Page 98 of Overstaying His Welcome

“This was why you needed distracting,” Chance said as he reached for the door handle. “You need to keep your cool and trust your brother. He’s got this under control. I promise.”

I shook my head as I waited for him to exit the vehicle. While this wasn’t what I wanted for my brother, I could understand him being hesitant to tell me this was his living situation.

At heart, I was a fixer. I saw a problem and wanted to fix it until things were just how I envisioned them to be.

In this case, I pictured my brother living in a nice apartment complex with a few friends nearby. A house hadn’t even factored into it, much less one that needed a lot of work.

Pushing down my feelings about the situation, I stepped out of the car to stand by Chance. He looked me over, then grinned once he realized I’d put on my work face — the one that got shit done and could bury anything extra about a situation.

“Let’s go meet him,” he told me as he laced his fingers with mine.

As we approached the front door, it swung open. In the doorway stood a familiar face, though the real-life version of him was so different than the one on the screen.

I couldn’t see the details through the computer.

Like how small he truly was, or how much he reminded me of my mom. I couldn’t take in the way he vibrated with energy or how he seemed to practically glow with happiness. Sure, that sass I’d seen was still there too. It was just hidden beneath all the other stuff.

I wondered if it was a defense mechanism for him. Maybe I needed to prove I would put up with his bratty side before he showed me the softer, sweeter version.

Either way, I loved my brother immensely.

I had to guess it was a mutual feeling because in a split second, he was leaping from the porch and wrapping me in a hug. Arms and legs surrounded me as his face buried in my neck.

“BUBS! You’re here!”

I smiled at the nickname as I held him with one arm firmly around his waist. My other hand was still holding onto Chance like the lifeline he was. I needed the reassurance because my emotions were all over the place.

“Kendall,” I replied softly. “It’s so good to see you in person.”

He nodded against my shoulder. “You’re a giant!”

“And you’re a tiny little thing aren’t you?”

We all laughed at the exchange, then he tapped my shoulder as if to tell me to put him down. I eased him to the ground, then he was looking up at me and Chance with a smile so bright it could rival the sun.

“Welcome to Casa de Chaos, as we call it. Things might always be a bit out of control, but we love it here.” He waved his hands to the building behind him.

“We?”

At my question, he bit his lip. “Yeah. I, uh, well, I have roommates. Rent isn’t exactly cheap, and before you found me, I was struggling to make ends meet. These guys were in the same boat. We all joined together to grab this place when it went up for rent.”

I hummed as I followed him through the front door. Chance brought up the rear after telling the driver to sit tight for a while. We would be going to stay in a hotel later, though I had a suspicion that was a while off. I had to investigate this living situation more. It was going to take time.

Maybe I should text Memphis to get the details from the owner. I could totally buy the place up and then fix it all up. That wasn’t being too pushy, was it?

Lost in my own thoughts, I hadn’t realized we’d walked into a living room area full of strangers. It was Chance’s hand on my back that brought me back down to reality.

“Everyone, this is my brother Tank and his partner Chance. Tank and Chance, this is everyone.” The group waved at us, their expressions ranging from excited to suspicious.

“Hello everyone,” Chance greeted in his politician voice.

That made me snort. I shook my head at him, then turned to the group and crossed my arms.

“Names are better. I can’t address you all at once.”

There was a hush about the room, then they went around introducing themselves one by one. They even told a bit about how they knew Kendall, which helped alleviate my frustration at this whole thing.

Turned out, they all had sort of known one another before actually renting the place together. So not strangers, but also not close friends either.

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