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SEVEN
Zed came walkingup to the open door, his own tool bag dangling from his fingers. He nodded toward me, not bothering with a friendly smile. I appreciated the neutrality, honestly.
“How much shit do we have to build?” he checked.
“A lot,” I admitted.
“Good. Elliot needs to take his anger out on some screws.” Zed patted Elliot’s shoulder.
I snorted as Elliot gave his buddy a lighthearted shove. I’d only known Elliot for a few hours and could already tell that he didn’t have a damned ounce of anger inside his gigantic body.
“I’ll start in Rocco’s room, you take the spare?” Elliot asked Zed, as the two men headed up the stairs without so much as a backward glance. They were treating me normally, and it meant a hell of a lot to me.
“Alright. I’m sending the wolf your way if he attacks me for her room smelling like me, though,” Zed grunted.
I felt infinitely better as the guys vanished up the stairs, leaving me without making me uncomfortable at all.
Dax stepped back in, and gave me a quick smile as he headed up. “You can come hang out and question us, or you can do whatever else you want. We’re easy.”
I nodded, gratitude warming my chest. “Thanks.”
Walking over to the fridge, I looked over the contents of the thing. There was more than enough food for one person, and I glanced over at the wolf. Remembering how much food he had gulped down, I figured he probably needed to eat even more than a normal huge guy.
After I grabbed a bag of leftover pizza, I threw a couple of slices on a plate. My gaze flicked to the stairs, and I bit my lip as I considered going up and hanging out with the other guys.
That wasn’t something I’d ever done before. Choosing to socialize when there was another option? Not me.
But… I did want them to tell me what they knew.
And honestly, I kind of liked them. Just as friends, of course, but they seemed cool when I got past the outrageously-attractive bit.
Wolf-Rocco nudged my leg toward the stairs, prodding me up toward his friends. Considering his possessiveness, I figured that was as good a sign as any that I should just swallow my anxiety and go for it.
My reluctant feet carried me upward. I heard the sounds of cardboard being ripped, along with some kind of drill—I mean impact driver, and heard a low chuckle about a comment I didn’t hear.
I cringed as I stepped into the doorway of Rocco’s room, expecting it to be awkward when I joined the guys.
They waved my way while I leaned up against the doorway, and Elliot continued telling a story about some kid in his class who had decided to try to sell him and everyone else in the class on the fact that one plus one equaled one. As the story went on, I found myself grinning and fighting laughter while he described the teenage punk he'd been dealing with.
He filled me in on the fact that he taught high school math at the same school as Rocco, who taught history.
When the story ended, the guys kept working on the things they were building. Elliot was working on a dresser, and Dax was working on a bed frame/headboard combo. I hadn’t seen one of those since I was a kid, and my parents still believed in “worldly” shit, but from the picture, they looked good.
Rocco seemed to have chosen furniture made out of a dark gray wood that almost matched his couch, but I thought it was gorgeous. It was neutral, sort of industrial, and could be easily made to look feminine, masculine, or a nice neutral.
I wasn’t going to think about how easily I could throw a couple of patterned pillows and a bedspread on one and make it look just right for both me and Rocco to share.
“Do you want help?” I asked the guys, getting pretty full of pizza despite the two slices remaining on my plate.
“Nah. Go ahead and relax.” Elliot waved me over to Rocco’s mattress. “You probably need a break after all the shit today. Didn’t you just graduate?”
“I finished my last exams today, yeah.” I crossed the room with wolf-Rocco at my side, and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Technically, the ceremony’s tomorrow. I’m skipping, though.”
“What?” Elliot protested. “Why would you skip?”
I shrugged. “A graduation gown seemed like a waste of money, and I’m not really into ceremonial shit.”
Plus, I had no one coming to attend, so what was the point? I sure as hell wasn’t going to sit through long, boring speeches that had nothing to do with me for myself. That was the kind of thing you did for the people who loved you. Or at least, it was the kind of thing I would only do for the people who loved me.
