“At least one of us did.”
Avocado was still crowing. I was going to have to figure out what to do with her. She was probably going to be pretty pissy for a while once we got her out at the other house. But at least Bacon seemed fine, and Cado loved Bacon.
A giant pickup pulled up into the driveway, and Hollin hopped down out of the driver’s seat. “What the fuck are you doing in the grass, Wright?”
Julian propped himself up onto his elbows. “Getting a tan.”
Hollin snorted. “Are we moving today or what?”
“Thanks for offering to help,” I said, brushing grass off of me as I stood. “Piper, Blaire, and Chester should be here soon.”
“Chester?” Julian asked.
“Yeah, I’m as surprised as you are.”
“Your brother is going to help?” Annie asked.
“He moved in earlier this week, and I helped him. He offered to return the favor.” I shrugged.
“What’s up with your brother?” Hollin asked. “Why is everyone shocked?”
“He’s just…”
“Self-centered,” Annie finished.
“Narcissistic,” Julian added.
“An asshole.”
I swatted at them both. “He’s trying, y’all.”
“Hell, I’m a self-centered, narcissistic asshole,” Hollin said, crossing his beefy arms over his muscled chest.
Julian and Annie shared a look and then shrugged and nodded.
“Pretty much,” Annie said.
“What do you say about me when I’m not here?” Hollin joked.
“Nothing we wouldn’t say to your face, cuz.” Julian got to his feet and clapped Hollin on the arm.
“Dude, are you bleeding?”
And the rest of us broke down into laughter again.
By the time Piper, Blaire, and Chester showed up to help me move, Julian and Hollin had already gotten the furniture onto Hollin’s truck. Annie had brought Jordan’s truck over for the day, and Piper had shown up in Bradley’s pickup. I was thankful because that meant I didn’t have to rent anything.
Jordan had paid for someone to come and box up all of Annie’s stuff and move it into his mansion on the south side of town. But I didn’t have a billionaire boyfriend, so I was on my own.
“What do you have in here?” Chester grunted as he lifted a box from my bedroom.
“Books.”
“More like bricks.”
“A book a day keeps reality away.”
He snorted and hauled it out of my bedroom. I grabbed one from the bathroom and followed him outside.
The whole thing was going remarkably fast with six people moving instead of just me, like the last time I’d moved. My arms had hurt for a week straight afterward.
“Last box,” Hollin said, hauling the box onto his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. He was easily the biggest guy I’d ever seen in my life.
“Phew! That was quick,” I gasped.
My eyes traveled across my friends. Hollin deposited the box in the back of his truck. He dapped knuckles with Julian. Piper was chugging from a bottle of water. She passed it to Blaire, who took a sip. Chester leaned against the truck next to Blaire. Annie grinned at me, as if understanding the look of awe on my face.
They’d all come here for me. Just for me. I’d always been a loner. More interested in my camera and books. Too much social anxiety to reach out and find my own niche. Sometimes, I was pulled into a vortex by proximity, but I hadn’t found anything until Sutton and Annie. And now, I had my own little world. Even with my brother unexpectedly in it.
“Thanks for helping me today,” I said, unable to keep from choking on the words.
They smiled and said it was no problem. Only Annie knew what it all meant to me. Or so I thought.
Then everyone piled into the trucks to head over to Piper’s house.
Julian grabbed my arm before we left. “What got you all emotional?”
I laughed softly and glanced away. “Just nice to have a friend group like this.”
“You have Annie and Sutton.”
“Yeah. It’s just…new.”
“The whole family thing is new for me, too. I only ever had Jordan.”
I nodded. “I get that. I’m the opposite. I’m more surprised that Chester even bothered today.”
“He seems totally chill now. Not at all how he was at graduation.”
“I know. I don’t understand his moods.”
“Well, I’m just glad.”
“Same.”
“You can ride with me,” he offered.
Annie had driven Jordan’s truck over, and we’d gotten the cats into the backseat of Julian’s Audi SUV. I still had to come back to clean and do a final walk-through. I could get Bertha then.
“Sounds good.”
I slipped into the passenger seat, and we followed behind the three trucks. It took us half the time to unload the boxes than it had to stack them into the trucks. I ordered pizza and gave Annie money to grab some beer for the entire party. It was my thanks. While she was gone, I dealt with the cats.
I put food and water out before letting Avocado and Bacon out in the backyard. Bacon went straight for the food, seemingly unperturbed by the new location. But Cado disappeared as soon as I opened the crate. I bit my lip as I watched her dart off. She’d come back when she was hungry, but I still worried. She had left a few times in the past and always came back. I’d never considered her mine before. So, now, I had anxiety about my cats. Great.
The pizza came in record time, and we all crowded around the living room, eating off of paper plates and drinking the cheap beer. I was seated next to Julian, who kept accidentally touching my hip with his.
I glanced over at Julian, and he smiled, taking another sip of his beer. Maybe not accidental?
“So, yeah, it’s been a week,” Piper said with a sigh.
“What did I miss?” I asked. Julian had completely broken my concentration.
“Peter and Jeremy broke up,” Piper said.
I frowned. “Oh no! What happened?”
Peter was Piper’s twin brother. He and Jeremy had been dating for a long time. I didn’t even know how long. They’d been inseparable.
She shook her head. “I have no idea. He won’t talk about it.”
“But he’s distraught,” Blaire added. “He was here last night and cried the whole time. We don’t know what to do for him anymore.”
“Fuck,” Hollin said eloquently.
“I know that feeling,” Chester agreed. “I just went through a rough breakup. Two years, and then it ended.”
“Maybe you could talk to him!” Blaire suggested. “I mean…if you’re okay to talk about it.”
“Yeah. It was the right time for my relationship, but it still hurts.”
I stared at my brother. He hadn’t spoken one word about Margaret since the breakup. He hadn’t even told me himself. I was surprised he was volunteering this information.
“Well, why don’t we go out tonight?” Julian suggested. “We could get Peter out of the house. Might help.”
“Yes!” Annie cried. “I’ll drag Jordan out, too.”