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“You wanna take the busted cabinets out to the Dumpster before we make an even bigger mess?” Jude asked.
Hollis wrinkled his nose at the broken cabinet chunks in the center of the room. “Yeah, I guess we should. They’re only going to pile up, and we’ve still got to rip out the rest of the countertop.” Grabbing up the set of gloves he’d thrown into the sink when they uncovered the box, he pulled them on and picked up one of the bigger pieces of cabinet while Jude grabbed another. This would be easier with a wheelbarrow, but navigating one down the steps would be a bitch.
“So, I hear your mom’s got Snow wrapped around her little finger,” Hollis remarked. He paused long enough to nudge the front door open with the toe of his work boot.
“Of course, but then you’ve never had my mana’s cooking,” Jude said.
Hollis stopped mid-stride and looked over his shoulder at Jude in disbelief. “You did not just throw down with me about food when I’m living with Ian fucking Pierce, master chef.”
Jude managed to hold his composure for all of two seconds before he broke out laughing. Hollis had heard plenty of stories about Anna’s cooking, and Ian had even bragged about some of her recipes, but Hollis refused to believe anyone could cook as well as Ian.
Jude followed him down the three front stairs to the Dumpster. The sun was already climbing higher in the clear blue sky. It was going to be a hot day; he’d have to dig out the fans from the garage and put them around the house. The air conditioning was pretty damn good and had been one of the few things replaced by the previous owner. Unfortunately, he couldn’t turn it on with all the dust and chemicals in the air.
With a grunt, he heaved the cabinet into the mostly empty trash container with a loud crash then stepped back so Jude could do the same.
“You know my mana is a great cook. Snow has complained about how tight the waist of his pants have become since we’ve been together.”
“Oh, I’ve heard, but you don’t want to start talking any kind of nonsense when it comes to cooking. I’ve already had to go up one pant size thanks to Ian.”
Jude’s laughter followed him back into the house. “I tried telling him it’s because he’s gotten older and his metabolism is slowing down.”
A bark of laughter jumped from Hollis and he stumbled a step sideways, bumping his shoulder into the wall. “I’m sure that comment went over brilliantly with Snow. No, baby, it’s not your fault you’re getting fat; you’re just getting old.”
“Hey, Holly!” Rowe shouted from one of the bathrooms.
Hollis clenched his teeth against growling something back at Rowe. Of all the nicknames Rowe and the rest of them had tried out—and there had been a fucking lot of them—Holly was his least favorite. But if Rowe or any of them found out he hated it, he knew it would be the one that stuck. Right now, Rowe was rotating between Holly and Hulk as if he couldn’t quite settle.
“What, Ward?” he called back, checking that his gloves were in place as he prepared to pick up more wood. There were a lot of sharp edges.
“Did you happen to remember to turn off the water to both of the bathrooms before we started hammering?”
Rowe’s singsong tone made him think the answer to that question was a big fat no. Swearing under his breath, Hollis ran for the basement, narrowly skirting Ian as he’d likely came to investigate Rowe’s shouting and Noah’s cackling. What were the odds that his helpers weren’t creating an even bigger disaster? As Hollis jogged down the stairs, his gut told him that the odds were pretty damn poor.
He caught the beaded pull-chain for one of the overhead lights as he hurried to the far end of the basement to the main water valve. It meant shutting off the water to the whole house for a while, but it was better than one of the bathrooms ending up flooded—ruining both walls and floors he had no intention of replacing.
With the water off, he sighed and slumped against the cool concrete wall. Above him he could hear footsteps, muffled conversation, and some laughter before the pounding started again. He was fighting amusement himself. Yeah, they were all fucking insane, but it was generally a harmless, fun insanity.
“You okay?”
Hollis’s eyes jerked open to see Ian slowly coming down the stairs. Even in the weak light, he could see Ian’s concerned expression. He knew that look. Hollis hadn’t spent a lot of time around all of Ian’s family since they started living together. It was usually one or maybe two couples at a time for dinner or Sunday brunch, but all of them at once…that was overwhelming. And Ian was desperate for Hollis to feel as if he fit.
