Chapter 155
Chapter 155
“Well, you kind of already did p>
Ma frowned. “The kicked puppy who showed up on my doorstep yesterday p>
Chloe nodded. “He’d be happy to get a proper introduction–to meet the whole family, even”
Ma slid her cheaters off so she could glower more intently at Chloe. She pursed her lips in thought. Finally, the pronounced. “Tell him he’s coming to dinner tonight p>
Chloe wanted to argue with Ma’s presumptuousness, but it had admittedly gone more smoothly than she’d expected, so she agreed. Alright. I’ll call him p>
“You drive a nice car there, Amos,” Rob said with a weird over–friendliness that made Chloe bristle. She shot him a warning look, but he ignored her. “Audi, huh? Guess that software gig pays the bills p>
Rob and Amos were like night and day standing next to each other. Rob had raven black hair long on the top, with the sides cut in a meticulous skin fade, and a thick, equally meticulous beard. He’d been a varsity soccer and track star in high school, but those days were long past and he was settling comfortably into his dad–bod era. He was the spitting image of their father, with warm brown skin and eyes so dark they were nearly black. Amos, on the other hand, was pale even by Norwegian standards. He was clean–shaven and his wheat–blond hair was cut efficiently short in an admittedly nondescript style. Despite the fact that he worked with computers now, Amos still had the body of the steelworker he’d once been. His bloodred eyes–which he’d explained to Chloe’s family as a congenital condition–were attentive, guarded, where Rob’s eyes were laser–focused, on alert for any reason to hate the interloper.
“I’ve been very fortunate,” Amos said diplomatically. He sipped at the beer that Rob had basically forced into his hand. Chloe knew he was only pretending to drink but, fortunately, nobody could tell through the dark brown bottle. Periodically, when no one was looking, she grabbed his beer and swigged a few inches off of it to maintain the illusion.
“Well, we can’t all be desk jockeys,” Rob said smarmily, indicating himself.
“Rob, you literally work at a desk,” Chloe cut in.
“At the port,” Rob replied impatiently. “Wearing a hardhat and steel–toed boots p>
“Why would you wear a hardhat at your desk p>
“Obviously not at my desk,” Rob snapped. “But I need it when I’m walking around the terminal p>
“For what? To get to the break room p>
“Will you two quit your bickering?” Ma called from her position at the stove. She was busy with the gravy, but kept one ear twigged while the rest of them socialized around the kitchen island.
“We’re not bickering,” Rob and Chloe called back at the same time.
“Shipping’s crucial work,” Amos cut in before the sibling battle could escalate. “And hard work. I take it you work in logistics? ”
Rob nodded, turning his attention back to Amos, clearly mollified by the praise. As he launched into a long–winded, overly–detailed explanation of his job, Chloe stood in silent agitation, waiting for Rob to turn passive–aggressively competitive again.
“And what do you do?” Amos asked Sarah when Rob had paused for a breath.
Sarah, who’d been standing silently beside Rob, blinked, as if caught off–guard by the acknowledgment of her existence. “Oh. Uh. Me? I’m an accounts payable specialist at Kuepper–they’re a frozen food manufacturer.” Obviously uncomfortable with the attention being on her, she quickly changed the subject. “The wine you brought is delicious, by the way.” She held her glass up.
“Well of course he knows all about wine,” Rob said, that grating competitive edge back in his voice. “He drives an Audi p>
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Caught Naked By My Alpha Neighbor! Now I’m His–No Escape.
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“ Will you shut up about the Audi?” Chloe snapped. “Maybe he bought it used p>
“I didn’t.” Amos said serenely
Chloe shot him the same annoyed look she’d been saving for her brother. “ It’s not like it’s a Rolls Royce.” she muttered at them both.
“Well, it’s very good wine.” Sarah intervened mildly. “I usually only-
Isabella and Gabriel–Rob and Sarah’s kids–chose that exact moment to come racing back into the kitchen and fling themselves at Amos’s legs. They wrapped themselves around his shins like koalas.
“It’s been fifteen minutes!” Izzie declared, smiling a manic, gap–toothed smile,
“Give us a ride again!” Gabe crowed.
“I said you could come back in the kitchen after fifteen minutes,” Sarah objected tiredly. “Not that Amos was going to be your personal playground.” Amos had accidentally demonstrated his inhuman strength when he’d first arrived, tossing the kids around with a little too much ease when they’d started crawling all over him, and since then, they’d been pestering him for “rides.” Hence the fifteen–minute banishment.
“Sar, just let them have the iPads,” Rob groaned.
“Ready?” Amos asked. He lifted the foot Izzie was attached to high into the air. Izzie shrieked like a banshee, clinging and laughing as he waved her around like she weighed nothing.
“Amos, you really don’t have to,” Sarah said, looking torn between embarrassment and amusement.
“Me next!” Gabe cried. Amos set Izzie down and swung Gabe up. More shrieks filled the kitchen.
“What’s all this noise!” Ma cried. “You’re going to make me go deaf p>
“Alright, alright,” Rob said. “That’s enough. Ride’s over. You guys can stay in the kitchen if you can sit still and be quiet. Otherwise, go back in the living
room p>
“We can be quiet!” Izzie promised, still clinging to Amos’s leg.
“That means no climbing on guests,” Rob said sternly.
Plaintive objections met that declaration. Chloe smothered a smile as she watched Rob–her loud, mule–headed, often insensitive brother–get bullied by his own children.
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