by Mallory Funk
“Paige. Now does anybody need a refill?” I start walking inside and notice that they’re all following me with a chorus of agreements.
I start pouring coffees for everyone and make another pot because I know that I haven’t had enough. I always need three cups to go about my day.
“Got cream, or that powdered shit people use?” Cole says with a disgusted tone.
I give a laugh and point to the fridge. “Help yourself.”
He goes to open it. “Holy shit, you have four different creamers in here!”
“Yup,” I say and grab the vanilla one.
“Why do you need four?” They all give me a curious glance.
I give a little laugh. “I like variety,” I say as if it’s obvious. “Some days I want good old-fashioned creamer and other days I want a bit of flavour, and I never know which one I will choose. I have a slight addiction to coffee. You don’t want me to miss my morning coffee.”
They all laugh at me and start using the flavoured creamers. We then make our way out to my deck.
We start some small talk, but I know that their questions are coming. There’s something about these brothers that makes me feel safe, so I am surprised by my honest and open answers. I don’t think I would be able to lie to them anyway. Courtney always tells me that I’m a horrible liar.
“Do you live here alone?” Trevor asks.
“I do.” My answers are small and short. It should be good enough for them, but by the looks on all their faces, I know that they want more details.
“Why are you living in a big house by yourself?” Sam asks.
“Well this was my parents’ house. They died and left it to me in their will, so I decided to move all my shit in. It took me a couple months to get everything in order, but as soon as I was able to move, I did,” I say with a shrug.
They all look at me with wide and shocked eyes.
“What?” I look around at all of them when they fall silent.
“Sorry about your parents. We lost ours too,” I hear Cole say.
I shrug. “It’s okay. They weren’t the greatest. They didn’t even want to be parents, but my grandfather made them keep me. So, they just spent their money getting nannies and staff to take care of me. I moved away when I was eighteen, and I didn’t speak to them much throughout the years.”
“You don’t have any siblings?” Trevor asks.
“No, it’s just me. The only person in my life is my best friend, Courtney. She’s moving here in a couple months. Once she gets things in order at the salon down there and sells her place.”
“Is she hot?” Derek asks.
I can’t help but laugh. “Of course she is. She’s my girl!”
Just then, my phone rings. I know who it is without looking. Smiling, I answer it.
“Hey Slutstick,” I say. I look up at the guys, and they all look at me curiously.
“Hey bitchface, how are the hotties across the road?”
With a laugh I say, “they’re actually sitting out here on the back porch asking if you’re hot.”
“WHAT?!” she yells into the phone and I have a hold it away from my ear.
They all laugh since they heard her yell into the phone. “Shit, they heard that?” she says at a whisper.
This causes me to laugh. “Well, you yelled loud enough to wake the neighbourhood, so what do you think?” This causes all of them to laugh again.
“Okay, okay,” she says laughing at herself. It’s one of the reasons why I love her, she doesn’t embarrass easily.
“Well, you remember Tara?”
“Yes, your friend who has an asshole boyfriend.”
“Yeah, her. Well, she called me this morning and said she went home from work sick, and he was fucking another woman. Since the lease is in his name, she has nowhere to go. So, I was wondering-”
I cut her off. “No need to ask. She can stay here. Does she need me to go and get her?”
“Yeah, she’s packing her shit now, and I told her I would call you and you would be there shortly.”
“Okay, text me the address and I will be on my way.” I hung up my phone and found five curious men staring at me.
“So, I’ve got to cut this neighbourly coffee short,” I say starting to get up.
“What’s going on?” Trevor asks.
“Oh, one of Courtney’s friends who lives in town here needs a place to stay, so I have to go and get her.”
“What was that about an asshole boyfriend?” Sam asks.
“He always hit on Courtney when she went to hang out with Tara, so she doesn’t really like him. He always talks down to Tara, or so Courtney tells me. I guess Tara came home from work sick this morning and found him fucking another woman. His name is on the lease and she doesn’t have any place to go, so I said that she can stay here.”
“Okay, let’s go help you get her,” Trevor says.
“Oh no, I don’t need he-”
He cuts me off. “We’re going.” They all get up and wink or snicker at me. Oh great, just what I need- a bossy alpha-male.
Twenty minutes later, we pull up to Tara’s boyfriend’s house, well now ex-boyfriend.
“You guys really didn’t have to come,” I say as we are getting out of the truck. We had taken two vehicles since we didn’t know how much stuff she had.
“No problem, sweetheart,” Trevor says with a wink.
“What did I say about the sweetheart thing?” I send him a glare, stopping to put my hands on my hip.
Why did he have to wink at me? He was good looking; the hottest guy I have ever seen. Yesterday, when he came up to me with his brothers, he was the one who caught my eye despite them all being hot. He was beyond hot. I could see the muscles under his shirt and wondered what he looked like without it.
I knock on the door, and Mr. Ass-hat opens it. He gives me a smile. I’m sure it meant to be a sexy grin, but all I could see was a cheating, lying asshole.
“Paige baby, good to see you!” he winks at me. I immediately want to gag. Then, I feel heat at my back.
“Back off,” I hear Trevor say in a growl. Did he really just growl?
“TARA!” I holler at the doorway. I hear drawers shutting and stuff being thrown around.
Next thing I know, her ex-boyfriend is being pushed out of the way with five guys pushing their way into the house.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” he yells at them, anger clear on his face.
Tara comes running out of the bedroom with mascara streaked cheeks. “Who are you?” she asks them all.
I popped my head out behind Trevor. When did he get in front of me?
“They’re with me,” I say on a sigh.
Her eyes widen. “T-there with you?” she asks, and I could see the confusion in her face.
There were chuckles from them all, and I grin at her. “Yeah, they’re our neighbours.”
“Our neighbours?” she asks.
“Yeah, our neighbours. They live across the road from me. We can chit-chat later. Let’s help you ditch this asshole,” I say with a small smile.
“Alright, let’s grab your shit and get out of here,” Derek says, surprising us all.
“Tara baby, we can talk about this. I love you,” his eyes pleading.
“No, we can’t. I caught you fucking another woman. I am sorry, but ugh no,” she mock gags.
Everyone starts laughing. I can already tell we are going to get along just fine.
We pack up Tara’s stuff, and hear her ex tell her that she will come running back to him. We get back home and order some takeout. We then help her unpack and settle in. We spend the next few hours getting to know our neighbours. Courtney also calls to make sure that Tara is settling in okay. That night, I get into bed thinking of Trevor and how every time I looked over at him, I had caught him staring at me. Occasionally, he would throw me a wink or a smirk like he knew the effect he had on me. Hell, he probably did.
The next morning, I wake up and am on my second cup o
f coffee on the porch. Sam comes out of his house, sits down, and salutes me with his cup. One by one, they all come out and do the same thing. Tara was still sleeping. I had a feeling that every morning would be like this. It seems that all six of us like the peacefulness of the morning.
“Hey, can I have one of the hundred delicious creamers you have?” Liam yells. All of us laugh.
“I’m going to have to start charging you if you keep this up!” I yell back. I guess that was invitation enough for them as they walk over to my house.
As soon as we walk in the house, Tara is coming down the stairs. I look down at her PJs and grin widely. “Cute PJs, T.” Her eyes widen when she sees the guys coming in behind me. I hear a couple of chuckles from them.
“Loving the ducks, darling,” Derek says winking at her, and I can see her cheeks burn red. She starts backing away, but I grab her arm before she can escape.
“Come, have coffee. We have already seen your fascination with ducks.”
Red with embarrassment, Tara reluctantly comes to join us.
She’s looking at me with serious eyes that say I will be paying for not warning her that I have five hot guys coming in first thing in the morning.
“OKAY! Okay, I thought they were cute, so I bought them. I hadn’t worn them yet, so I thought since this was going to be just women in this house, there was no harm in wearing them. I didn’t think that you guys would be here this early. I mean, why five hot as fuck neighbours would come over after they spent all day with us yesterday. Don’t you guys have some girls to turn down or something?” she says in a rushed, high-pitched tone.
Everyone sits there quietly for a moment before bursting out in laughter. I throw my arm over her shoulder. “That was a pretty cute little rant. I think we’re going to work out just fine as roommates.”
“Fuck, that was cute,” Derek says.
“I like the fact that she called me hot as fuck. Didn’t you all hear that?” Cole says winking.
I hear the others groan. I can already tell Cole has quite the ego on him.
“We met Paige here two days ago. Then yesterday morning we had seen her drinking coffee in the morning on the front porch like we do every morning, so we had coffee together until she got the call to get you. I can speak for my brothers when I say we are all so fucking glad that you ladies aren’t the spoiled, whiney-little-brat type,” Sam says to Tara.
“I think we are going to get along just fine,” Derek says shooting a wink.
Everyone makes up their coffees. I start a new pot, and then we all head out in the back patio. “I think that we may need to invest in a second coffee maker if all of us are going to be drinking coffee this early every morning,” I say while sitting in the only seat by Trevor. God, he is gorgeous.
“We will just have to make pot after pot. No need for a second pot,” Liam says.
“Well, I for one don’t want to have all you guys fill up your cups and have none left for me. You don’t want to come between me and my coffee. It will not be pretty,” I say as seriously as I can manage.
“Noted,” they all say in unison, and I can’t help but laugh at them.
Chapter three
Trevor
Last night, when we had gone to get Tara, I couldn’t help but feel possessive and protective of Paige. When that guy gave her a smile and called her “baby,” I instantly got angry. I didn’t want this asshole looking at her that way, or any other guy for that matter, but after the things that Paige told me, I couldn’t help but put myself in between them.
While we had gotten everything packed up and into the truck and Paige’s car, we had to listen to this asshole plead his case to Tara. If you want to fuck a bunch of woman that was your business, but if you aren’t straight with them that’s where I draw the line.
Obviously, Tara and this guy were supposed to be in a committed relationship. They were living together, and the look on Tara’s face showed that of betrayal.
We had helped the girls unpack Tara’s belongings, and I noticed that Paige didn’t get much done unpacking her things the day before. My brothers and I decided to help. Since it was the weekend and we owned our own businesses, we spent the entire day helping them.
Once we were finished, I reluctantly left and went home. I couldn’t stop thinking about Paige. She teased us a little bit which showed us how easy it was to get along with her. Tara was quiet, but that could do with the fact that she was sick and found her boyfriend fucking someone else.
This morning when we all sat outside, I was trying to think of a way I could spend time with Paige before Liam had asked her for creamer. That had made us all laugh. I never knew anyone to have that much creamer in their fridge just for themselves.
We had all made our coffees and made our way to the back of the house on the deck for the second time in two days. I could get used to this.
God, she’s so beautiful. Leave it to my brothers to make sure that the only seat available was next to me. It’s taking all my strength not to grab her and haul her onto my lap. I want to kiss her so much. I never had this automatic reaction to a woman. I usually just fuck them and then am done. There’s something about this girl. I know I have to make her mine. I have to have her. If this is how I feel after two days, I can’t imagine what it will be like as more time passes.
I already know that every morning I plan to be here like clockwork. I could handle having coffee here every morning just to have one piece of her. One look in her eyes tells me that she’s here for a reason, and that there are secrets buried deep within her. She won’t be easy to get close to, but I will be damned if I let this woman slip through my fingers.
“So, what do you guys do for work?” Tara asks. I can already tell that Derek has his eye on her.
“Cole and Liam and I all own Hastings Construction. Derek and Sam own the gym on 15th street,” I tell her.
“What about you?” Derek asks.
“Oh, I was working at the Salon downtown, but Jeff didn’t like me working, so I haven’t been there in a few months. Hopefully they can give me my job back.”
“The one just off 20th?” Paige asks with questioning eyes.
“Yeah, I was there for a couple years before I ah... uhh... quit.”
“Job’s yours.” We look at Paige this time with questioning eyes.
She blushes a little and looks down “Oh... uhh... I own it.”
“Well shit, thanks hon. You won’t regret it. When can I start?”
“How about this afternoon? We can go in for a few hours. I took a few days off to move and settle in.”
“How come you worked for Paige and never knew it?” Sam asks.
“Oh, I was travelling the last couple years opening other locations, so I didn’t meet much staff in my hometown, but now that my parents are gone, and all the new locations are running I will be able to meet everyone who works there,” Paige says.
Sitting beside this woman, I am blown away by how strong and independent she is. To not only have her own salon, but to also own several locations shows me that Paige is very business savvy. Taking in her friend’s friend because she broke up with her guy and had nowhere to go tells me what kind of heart Paige has. I know that I want her, and I know that once I get a taste of her that I will want more and won’t want to let her go. The thing is, will she let me call her mine? Something tells me that she is worth the fight she is going to put up. With the way she kept looking at me when she thought I didn’t notice, I could tell that I already affected her physically, but how could I get into her heart?
Paige
I keep catching Trevor look at me out the corner of my eye, but I pretend not to notice. I can’t let myself get close to someone again. It took me a long time to recover from the last one, and I won’t let myself fall again. That doesn’t mean that I’m not allowed to look at him, however. After all, he lives across the road, and I can see myself being friends with all his brothers.
After talking for awhile, everyone gets up to go
about their day. I find myself in the kitchen alone with Trevor. It makes me nervous because of how he makes me feel. I have been trying for the last couple years to not let anyone get close to me and I was doing fine. The last couple days with these brothers and I find myself missing something.
“Need any help?” Trevor asks. I can feel the heat at my back because he’s standing so close.
“Uh- No... uhh… I’m good. You can probably get to work now,” I force myself not to turn around and look at him.
“Does being alone with me make you nervous?”
I lick my dry lips and whisper, “no. I just have a lot to do today.”
“Then why won’t you look at me?” his voice is low now and I know that he has moved closer to me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Listen, I’m not looking to date or be with anyone right now, so if that’s what this is about I’m just going to have to break it to you that I’m not interested.”
“Oh, but I think you are. You want to know how I know?” he whispers in my ear.
I nod my head.
“Well, your breathing picked up the closer I got, and you’re avoiding eye contact with me. I saw you looking at me these past couple days when you thought I wouldn’t notice.”
“I was just glancing at you. I was not ch-” He gives me a chuckle, “checking me out like you want me as much as I want you? Sweetheart, you were undressing me with your eyes.”
“Stop calling me your sweetheart!”
“You are. You just have to accept it.” He gives me a wink and walks out the door.
I watch as he walks out the door and I can’t help but think I’m screwed. I did want him, and I have a feeling he’s not going to let me run away from whatever this is. I know that he’s not Shaun, the man who broke me three years ago. How do I put myself out there again? How do I trust someone with my heart or body again? It had been a long time since I was intimate with a man, and I had a feeling Trevor would exceed all expectations in that department. But how do I let fear not take hold?
Three years ago
I see him across the room staring at me from the corner of my eye. I couldn’t get the courage to look up. I knew that I wasn’t a bad looking person. I had some looks and a curvy body that I loved to own, but when it came to the opposite sex I was completely useless. I was always shy or fumbling my words and I couldn’t help the blush that crept up when a man would talk to me. I mean, I had experiences, but those were few and far between. I had slept with my high school boyfriend who I had dated for a couple years, but we broke up and went our separate ways after graduation. Then there were a couple guys in college at parties, but I think alcohol contributed to the fact that I could speak to them without sounding like an idiot.
