Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
Andrei’s grin returned and he shrugged. “Don’t drip.”
“And the floors?”
“Drop cloth.”
“The baseboards?”
He finally paused, his brow furrowing. “We’re not painting the baseboards too?”
“No.”
Andrei’s grin disappeared and his bottom lip stuck out slightly in a pout as he glared at the baseboards ringing the room. “Fine,” he said on a dramatic sigh that wrung a chuckle from Ian. “We’re taping.” It was clear the man definitely had the skills necessary to keep a controlling Lucas on his toes. And it certainly didn’t hurt that he was breathtaking to look at with his swarthy complexion and lean muscles. Yeah, life was not bad for Lucas.
“Do you want to start on that side of the room?” Ian suggested, motioning toward the wall opposite the door, “While I start over here? We each cover half of the room?”
Andrei nodded, already walking to where Ian indicated. “Sounds good to me.”
They managed to work in relative, companionable silence for a couple of minutes before there was a god-awful metallic clang followed just a few seconds later by another on the other side of the house.
“This is harder than I was expecting,” Noah called from one of the bathrooms, his voice filling the hallway.
“That’s what he said!” Rowe shouted back before laughing madly at his own joke.
“Oh God,” Ian groaned while Andrei snickered. “What are the sledgehammer boys doing?” The loud clang resumed while more banging filled in the background.
“Bathtubs, remember?” Andrei replied.
“I wasn’t sure Jude was serious.”
Ian looked over his shoulder to find Andrei giving him a weak smile. “They’re hundreds of pounds. He’s right. It’s the easiest way to get them out of the house.”
Ian shoved back to his feet and crossed the room, shutting the door. While it didn’t eliminate the noise, it at least helped to muffle it so that the clanging wasn’t ringing in his ears.
“Thanks,” Andrei murmured as he got up and opened the bedroom window so a morning breeze could sweep into the room. The light wind helped to pull some of the dust and staleness from the air as they worked.
“How are you adjusting to living with Hollis?” Andrei asked, his voice accompanied by the sound of tape being pulled off the roll.
“It’s great!”
“Is he remembering to put the cap back on the toothpaste?” Andrei teased.
Ian rolled his eyes at the wall and moved farther down to a space he hadn’t covered yet along the baseboard. “I’m not that much of a neat freak.”
“You forget that I’ve been to your condo.”
“He’s not a slob and I kind of like seeing his clothes on the bedroom floor.”
Okay, maybe the fact was he loved seeing random evidence of Hollis in their home. He was definitely a neat freak and he liked having everything in its place, but when it came to Hollis, he was able to let go of that anxiety. He loved seeing his used coffee mug on the edge of the sink in the morning and his dirty socks at the foot of the bed. He liked the damp towel crookedly tossed over the rack in the bathroom. They were all signs that Hollis was there, in his life. That he was there to stay.
“Yeah, but clothes on the floor is the best part of the relationship,” Andrei joked. “Well, that and making the sheets dirty.”
“What about you and Lucas?” Ian asked between clenched teeth. He’d gotten only half of the first wall done and his knees were already killing him. The hardwood was brutal and he’d had slight issues with his knees since the car accident. He had no problem kneeling for Hollis, but at least he had something fun to distract him from the steadily growing ache. “You guys haven’t even been living together a year yet.”
Andrei dropped a roll of tape with a thud and walked over to get the ladder leaning against the wall near Ian. “Well, I was spending more time at the penthouse than my own apartment for the first year, so I count it.”
Ian snorted and shook his head. “Whatever. Are you unpacked?”
“Beyond the basics?” A little laugh escaped Andrei. “Hell no. I’ve got six or seven boxes stacked in the office and another three or four in some closets. He’s got everything we need already, and I haven’t gone through my stuff to see what I should just donate to charity. We keep saying we’re going to add shelves to the spare bedroom so I have a place to put my books, but we haven’t gotten around to it.”
It was understandable. Lucas was busy building his empire after losing three different clubs over the past couple of years thanks to Chris Green and Boris Jagger. And then Andrei was likely still settling into his role as COO with Ward Security and helping Rowe rebuild his business after the recent fires and attacks on his clients.