Page 84
His impatience was cute and contagious now that Lennon had more time to envision how the house would look with his things in it. Kodi’s furniture had already been delivered. His bed was enormous and already set up in the biggest bedroom, at the front of the house. He had some nice pieces of furniture, and most of Lennon’s thrift store buys, with his efforts, wouldn’t look out of place. They were trying to find the right space for Lennon’s couch so he could sit under the window and look at their garden. Which right now, wasn’t flowering, but it would in the spring.
Ziggy hesitated. “Cool, do you want me to unpack as we go?”
As yet, no one was questioning why he wasn’t humping boxes or furniture, but then in the chaos, it was easy to look busy. “If you want.”
Kodi had rung his brothers and somehow got them all on board with shifting Lennon’s stuff at short notice on a frosty December morning. Lennon wasn’t at all shocked to find Ziggy, Hollis, Frey, Isley, and Bowie arrive to help.
Lennon had rung Wilder because he didn’t want him to feel left out. He’d immediately offered to help Jupiter, who appeared to be doing his best to make sure they weren’t alone together.
Lane and Derick had shown up an hour ago with half a dozen pizzas and once everyone had eaten, they’d also gotten stuck in with helping to move things from the truck that Booker had driven. Lennon was clueless how he’d managed to commandeer a truck at such short notice and had given up asking questions when nothing seemed impossible to this family.
“We can all do that at the end,” Isley said, passing Ziggy with two boxes. “Laken said the truck has to go back to the warehouse for three to be repacked for the delivery going out.”
Ziggy nodded and marched off up the stairs with the others giving chase.
“The bed, which room?” Taylin came through the door hauling Lennon’s mattress, Derick holding the other end.
Having never seen Derick dressed in sweats and a hoodie, looking disheveled and sexy, Lennon’s brain forgot how to fire and respond.
“The bed?” Taylin prompted, a big, white-toothed grin appearing before he chuckled.
Blushing hard enough to heat the chill off his face, Lennon pointed up the stairs. “We decided on the guest bedroom at the back, overlooking the barbeque area.”
“Got it.”
The questions continued, and Lennon fielded them, running from room to room until he felt like he was meeting himself coming backwards. By two, the truck was empty and Booker disappeared with Laken following in his car to bring him back.
Lennon went out through the mud kitchen and into the double garage carrying the last of the cardboard boxes his friends had emptied upstairs.
“What did I say about carrying stuff,” Kodi snapped from behind Lennon, startling him. He missed the second step into the garage, lurching forward awkwardly. Arms flailing out, the boxes went flying and Lennon lost his balance trying to keep hold of them. There was a sound of tearing and his hoodie was suddenly a straight jacket wrapped tightly around his chest and arms while he fell through the air. Then, without warning, he was dramatically hauled upwards and backwards before he face planted the ground.
Ears ringing from his crazy pulse, he breathlessly found himself spun around and face to face with an ashen faced Kodi. “I’m so sorry, that was all my fault.”
Trembling hands were wandering wildly over Lennon, touching everywhere, and he noticed the rip at the side seam of his hoodie. “Are you okay? The baby?”
“Baby?” Lane gasped loudly.
Pale and shaken, Kodi didn’t look at his dad, his eyes beseeching. “Tell me I didn’t hurt you.”
“You didn’t. It’s okay. I’m okay.” More than a little shaken, he glanced at where Lane was standing in the doorway to gauge his reaction, only to find Derick behind him with Jupiter. Oh boy!
“Did you say baby?” This time, Lane’s eyes were sheened with tears.
Chapter Forty-Two
Kodi
He cursed his own stupidity and his overreaction. He had done research on pregnancy, wanting to make sure he was prepared. What he’d done was give himself a heap of worries that weren’t helped by his fussing wolf.
Don’t you go blaming me, I didn’t screech like a banshee and frighten our poor bat.
You were fretting about him lifting anything heavy, he pointed out peevishly.
Yes, he’d gone and gotten carried away after the mating last night. He wanted everything now, but that left his brain in full squirrel mode. It was gathering all the damn nuts and wanting them all in one basket, except there were ten baskets and he didn’t know which one to fill first. Packing up and moving all in one day wasn’t how someone moved house. Fuck, he knew this. This, he was constantly reminded, put stress on Lennon. Moving house was hard work for someone who wasn’t pregnant, especially judging by the sound of his brothers’ bitching. Yet he couldn’t make himself stop when Lennon seemed as eager as him—once he’d explained what he wanted—to move into their forever home.
He’d done his best to keep control of his overreactive ass and had only lost his temper once, with Booker. Now it seemed he’d emptied the crazy on Lennon by causing him to trip in fright when Kodi had shouted. Except it was Kodi who had gotten the fright when he envisioned Lennon hurting himself and the baby.
“What’s going on? Why are we all standing at the door to the garage? I really hope it’s not more stuff to move?” Taylin groaned.