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Seth chuckled, not answering me, and led me to his truck. I tried to climb in the back, but Toby wouldn’t let me, opening the front passenger door for me. I got inside and buckled in while the other two got in.
“So when did you get back?” I asked Seth. “Did you have a good time with your parents?”
He grinned. “It was nice. Paul showed me around and we were able to go hiking. Rained nearly half the time, but it was fun. And Mom is doing really good. She’s practically glowing.”
I smiled. Seth looked like he truly enjoyed his time. I was happy for him.
“I missed you,” I admitted, finding it hard to look at him.
He reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. “I missed you too.”
Warmth flooded me, and I ended up smiling goofily, loving how his words made me feel light and fluttery.
I turned in my seat to see Toby’s expression was a bit weird. Like he was smiling, but it was strained, missing the normal brightness.
“And you too,” I said. “I missed you too. I hope you had a great time with your family.”
“They’re doing good,” he said, but it still felt off.
My smile slipped. “Toby?”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing. It’s just always hard to go home.” He shrugged.
“Is everything—”
“Cadence, I don’t really want to talk about it. I just want to go shopping with my girlfriend and best friends.”
I snapped my mouth shut and turned around, blinking hard. Confusion settled hard in my stomach as Seth started the truck and began driving. We shared a worried glance but remained silent as Toby filled the space with everything he wanted to find with good sales.
By the time we pulled up to the outlet mall, he seemed like he was back to his normal self, but I couldn’t shake off his reaction.
“He’ll be fine,” Seth whispered to me as we all gathered in the parking lot. “His time at home is usually very positive. I think it’s the leaving that’s hard on him.”
“Okay.”
I grabbed Toby’s hand and let him bring me inside. Then they taught me what they really meant when they said they were going to try to bankrupt Bryan. And they really did try, to the delight of Bryan. I never saw someone so excited to spend so much money before.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The real battle ended up being trying to buy things for the guys without them noticing and without Bryan paying for it. There were still so many traditions between the guys that I didn’t understand them and apparently part of it was that Bryan got to spoil them on Black Friday. Which really meant he helped them buy presents for their families—items that were really needed by that person—like new winter clothes or new kitchen items.
Then they spent even more money buying toys, which confused me until Bryan finally said they were to donate.
I used that time to buy some necessities for the toy drive at the rec center. Once Bryan realized what I was doing, they all worked together to buy way more than I had ever seen bought for a toy drive. Those kids plus more were going to be very warm and happy this winter.
It made me happy too.
Not once did they buy anything for themselves. They always warmed my heart like this. I was beginning to truly understand how much these guys cared. There was no greed in them, they only wanted to give to the community in ways that mattered.
Paxon was even telling me about how Christmas season worked for them. Soon they’d be volunteering for food drives, doing welfare checks on the elderly once the wintery weather really hit. Toy drives. Fundraising events like the Christmas tree auction. Deliveries for those who needed items but couldn’t get them.
Paxon and Toby even often liked to play Santa at some of the community events while they handed out toys or did deliveries.
My mind was completely blown.
How could people do so much for strangers like this? I thought I gave back a lot, but they proved me wrong, going above anything I’d ever seen.
So we shopped hard for others. And when I saw something I wanted to buy myself for one of the guys, guitar picks for Toby or funny shirts for Seth, I had to get creative. I swore Bryan stalked the cash register to be ready to pay for anything they wanted.
