Page 15 of Unmarked Magic

Not the apartment.

Me.

“Sorry,” he said, immediately looking like he regretted his words.

Remembering the blaze from last night, I grimaced. The heat alone had made me believe I wouldn’t see the inside of this apartment ever again. “I still think I got off lightly, all things considered,” I replied.

He nodded. Walking into the bedroom, he returned a moment later. “What can I do to help?”

I would usually be the first to have a plan. Or, at the very least, make one. But right now, I couldn’t think straight. There was so much to sort. Most importantly, insurance, but I also had to get my shit together and purchase a goddamned toothbrush along with every other basic requirement to start from scratch.

Colt motioned to the pool table. “Think the three of us could lift this?” He gripped the edge, getting an idea of its weight.

I shrugged, not convinced. “I don’t know. It’s solid. It took four of us to get it up here,” I reminded him.

Ty let out a chuckle. “That’s right. Wes lost his grip and the thing nearly met the ground floor in seconds.”

“Nearly,” pointed out Colt with an amused grin.

Ty walked over to it, bending to grip the underside of the table. “Let’s give it a go.” He motioned for Colt and me to help, and the three of us lifted it off the ground. With the grace of a newborn giraffe, we maneuvered it down the stairs and onto Colt’s pick up, where it laid flipped upside down and overhanging in a way that was most definitely illegal.

Ty turned to me, a grin on his face. “Got any leverage with the cops?” He threw a ratchet strap from the opposite side of the pickup to where I stood. “You better be prepared to suck dick if you get caught with this load,” he added with a chuckle.

I caught his eye, shaking my head at his innuendo. Fastening the strap, I secured it in place. “You really think this will hold?”

Colt nodded. “It’ll hold.”

I didn’t like our chances but didn’t argue.

Jumping in the passenger seat, I fiddled with the dials, turning up the heat. A face full of dust blew from the unused vents, making me cough.

“Fuck!” I spluttered. “You don’t use these?” I turned to him in disbelief.

He laughed quietly. “I don’t go far.”

It was true. When Colt wasn’t with our group of friends, he kept to himself, preferring to spend his time cultivating his greenhouse or writing in that notebook I often saw him with. I never asked what was in it. I figured that if he wanted us to know, we would.

As we pulled back into Red’s drive, the three of us jumped out, proceeding to loosen the ratchet straps.

Red’s voice came from behind me. “And where are we putting that?”

Relief hit me before anything else. Because she had been there for me last night and welcomed me into her home without a second thought. Something I would be forever grateful for.

I turned to find Red leaning against the side of the house, dressed in workout tights and a sports bra. Her clothing hugged her curves in all the right places. It was a look on her I hadn’t seen before.

Fuck. I opted for humor to derail my thoughts. “You off for a run, Red?” I joked; aware she would rather chew off her own arm than do cardio.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s called yoga. Try it someday. Might tighten your belt a notch or three.”

Colt chuckled beside me, his eyes darting between both of us.

I loosened the ratchet strap and threw it over the truck bed to Ty. “Turns out I don’t own a belt right now,” I joked, because what the fuck else was I supposed to say?

Her face fell. “Shit. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” She walked closer, eyeing Ty as he wound the length of the strap in his hand around his elbow, looping it. “Seriously though, where is it going?” she asked.

I looked at her hopefully. “The lounge?”

She folded her arms, taking in the pool table’s size. “No way in hell. But there might be space in the shed?”