Page 105 of The Stand-In

“Funny.”

“It was pretty funny,” Liam says with a chuckle. “So, you’ve boxed everything up except the furniture. Even towels and shit?”

“Yeah, Lucy wants her own stuff, and I don’t blame her. And I’m taking all the workout equipment in the second bedroom.”

“Fuuuuuck,” Hudson groans as he walks by with another box.

“Think of it as a free workout,” I suggest, and suspect that if he had a free hand, Hudson would flip me off.

It takes the four of us about an hour to fill the moving truck with boxes, and then we’re on our way, driving in the sleet to the new-to-me house.

London’s waiting in the doorway, ready to help.

“Don’t worry about taking your shoes off,” she assures us. “We can vacuum later. Just get that stuff in here so you’re out of the cold.”

“I can help,” Caleb announces, running by in his sneakers. “We’re putting everything in the dining room.”

“I guess he’s the foreman,” Hudson says with a wink. “I’m following you, buddy.”

After another half hour, all the boxes are unloaded into the house, and I’m closing the door on the back of the truck.

“Thanks for the help.”

“I’ll take the truck back,” Liam offers.

“I’ll let you,” Keaton says. “Sydney and I are headed back to Nashville tonight. She has a show at the Opry tomorrow.”

“Will it be on TV?” London asks. “I love listening to her sing.”

“If it’s not on TV, it’ll be live streamed,” Keaton says with a smile. “She even roped me into playing piano for this one.”

“You play the piano?” Caleb asks. “That’s so cool. Mom, I want to learn to play.”

“I’ll look into lessons,” London assures him. “I’ll watch for the show. Have a safe trip out there in this weather.”

“Yeah, hopefully, the plane can take off so that we don’t have to wait until tomorrow. I fu-freaking hate winter.”

“You can say fuck,” Caleb says, making his mother gasp in horror. “I hear it all the time.”

“You donot,” London says and pulls Caleb against her and covers his mouth with her hand, making him giggle. “You little twerp. No cake for you.”

He just laughs some more, clearly not worried in the least.

“There’s cake?” Liam asks, interested. “I mean, I’m not in a hurry.”

“Cake for everyone!” Caleb exclaims and runs back toward the kitchen. “I’ll cut it.”

“No knives,” London calls after him, hurrying toward the kitchen.

“They’re pretty cute,” Keaton says with a smile. “You look good here, Drew.”

“I feel good here.” I sigh, hanging back. I can hear London and Caleb chatting in the kitchen. “I already told my parents, but I thought I’d let you guys know, since you’re my best friends, that I’m asking her to marry me tonight.”

“That’s…wow,” Liam says and pats me on the shoulder. “That’s great, man. Congratulations.”

“I think marriage is contagious,” Hudson says with a shiver. “It seems to be running rampant through the family.”

“That’s not such a bad thing,” I reply and laugh when he cringes.

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