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Sitting on the couch, Romeo grabbed Timber's wrist and pulled her between his legs. She held up the empty bowl she was carrying to the kitchen and fell onto his thigh.
"Look at this, doll." Romeo pointed toward the television. "He's going. Going."
She looked at the football game. Sports had never interested her. She couldn't even tell you what two teams were playing, except one team had a green uniform, and the other wore white.
"Damn right. Got him on the forty-yard line. Second down." Brody grabbed the bowl out of her hand. "Hey, what happened to the popcorn?"
"I'll make more." She kissed Romeo's cheek. "I need up."
"Sit."
She laughed. "If you want snacks, I need to be in the kitchen."
"Wait until the commercial." His attention went back to the game.
She sat quietly, listening to the two brothers chatter back and forth about their predictions on who would win. When the commercial came on, Romeo let go of her. She hopped up and hurried into the kitchen.
She put another bag of popcorn in the microwave and pushed start. While she waited, she wiped down the counter. She'd made everyone hotdogs after finding it was a game day regular when they could manage to get off at the same time.
Today, only Brody and Romeo were home, and it was her day off.
"Games back on," shouted Romeo. "Doll?"
"Coming," she yelled, shutting the microwave off and starting a new bag.
Bouncing the bag from hand to hand, trying to cool it off enough to open without getting burned with steam, she peeked into the living room. Romeo's attention was already back on the game in front of him.
She stepped back into the kitchen, opened the bag, and poured it into the bowl. Once the second bag popped, she added that one to the bowl.
The guys in the other room yelled at the referee. She walked into the living room and placed the bowl on the coffee table in front of them.
Romeo hooked her thigh and brought her down beside him on the couch. His hand went between her legs as he palmed the inside of her thigh. She leaned against him, but he kept moving and leaning forward to talk to Brody.
She pushed against the couch to get up, and he brought her back down. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to do laundry."
"Doll, the game is one." He kissed her. "It's almost over. Forty seconds to go."
If she'd learned anything about football, forty seconds on live television could last a long time.
Caleb walked through the front door. Brody caught his brother up on the game. She shifted on the couch when Caleb stepped in front of her to sit down between her and Brody. Romeo picked her up and put her on his lap, making room for the three men.
She leaned against his chest to stay out of his view of the television.
Caleb went at the popcorn like a starving man. She snuggled against Romeo's chest. There was so much she should get done before tomorrow. But if Romeo wanted her with him, she'd sit through the rest of the game.
"Is there anything else to eat?" asked Caleb.
"We had hotdogs and fries." She pushed against Romeo to get up. "I'll fix you a couple and reheat some fries."
"He can make his own," said Romeo, letting her go. "There goes my team. Jackson's going for it. The clock is going..."
She slipped into the kitchen. It wasn't a matter of who made the meal for Caleb. She had time, and it made her an important part of the family when she could take some of the chores off the men.
Loud groans filled the house. She shook her head, putting a plate with hotdogs in the microwave. Men and their games. Tomorrow, they'd bet on another sport and another team.
As she scooped the fries onto the plate, Romeo came into the kitchen. "You assholes need to start doing your share around here. Timber isn't your cook."
"It's fine." She smiled at Romeo. "Honestly, it's no big deal. If he would've been here earlier, I would've made his meal with everyone else's."
"You're too easy." He stole a fry off the plate. "If you don't want to do something, just tell them no."
"But, it's okay."
"No, it's not."
She inhaled and walked out of the room to deliver Caleb his plate. Before Romeo could argue with her again, she escaped to the laundry room to grab the clothes out of the dryer.
It wasn't like it was hard living with the Muel brothers. If she could prove how easy it was to have her around the house, and it would make their lives more enjoyable, then she was happy to help out.
Besides, she hated how it felt not to be wanted.
She wanted all of them to like having her living here.
"Doll?"
She stuck her head out of the laundry room. "Yeah?"
"Let's ride over to the clubhouse."
"You want me to go?" She walked out of the room, forgetting about the laundry.
"Yeah." He grinned and wiggled his brows. "I like how you feel and look on the back of my bike."
Her neck warmed, and she glanced at his brothers before smiling at Romeo. "Let me change clothes fast."
"It's hot." Caleb shoved the last bite of hotdog bun in his mouth. "It's pushing eighty-five degrees."
She groaned. "I'll be right down. Just give me a minute."
"Take your time." Romeo slipped a cigarette in his mouth. "I'll be out front."
She ran up the stairs. Not wanting to overdress but preferring to have jeans on when she was on the motorcycle, she grabbed a tank to put with it and quickly braided her hair down her back.
Once she was ready, she went outside. Romeo whistled. She held her arms out and put a little more wiggle in her walk.
She kissed him before putting on her helmet. No matter the weather, Romeo always wore his black leather Killere vest and a pair of jeans.
"Did you get your laundry done?" he asked.
She shook her head. "It's okay. I can do it later."
"I can wait if—"
"No, it's fine. Really. I want to go with you."
Romeo frowned. "Timber, if you want to do something else, all you have to do is speak up."
"I did." She hated how he made her feel guilty for dropping her chores. "I want to go with you."
Though she could've stayed home, she'd rather be with him. It wasn't a big deal to wait and do her laundry later. If her clothes were wrinkled, she'd start the dryer again to get them looking better.
She climbed on behind him. There was something about riding with Romeo that made her smile. The wind caressed her face. The vibrations between her legs relaxed her. With her arms wrapped around Romeo, she was right where she wanted to be today.