28: TEMPORARY ARRANGEMENTS

DELILAH

I moaned as Seth massaged my feet, feeling the pounding in my temples slowly subside with the amount of pleasure he was stimulating from the simple action. It was a sweet relief of tension. Tension that I thought had been previously eliminated by Cole and only replaced since the break-in. Running over the images in my mind over and over as I saw the two men get pulled out of my house.

Of the two, there was one that wasn’t as restrained as the other and possibly close to death as they rolled him into an ambulance in a rush. The police advised against going inside the bedroom and having someone else clean up for me; the scene being described as disturbing. My stomach flipping in horrible ways that only just now had started to subside.

~What if Arthur hadn’t been able to have coffee? What if Cole had had a meeting? What if I had been home…~

I liked to think maybe they had been zonked out of their mind before breaking in. Wondering if I would have had the stomach to use a weapon, or if I had had one available to them. Then walked in without Cole…

“You have a crease in your forehead again. Put it out of your mind. You’re here. You’re safe.”

I shook my head, frowning. “We both know safe is the last thing I’m feeling. It’s not just what happened. I work in the newsroom Seth. I know how these things work.”

“These… things?” He asked, flexing his thumb into a sore spot that made me pause temporarily moaning. Taking a great deep breath that let out just a fraction of stress. He was right after all. I was currently safe.

“They may get charged with breaking and entering. A slap on the wrist of a drug charge. Even attempted rapists get out within a three-day span or less. They didn’t do anything to me other than break in. They’ll have to eventually, maybe go to court unless I press charges which might just be up to the DA.”

Seth stilled, his jaw set with what I thought might be close to murder in his eyes.

~Whoa.~

~Who’s the tense one now. Sheesh.~

“You’re not going back without one of us. If you don’t want to move here that’s fine but you’re sleeping with—”

I smacked his arm, suddenly laughing and covering my face. Seth blinked at me, his face puzzled and a little taken aback. “You sound like Cole when he’s worried. You guys really are alike.” The giggling between my words hardly stopped, trying to muffle the loud sound.

“Not alike enough. I insist you stay here. Even if only temporarily, but I want you here. In our beds. We can create a schedule if it’s really such an issue of which one has more time.” Cole’s words were soft as his hands came to my shoulders behind the couch.

Finally off his phone call.

Thankfully because he had been the one to step in and report the scene, he was the one having to deal with most of the police. However, it also meant he had his own share of horrors I didn’t have to experience. So the fact he sounded calm and reasonable like Seth? They may have flipped their personalities but both of them were on the same page as usual.

“I’ll move in. Just for a while. I… I don’t feel safe there. It’s just… it’s a long way from work driving for my other job.”

“We can figure it out,” Cole said with a small smile. “It’s better than us worrying about where you’re resting your head at night. We can even increase hours at the office.”

“Actually, could that work if you don’t pay rent here for a while Delilah? Can you explain your housing situation and work long distance somehow for work?”

“To be honest, Mila is the one you’ll have to convince with any of that. Even if I quit my job in the newsroom that my best friend’s husband got me—she’s a force to be reckoned with.”

Both of the brothers looked at one another, their faces bright and my stomach sinking slightly. If they met Mila, that meant there was an opportunity for my mother to find out where I lived and/or meet the brothers. A relationship I hadn’t exactly explained to anyone yet.

“So, maybe we need to meet your best friend?” Cole asked lightly, causing me to chew my lip and look between them.

“No.”

“I think that’s what she’s saying. Indeed. Apparently the news job isn’t the real issue.”

“I said no! Dammit. Stop ganging up on me.”

“I think she needs convincing,” Cole agreed, brushing back a strand of my hair, and trailing his fingers down my neck. Knowing the delicious things it did to my body as I crossed my arms. Attempting to hide my already tightening nipples.

“I’m not ready for that conversation with her. How the hell do I explain… us.”

Seth rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “The same way you explain it at work? Just don’t touch us like that. We can play the handsome roommates if you really want.”

I rolled my eyes, already knowing what a mess it actually was at their company. Convinced everyone already knew I was already screwing them both. Just too polite to say anything. Mila would not be too polite. In fact, she would probably have too many questions to count as well as her own opinions—not all of them possibly being good.

“She’s pregnant, I don’t want to stress her out anymore than my mother’s visit already had on her a few weeks ago. The baby could come any day since she’s into her third trimester. Can we just try to make it work for now and talk about it after the baby is born?”

“We get to meet her and a newborn baby?” Seth asked, raising his eyebrows in delight.

“Careful Dee, you’ll give Seth baby fever,” Cole snarked, which resulted in a pillow to his face from Seth. The tensions easing between us.

It was good to know we could figure things out together.