In Your Heart - Smeltzer Micalea - Страница 17

“Later,” he answered vaguely.

“You’re testing my patience,” I muttered under my breath.

He merely chuckled at me.

I was glad that he was still acting like himself though, after the truths we shared last nights.

And those truths…well, they had me thinking.

Thinking things I should not be thinking, that is.

Like me, and Ezra, naked and rolling beneath the sheets.

Yep, my thoughts should so not be going there. Especially after I had just ended my engagement to the Douche Lord.

Damn you treacherous thoughts!

Maybe I was still drunk…yeah, that explained it.

We didn’t talk on the way to Mathias’ house. Frankly, my head couldn’t take it. How he expected me to act like a civilized human being today was beyond me.

Ezra turned into the neighborhood, one I recognized since it was where his parent’s house was.

“Mathias bought a house in your parent’s neighborhood?” I asked, not bothering to hide the shock from my voice.

He nodded. “Yeah, a few streets over. He and Remy liked the fact that the houses were a nice size, but not too large, with decent sized lots. You know how Mathias is, he didn’t want to be too close to neighbors.”

I laughed at that. Mathias Wade might’ve been the lead singer of Willow Creek, but he was not a people person.

Ezra turned into a driveway, and I gaped at the pretty home. It wasn’t what I was expecting. The driveway wound up a hill, where the house sat overlooking the street.

The two-story home was covered in light gray siding with white trim. It had a gorgeous wraparound porch with a swing. There was a glass double front door and the windows were large, giving it an airy appearance. The grass was so lush and green that it reminded me of a golf course, and pretty flowers were planted across the front.

A moving truck was parked on the driveway and guys unloaded furniture and boxes.

“Why do they need our help again?”

He sighed. “It’s Remy and Mathias.”

I didn’t know much about Remy, but I did know Mathias, so that was enough of an answer for me.

Maddox’s sports car was parked in the grass and a large pickup truck that I knew belonged to Hayes took up another space.

Ezra put his car in park, blocking the exit of the driveway.

Before I could ask him why he was doing that and not parking in the grass like the other guys, he said, “Mathias is going to shit a brick when he sees that those two idiots parked in the grass. Just wait.”

I managed a small laugh and then winced when my head pounded. I rubbed my temples, trying to get the throbbing to go away. I really shouldn’t have drunk so much. Lesson learned.

Ezra slipped out of the vehicle and I was forced to follow him.

Immediately we stepped into drama.

“I’m going to kill him!” Remy shouted—I recognized her immediately with her platinum blonde hair and signature red lipstick. “I swear to God I’m going to smother him with a fucking pillow.” She stomped down the porch steps, Emma hurrying behind her. “Oh,” Remy paused suddenly, her hand falling to her small baby bump, “sorry baby, mommy said a bad word. Please forgive me, but your dad is being a pain in my ass. Butt. I meant butt.” She frowned at Emma, not noticing our presence yet. “Between Mathias and me our baby’s first word is going to be ‘fuck’. This kid is doomed.”

“Hopefully ‘mom’ will be a close second in the word department.” Emma shrugged.

“Eh,” Remy shrugged, “second will probably be ‘asshole’ because that’s what I keep shouting at Mathias. He is driving me nuts.”

“Ahem,” Ezra cleared his throat as we approached them.

Remy glanced away from Emma and sighed in relief. “Oh, thank God you’re here. Maybe between you and Maddox you can talk some sense into my husband. He’s trying to bubble wrap the fucking walls.” She winced and mumbled, “Crap, I did it again.” Taking a deep breath, she continued, “Anyway, he’s going way overboard with this whole baby-proofing thing and it’s just…a nightmare.” She rolled her eyes. “And he’s getting in the way of the movers, so they’re getting mad.”

Ezra saluted her. “I’m on it. We’ll tag team him.”

I watched him leave, disappearing into the house. I was left alone with Remy and Emma—and the moving guys that were wrestling with a massive dining room table.

“I’m sorry you had to walk into all of this drama,” Remy sighed, her hand rubbing absentmindedly against her stomach. “Mathias has been…extremely overprotective since we found out that I was pregnant.” She glanced at Emma and then me. “Do you know the other day he got mad at me for picking up my cat. He thinks if I pick up anything that weighs more than five pounds that the baby is going to fall out of my vagina. I’ve got news for him, the process of childbirth, sadly, isn’t that simple.”

Emma laughed and patted Remy’s shoulder in a familiar gesture. “He loves you.”

“He’s smothering me with his love. Seriously, I’m suffocating. And he will too if he doesn’t stop.”

I snorted and then burst into laughter, Remy and Emma joining in too.

“Ow,” I groaned when my head pounded with renewed vigor.

Note to self: Stop laughing while hung over.

“Are you okay?” Emma asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded, closing my eyes behind my sunglasses as I tried to get the blinking white lights to go away, “just a little too much to drink last night.”

“Why’d you have too much to drink?”

“Because I wanted to,” I replied. “Anyway,” I rubbed my hands together, “what can I do to help?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Emma shook her head. “Who did you go out with?”

“How do you know I went out? I could’ve gotten shit-faced at Ezra’s place and passed out in my vomit on the kitchen floor.”

“Did you?” She asked doubtfully.

“Well, no.” I admitted.

“Then answer my previous question.”

“Ezra took me out.” I squirmed, wanting to run back and hide in the safety of the SUV.

“And let you get drunk? Did you have sex?”

“No!” I screamed a little too loudly, causing the moving guys to turn and look at us. “Why are you so convinced that there’s something going on with us? I just broke up with Braden.”

Emma stared at me with a calculated look as if she was measuring the weight of her words. “I see the way you look at him.” She said the words slowly, gauging my reaction to them. I gave her nothing and remained stone faced. “The way you’ve always looked at him,” she reiterated. “I’m not sure if you even realize it.”

“I realize that you’re absolutely insane. He’s my friend. Nothing more.” I pushed the sunglasses further up my nose, hoping my cheeks hadn’t reddened with the lie. Only minutes ago I’d been picturing him naked, and now I was having to steadfastly defend the fact that were only friends. It was the truth though. Ezra didn’t want to take things further. He’d said as much last night.

“Who are you trying to fool?” She raised a single brow. “Me or yourself?”

“Nobody,” I replied easily.

“Mhmm,” she mumbled in disbelief.

“Haven’t you ever heard of friends with benefits?” Remy asked, interjecting herself into the conversation.

I choked on a laugh. “Of course, but me and Ezra? No way.”

“Crazier things have happened.” Remy shrugged. “I mean, I married that asshole.” She pointed at Mathias who stormed down the porch steps and proceeded to yell at the movers. From what I could gather they’d scratched a piece of furniture.

Behind him a large dog and cat bound out the door, down the steps, running through the yard. It didn’t look like the dog was chasing the cat, but more like they were playing.

“Mathias!” Remy yelled, heading over to her husband. “You let Shiloh and Percy out again. They’re going to get hit by a car.”

Mathias turned his attention from the movers to Remy, his hands resting on his hips. “Your cat is a fucking demon, Rem. You have to let it out once a day so its toxicity doesn’t pollute the house. It’s in the Taking Care of a Demonic Creature Handbook. You should read it. It’s also how I’ve learned to deal with you.” He grinned.