game.”
Bruce chuckles. “Hard to recognize us without the sunglasses, eh?”
She laughs. “You’re… Bruce, right?”