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Two men were at the bed, dismantling the frame, while the stripped mattresses were sitting on their sides, propped against the wall.
Trick was reaching up to my wall shelf to take down an old mathematics competition trophy to put it into a box while a woman holding a trash bag with a corner of my blankets and sheets spilling out the top capered toward him, swinging her hips and grinning.
When he glanced over to watch her snap her fingers and salsa dance in front of him, he shook his head. “Nuh-uh.”
“Come on, baby brother.” She curled her finger and grinned, coaxingly. “Dance with me. I’ll clean the closet out if you do.”
“Oh geez,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes and hissing out a sigh. “Fine.”
And he sat down his box to take her hand and swish her around the room in a two-step.
“Yes!” one of the men working on the bed hooted. “Work it, my gorgeous people.”
I blinked, certain that I’d never had anyone dance in my bedroom before. It’d been a while since I’d even played any music in here, or in the house at all.
These walls needed a little music and dancing.
I suddenly hoped that whoever moved in after I was gone gave this place the love and pampering it needed. And that was exactly why I had to go. Because that person couldn’t be me.
“Hey, Uncle,” one of the men at the bed called. “Can you hold that end of the frame sturdy for us while we unhook this bastard?”
“Sure.” It was the most useful task I’d been given all day. I have no idea why Beau had been making sure I did as little as possible, but it was beginning to drive me stir crazy. I hurried forward and knelt, holding the footing of the bed steady.
I couldn’t remember the name of the men; I just remembered that they were dating each other, and the bubbly one was Lucy’s first cousin.
As I helped them, Trick and his sister finally ended their number and went back to packing, the sister singing along to the new tune before she opened my closet door and—
“Wait!” I called, lifting a hand and suddenly remembering what I had stashed in there.
She yelped and dove out of the way when a gift bag spilled out from the heaping pile inside.
“What...in the world?” she finally asked, glancing my way with lifted eyebrows.
Shit. My stash of baby gifts for Ava had been discovered.
I cringed, my face going hot with embarrassment. “Lucy told me I couldn’t bring Ava any more presents, except I’d already bought all those by that point, so…” I shrugged. “I wasn’t sure what to do with them from there.”
Trick’s sister blinked at me, then turned back to study the gifts.
“You know,” she murmured thoughtfully. “Luce wouldn’t decline a second baby gift from me.” Then she tapped her chin thoughtfully as she studied the pile of gift bags before she deliberately reached in and picked out the smallest one. “I think this will be from me.”
“I’ll give her this one,” Trick piped up, taking another.
“And we’ll take this one to her,” Lucy’s cousin said.
Within just a few minutes, all the gifts had been claimed by various members of Lucy’s family, promising to get Ava all the gifts I’d bought for her.
And I think I fell in love with the whole brood of them right then and there.
It was an honor to feel so accepted into their group. Having a family like this would be nice.
22
VAUGHN
At some point, someone bought pizza and had it delivered.
I’d still been in the bedroom with Chloe, Cress, and Maverick—whose names I’d actually learned in the past few hours—along with Trick when a shout echoed down the hall, inviting everyone to pause for food.
