He pauses. “Want to join me?”
I laugh. “Always.”
* * *
Wrapped in Olly’s big body, that night I sleep so soundly. I was exhausted after our “quick shower,” and we decided to make sandwiches for dinner instead of enchiladas.
I crack one eye open to look at the time. Holy crap, it’s almost eleven. I’ve never slept this late in my life.
After I get dressed, I go off in search of my boyfriend. I find him outside with several of his teammates. Half of the side yard has been hacked away, and they planted flowers all up and down the walkway and mowed the front and back.
“Hey, this looks great!” I leap into his arms and give him a kiss. “What about the snakes?”
Olly sets me down. “The wildlife guy went through our whole yard this morning. Confiscated some snake eggs.” Yikes. I shiver. “He said we should be good as long as we keep this area trimmed. I called for reinforcements so we could get this done today.”
God, he’s amazing.
He introduces me to everyone. I know Diesel, Billy, and Cam, of course, but there are some younger guys as well whose names I’ll never remember. I smile and thank everyone. “Who wants a late breakfast? I can pop some biscuits in the oven, make some eggs and sausage. Whip up some gravy.”
“Hell, yes, I want breakfast, especially if you’re cooking,” Billy says with a wink.
Olly gets in his face. “You better not be flirtin’ with my woman.”
They shove each other the way manchildren do, and I chuckle. I’m about to have two boys, so I guess I need to get used to roughhousing. “Billy, if you hurt my boyfriend’s knee, I’ll never feed you again.”
He immediately lets go of Olly and backs away.
“You okay, man?” Billy asks.
“I’m wearing my knee brace. I’m fine.”
Billy turns to me. “Um… so… breakfast?”
I roll my eyes, but laugh.
After I feed the army, the guys do the dishes, and I take a nap. Olly curls up behind me after everyone leaves.
“You feeling okay?”
“Hmm. Yeah. Just extra-tired these days.”
“I’m not surprised. You spackled the holes all over the house and painted the hall last week.”
“Work was slow, so I only went into the office one day. I had extra time, and I need this place to be ready for the babies. This is probably what they call nesting. I’m like a mama bird getting ready for her hatchlings.”
He laughs. “Okay, mama bird. Before I forget, I have someone coming to look at this ceiling. We need to make sure there’s no mold up there.”
I turn my head to glare at the ugly water stains. “The first thing I did when I moved in was have this place re-roofed with the money I inherited. The roofer didn’t think there was mold. He said that was the upside to having a drafty house.”
“Then we’ll let the guy paint the room, so you won’t have to torture yourself with that ceiling anymore. I was gonna make him spackle the holes, but you beat me to it.”
I nibble my lip. “But I don’t have the cash for that right now.”
He kisses my temple. “Don’t worry about it. Since you’re so good at swapping services, I figured I might be able to get some repairs done with a few spare football tickets.”
“Really?” That’s so sweet, I don’t know what to say. “Thank you. That would be great.”
“My pleasure.” He gives me one of those beaming smiles that makes my heart flutter. “The second thing is we need to talk to Sebastian. What about this weekend? He wanted to meet up, and I figure we’re overdue on that conversation.”
