“Harrison’s on his way to get a new starter,” he says absently, heading over to the boxes labeled shoes.
“How does he know to get that?”
Chase shrugs and hoists the first heavy box of shoes into his arms. “We stopped and checked it out on our way over here. We’re pretty sure it’s just the starter, so we’ll try that and go from there. You really should consider getting something more reliable though, Gabs. That car is going to start nickel and diming you real quick like.”
I hear his words, but I’m transfixed on his arms. He lifted that box so effortlessly when I could barely move it. Now, the muscles in his arms are bulging against the gray cotton T-shirt and my mouth is suddenly watering. “Yeah, okay.”
He glances back my way. “Hey, Gabs, my eyes are up here. Quit objectifying my sexy body, will you?”
With that, he heads out of my bedroom.
I sigh deeply, relief washing over me that he’s finally out of my bedroom. A bedroom that suddenly felt ten times smaller with his presence. I make a mental note to keep Chase out of my bedroom as much as possible. I’m afraid I might not be strong enough to heed my own advice when it comes to his charms.
And something tells me, not getting sucked into Chase’s web of charisma is going to be a tougher challenge than anticipated. Don’t underestimate a man who does all his thinking with the small brain in his pants. I refuse to be one of his women. Even though he’s adamant there aren’t any, I’m just not sure if I believe him or not.
Not really having the time or energy to dive into Chase’s bedroom habits, I finish packing up the final box of clothes from my dresser. Of course, I have to pick up the panties I basically tossed all over the room when Chase scared the crap out of me. When I have it all together, I start to fold the flaps over, securing the box.
“Don’t forget these, Gabrielle,” Chase whispers huskily over my shoulder, dangling a hot pink lace thong in the air. “Of course, if you don’t have any room in the box, I can hang onto them for you.”
As I turn around, he is stuffing the thong into his pocket. “Give me those, you big jerk.”
Chase barks out a laugh as I rip the panties from his claws. “Feisty. I like that,” he teases with a wink before heading back over to the stack of boxes.
Before too long, we have my bedroom and bathroom cleared out and in the truck when Harrison arrives. “Your car’s set. It fired right up with the new starter,” he says, coming into my apartment and starting to grab boxes.
“Wait, how in the hell did you guys get keys to my apartment and my car?” I ask.
Harrison shrugs. “Your sister gave me her copy of your apartment key,” he says, grabbing two boxes with kitchen stuff.
“And I lifted your car keys when you were in the bathroom at work,” Chase adds, not even a little bit guilty about stealing my key.
“Seriously? So you two just take whatever you want and don’t give a damn about my privacy?” I huff.
“Don’t be dramatic. I told Chase to knock first and to only use the key if needed,” my brother-in-law says before he went out the door with boxes.
“I did knock, you know. When you didn’t answer, I used the key. I was afraid you had fallen and couldn’t get up,” Chase tells me, not even trying to mask his grin.
“Right, I’m sure you were completely concerned about my safety.”
“Well, your safety and your common sense. I mean, you were about to rent a place in the meth house, so….”
“It was temporary!” I yell, stomping off toward my bathroom. Chase’s chuckle follows me down the hall.
Asshole.
When I reach my bathroom, something else hits me. We’ve already taken all of my clothes and bathroom necessities out. That means I’m definitely staying at Chase’s tonight. I also don’t have anywhere to take my furniture, which means I need to make a call tomorrow to rent a storage unit. I don’t have a ton of stuff, but I know I can’t take it to my new roommate’s place. Hell, I’ve never even seen where he lives, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have room for an extra living room set, kitchen table, and bedroom suite. The good news is a storage unit won’t be too expensive and I’ll have access to my things as soon as I find an apartment.
Speaking of cost, we never did determine rent.
After using the restroom, I find the guys still in the kitchen.
“Wait, don’t take all that stuff. I’m going to rent a storage unit,” I tell them as they’re loading up all my kitchen boxes.