We Have Till Monday

That was…quite the impressive rant.

I exchanged a brief look with Nicky, who had a pinch of amusement in his eyes and said, “If we don’t agree with him, we only have two deep-fried brain cells.”

“Correct,” Gideon agreed. Then he chewed on the inside of his cheek and clasped his hands in his lap. “Now I’m in the mood for fries. I told you we should get a fryer at home.”

“Then you’d be having fries every day.” Nicky reached up and kissed his cheek. “We talked about this.”

“I fail to see the problem,” Gideon muttered. He let out a breath and gathered the printouts of his proposal. “Do I have your agreement, gentlemen?”

Nicky flicked me a glance and nodded. “Yeah.”

I inclined my head too. I didn’t have it in me to put up a fight I had no interest in winning. Gideon would make it possible for us to take the Initiative several steps further. “You have it. And thank you, Gideon. For everything. I can’t describe what this means to me.”

“It means a lot to me too.” He smiled politely. “Your work is personal for me. I wish this type of assistance existed when I grew up.”

I hadn’t considered that perspective, and I should have.

Before I could respond, he side-eyed Nicky.

“I truly want fries.”

“Give the man his fries, bambino,” I blurted out. “In fact, make that my housewarming gift. Get yourself a fryer.”

For a quick second, it looked like Gideon was actually gonna fist-pump the air, which would’ve been an incredible sight.

“It’s rude to turn down a gift,” he replied smoothly. And the eyebrow went up, daring Nicky to defy him.

My brother just snorted and shook his head. “You’re the one who asked me to put a lid on your cravings, papi. But by all means, we’ll get a fryer.”

“Excellent.” Gideon looked ridiculously pleased.

It was nearing midnight when I decided to move my work upstairs and do some production research in bed on my laptop. I checked my phone as I flicked off the lights downstairs, and I hesitated to call Camden back now. Even though it was an hour earlier in Nashville, he was probably asleep.

I sent him a text instead.

I didn’t want to interrupt in case you’ve already gone to bed. Think about you all the time, and I miss you so much. Hope we can talk tomorrow instead. Sweet dreams.

Not ten seconds passed before his goofy grin appeared on my screen with his incoming call.

I smiled to myself and answered. “Isn’t it a bit late for you to be up, ragazzo?”

“Nuh-uh! Tonight is an exception, and I’m glad you texted because we need your help in approximately five seconds.”

“Oh yeah? What can I do for you?”

“You can buzz us in! Daddy’s paying the cab right now.”

I tensed up right there, with one foot on the first step on the stairs, and I swallowed hard. My body was evidently a lot quicker to catch the drift than my brain was.

“What do you mean, love?” I asked quietly.

“We’re here to see you,” Camden sang. A door was slammed shut in the background. “Okay, we’re coming! I have my bags. Buzz, buzz, buzz us in, pretty please.” He disconnected the call.

Was he serious?

With my heart in my throat, I stalked across the kitchen and the living room and into the entryway, where I pressed the buzzer and waited. If this was some joke, I didn’t know what I’d do with myself. Or how severely I’d punish Camden the next time we saw each other.

Moments later, I heard the unmistakable sound of our rickety elevator running.

Holy shit, were they here? Right fucking now?

I released a nervous breath and switched on the light in the living room again.

Then I heard them. I heard Camden snarl at something, and August said, “Easy, boy. I’ll grab your bags before you tear off the handle.”

“That’s the smallest elevator in the galaxy,” Camden huffed.

I grinned and felt my eyes sting with tears, so I sniffled and blinked back my emotions before I opened the door and saw them. My God, they were in New York. And they’d seemingly brought all of Nashville with them. I counted two rollaboard bags, two smaller pieces of luggage, and two backpacks.

“What on earth are you two doing here?” I asked.

Camden turned to me and beamed, and then he was running straight into my arms. “Hi! We’ve come to visit! Are you surprised?”

I couldn’t begin to describe just how surprised I was.

I hugged him tightly and couldn’t stop smiling against the beanie on his head.

“I hope it’s not a bad time, darlin’, but we couldn’t wait.” August’s voice—how I’d fucking missed it.

As soon as he was within reach, I pulled him to me too. “In my opinion, it’s been long enough.”

He cupped my cheek and kissed me, and the sheer happiness that bubbled up within me was goddamn surreal. Suddenly, I was alive again. Then it was as if someone lit a fire under me, and I wanted them to make themselves comfortable in my home.