The Bucket List (A REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE)

39. ALBANY

"It's been a while, son. How's business?" he asked him.

Severide shrugged. "The same as usual. How are you doing, Sam?"

"Good, good." Sam's eyes darted over to me and his smile widened. "Now who's this pretty little filly?"

Steven walked over to me and threw and arm over my shoulder. "This is Albany, our. . . friend."

Ouch. Pain shot through me but I forced a smile onto my face and held my hand out towards the man.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Quinn."

"Call me Sam." He shook my hand and then stepped back. "One, two. . . there seems to be missing one."

As if on cue the roar of an engine filled the air. I felt Steven tense against me which was confusing. He'd never had that kind of reaction to Kieran.

My eyes darted over to Thomas and then Severide. It looked like they'd eaten something sour. What was their problem? Severide and Kieran were close but why was he suddenly acting the way he was?

"Kieran, boy. I see that you've finally fixed your bike."

"Yeah. Had some trouble finding the original parts. How's the leg, Sam?"

Sam patted his right thigh and grunted. "Healing too slowly. Come on, I bet you're thirsty after your long drive. Tammi should be back soon then she can make you something to eat."

"Where is mom?"

"She drove into town to get some things." Sam scratched his head. "I should call her and let her know that you're here. How long will you be staying?"

"Not sure yet," Severide answered before anybody else could.

"I'll set everybody up then we'll join you for a drink," Steven said. "The rooms are still empty right?"

"No. You're mother is busy repainting and reorganizing everything." He shook his head. "The den's open if you want to use it. You should've called so we'd set up rooms for you."

"We wanted to surprise you."

"You sure fucking did." He sighed. "I'll get the drinks."

We walked up the porch steps and entered the house. The smell of freshly baked bread lingered in the air along with fried bacon. It made me miss baking. It made me miss everything I'd lost but before I could ponder any longer, I forced the thoughts aside and took in my surroundings.

The house was bigger than it looked like from the outside.

A spacious living room with a big fire place and old leather couches greeted us. The couches were placed in an L-shape around the fire place with an old small coffee table between them. Beneath the coffee table rested a multicolour rug that had definitely seen better days.

To the left was another room but the doors were closed. A staircase led up to the second floor but we walked passed it and down a short hall. A large farm-style kitchen was to our right and a big oak table to the left. We walked past it and entered another short hall.

My eyes lingered on the back door for a few seconds before darting over to the small room with the laundry machines.

Steven opened a door that creaked loudly and then led the way down a narrow staircase.

"Fucking hell!" His loud exclamation was followed by a thump.

From the kitchen I head a deep chuckle which made my lips twitch.

"What the hell is that?" Kieran questioned.

"Dad's old scarecrow," Thomas answered with a little chuckle of his own. "You always fall for it."

Yellow light suddenly flooded the space. The den as they called it was spacious but littered with boxes. A three-seater couch faced a TV that was mounted to the wall. Around it were old purple, red and green beanbags.

"The couch pulls out into a bed," Steven told me as he pointed to it. "You can take it. I'll get the blow-up mattresses from the closet. The bathroom is over there. It only has a toilet and a shower so if you want to soak in the bath you're going to have to use the bathroom upstairs."

I nodded and lowered the bags to the floor. It was still early but the space was a bit stifling.

"Better get some fans too," Severide muttered.

I stared at the photos on the wall as they set about moving all the boxes to one side of the room to make space for the blow-up mattresses. It started with photos of the twins when they were little and then change as they grew older. Severide entered the photos and then Kieran.

But the photo that held my attention the longest were one of the twins and a girl who stood between the two of them. She was short and appeared a lot younger than them.

My body jerked in fright when a hand brushed my lower back. I looked up at Thomas who stopped next to me and stared at the same photo I'd been staring at.

"W-who is she?" I whispered.

He smiled but it faded when he looked down at me. "Levi, our cousin. They moved away a few years back and we kind of lost contact with her."

"Were you close before?"

"Inseparable," he muttered before he walked away.