Page 12 of Until Bax

“Sorry,” Olivia says as she joins us. “I had to call Kourtney so I could use her printer since mine is in the truck.” Her brows drag together, and then she tips her head to the side as she takes my cousin in. “Cobi?”

“Yep.” The single word pops.

“Hey.” She smiles. “It’s been a long time.”

“It has,” he agrees.

“How have you been?”

“Good, and you?”

“Besides this situation, I’ve been all right.” She laughs, then her face goes soft along with her voice. “I heard you got married and had a baby.”

“I did, and I would show you pictures, but my cell is in my truck.”

“Another time.”

“Yeah,” he mutters, and she smiles again, then turns that soft smile my way, and fuck if I don’t feel it.

“This is the printout of the contract, along with a list of all the furniture there is and the number of boxes there should be in the delivery.” She glances over at the truck. “Do you think I’ll be able to get my stuff out of there tonight?”

“You should be able to,” Cobi tells her, then his eyes come to me. “You should call the guys. We’re going to need their help unloading everything once the sergeant clears things up with the delivery company.”

“Oh.” Olivia shakes her head. “That’s okay. I can just call Liam and see if he can come help me.”

I don’t even have to look down at the list in my hand. From the quick sweep of it that I did when she passed it to me, I know she has fifty or more boxes and a full apartment’s worth of furniture. “You’re going to need all the help you can get.”

“I guess you’re right. I just feel bad. It’s already late.”

“With more people helping, it won’t take very long to get it all moved,” I assure her, turning to Officer Gassett when she walks over to us with her cell phone pressed to her ear.

“Is that the contract?” she asks softly, dropping her eyes to the paper I’m holding.

“Yeah.” I pass it over to her.

“Thanks.” She walks away with it while Officer Farlow starts leading the two guys to one of the police cruisers. Neither of them says anything, but if looks could kill, I’d be dead where I’m standing from the glare Derik shoots my way.

“I think you just made an enemy,” Oli whispers, and without thinking, I wrap my hand around her waist and squeeze her hip. Of course, Cobi sees and tries but fails to hide his stupid fucking smug smile.

Shit.

Dropping my hand, I look down at Olivia when she grabs my wrist. “You should probably get Gemma out of your truck.”

“That’s a good idea,” Cobi says in agreement, that self-satisfied smile still twisting his lips. “I’ll wait here. You two go take care of Gemma and make whatever phone calls you need to in order to get people over here.”

Even if Olivia is oblivious, I know what he’s doing, but what he seems to have forgotten is that Oli is my best friend’s little sister, who isseveralyears younger than me. So even if she is beautiful, which she really fucking is, those are just two reasons why I’m not going there.

CHAPTER4

Olivia

“Come on in.” Bax stands back against his front door, holding it open, and Gemma bounds into the house ahead of me.

As soon as I step inside, I notice that unlike Kourtney’s house—which is just that, a house she stays in when she is in town—his has been updated and made to feel like a home. The floors are all modern, multicolored wooden planks. The accent wall where the TV is hung is customized, with thick, square panels that have been painted over in a matte-black that coordinates with the furniture nicely. Two cozy-looking leather couches close in the living room, one bigger than the other, with a large, square, wooden coffee table in the middle that blends in with the color scheme. A round, low-profile tray sits in the middle of it, holding about five remotes and an empty vase.

When he shuts the door, locking us inside the quiet of his house, I feel the tension I didn’t notice before coming off him in waves, and guilt hits me hard. I hate that he had to come home after what was probably a long day and get dragged into my situation. A situation that included him having a gun pulled on him.

“I’m really sorry.”

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