Page 51 of Mr. Infuriating (Mister #1)

Gretchen

I heard a commotion in the kitchen, followed by a shout of, “Oh fuck,” then the sound of water pouring onto the floor.

As I scrambled to reach the kitchen, Beau stuck his head through the opening in the plastic.

“Do you know where your water shutoff is?”

As a matter of fact, I did know. Back when Troy lived here and we could afford a monthly yard service, the landscaper showed me when he repaired the irrigation system.

“It’s on the west side of the house.”

Before Beau even stepped back, I heard the door leading to the garage open, and less than a minute later, the water splashing stopped. The sound of the door opening and closing followed soon after.

I didn’t even want to look in the kitchen.

Beau’s head darted back out from the seam in the plastic barrier.

“Do you have any towels you use for rags?”

“In the cabinet above the washer.”

“Thanks.”

He disappeared, and I ventured closer to where I could see the distorted image through the plastic of Gabe and Beau throwing towels on the floor, then Beau’s floating head appeared again.

“Do you have any buckets? Maybe a mop?”

“Also in the laundry room.”

“Got it. ”

It was almost comical how quickly his face would appear and disappear.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped foot into the kitchen and was met with, “Don’t come any further!”

“Can I help?”

“No, we got it,” Beau said as he moved the mop along the floor. “But you’re going to be without water for at least a few days.”

Crap.

“Okay.”

Not ideal, but if anything, I knew how to pivot.

“That’s gonna make your mornings difficult, huh?”

Morning, night… was there ever a good time to be without water?

“I’ll call my parents; they’ll let me sleep on their couch.”

“Nonsense,” Beau replied. “You can stay with Gabe. He’s got plenty of room.”

Out of the question.

Judging by the look on Gabe’s face, he agreed with me.

“No, it’s fine. My parents have a crib for Jake and their couch is really comfy.”

I wasn’t looking forward to the drive in the morning, especially with traffic. West Lancastle had been growing and was busier than our little town. I’d gotten spoiled living so close to the school and Jake’s daycare. But I could handle getting up earlier than usual for a few days.

“That’s silly. Gabe has plenty of space—he’s got two guest rooms, plus a giant playroom in the basement that Jake would love.”

“I’m not staying with Gabe. ”

Finally, the man in question offered his two cents. And it was not what I was expecting.

“Beau’s right, you should stay with me. I’ve got plenty of room. And since I’m the one who screwed up your water; it’s the least I can do.”

I shook my head as I watched Beau wring the mop into the bucket.

“My parents are in West Lancastle; it’s not that far. It’s fine.”

“Gretchen, I live ten minutes from here. It’d be much more convenient than driving from West Lancastle, especially in the morning.”

“I don’t mind, honestly. I’m used to the drive.”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist.”

My hand went to my hip on its own and my eyebrows shot up to my hairline.

“Excuse me? You’re going to have to insist ?”

Beau’s grin widened. He was obviously enjoying the show. Meanwhile, Gabe nodded unapologetically as he moved the towels around the floor with his foot.

“Yeah, I am. I’m the one who screwed up, so until your water gets fixed, you’re my responsibility.”

I scoffed, “I’m not your responsibility.”

“You are until you have running water again. So, go pack a bag. As soon as we get this cleaned up, we can head out.”

I was just about to let him have it when I noticed Brayden standing outside the plastic doorway, along with Brittany who had Jake planted on her hip. All three were waiting for my response .

“You can sleep in my room if you don’t like the guest room bed,” Brittany offered.

“Jake needs a crib,” I countered. “It’s not safe for him to sleep on a bed yet.”

End of argument. I win.

But Gabe countered, “I have a brand-new playpen. I bought it when my college roommate was going to bring his family when he visited last summer. It’s still in the packaging because he ended up coming alone.”

Gabe looked at me with raised brows that seemed to suggest, what else ya got?

When I didn’t respond, he added, “I can probably get my plumber here tomorrow. It’s one night, Gretchen. Do me this kindness; I feel terrible.”

I stared at him for a long beat, then finally sighed, “Fine. I’ll go pack an overnight bag. But if the plumber can’t get here tomorrow, I’m going to my parents.”

The arrogant jerk simply replied, “We’ll see.”

There’s Mr. Infuriating.

I should not find his bossiness hot. And yet…

****

Gabe

I motioned to the cabinet, still sitting on the kitchen floor. “Let’s get this out of here before the wood warps.”

The second the door leading to the house closed behind us, I growled, “What. The. Fuck. Did you just do?”

My cocky little brother replied, “I think it’s pretty obvious what I did. ”

“Do you know how much this is going to cost me?”

We adjusted our hold on the cabinet before walking up the ramp.

“Really?” Beau replied as we set the cupboard down. “You’re worried about paying a plumber when you get to have Gretchen staying at your house? I think that’s a small price to pay to have your soulmate under your roof for a few days.”

“For the last time, she’s not my soulmate! This isn’t going to end how you think it will.”

We hopped off the truck onto her cement driveway, and I slid the ramp into the slot under the truck bed that Beau had custom installed for me.

“I dunno. You were pretty quick to step up and take the blame and insist she stay with you.”

Okay, yeah, I did do that.

“What else was I going to do? She doesn’t have any water.”

“You could have let her go to her parents.”

“And add an extra thirty-minute commute to her drive in the morning?” I asked as I pulled the roll door on the truck down and locked it.

“You could have offered to pay for a room at the inn.”

The Seaside Inn was the only lodging in town, so everyone just called it “the inn”.

Maybe I should have done that.

I shook my head, sputtering, “You volunteered my house! I couldn’t exactly back pedal from that without looking like a jerk.”

The little prick just shrugged, not remorseful in the least.

“I guess you better make the best of it then.”

Yeah, I guess I better.