Page 115 of Snowed In with Benefits

Hunter snorts. He and Beau glance at each other, the boxes, Emmett, then me. I’m not sure what they’re all thinking as Emmett nods, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“Let’s see if he remembered to pack everything,” he says. “Can never be sure, you know.”

“I did!” Preston declares. “It’s all right there!”

“Yeah. We see that.” Beau’s voice is cold. “My brother and I are going to take these boxes down to the truck. Our friend there is going to make sure you don’t pull any shit with Josie while she’s making sure you didn’t forget anything.”

Preston crosses his arms and glares, but doesn’t say anything else. Beau and Hunter load up their arms and Emmett opens the door for them. They head downstairs, leaving the three of us alone in Preston’s apartment.

“This was really unnecessary, you know,” Preston sniffs.

“So was taking my name off the approved list before I got my stuff, but here we are,” I fire back.

I lead Emmett through the condo. The big living room with the floor-to-ceiling windows and the black marble floor. I had a few things in here. Not many, but a few. It looks like they all got packed up. We head into the bathroom next, and I immediately spot my expensive custom-made shampoo and conditioner and grab those. They might have been bought with his money, but they were formulated for my head. Even the bathroom is black and silver. Once upon a time, I told Preston it was classy. Honestly, though, it’s just gloomy and depressing.

I hesitate before taking Emmett into the bedroom. This was where Preston and I were intimate most often. This was where we lay in bed and made plans for the future, plans that were always more about Preston than about me. This was where I cried myself to sleep more than once in the lead-up to the wedding without being able to explain why, to myself or to anyone else. Emmett stands beside me in the doorway, solid and patient, and the contrast hits me so hard it almost winds me. All those nights I lay in that bed aching for something I couldn’t name, and the man who turned out to be the answer is standing right here, waiting for me to be ready. This is the space where I lost myself.

But this is also where most of my clothes were. Sucking in a breath, I push open the door.

I head to the closet on the left, the one that was mine. It’s completely empty, as far as I can tell.

“Anything on the shelf?” I ask Emmett.

He shakes his head. “Nothing but dust bunnies.”

“He can keep those. I’m about to have real bunnies to look at.”

Emmett brightens, grinning behind his beard. I smile up at him, relieved to bring the image of the cabin into this stark, dark, depressing memory of a room. We spend a few minutes looking around, but we don’t find any of my things. Looks like all he forgot was my shampoo and conditioner.

“This place is… something,” Emmett says.

I shake my head. “I can’t believe I ever thought I would be happy in this life,” I murmur. I don’t intend for Preston to hear that, but he’s hovering near the bedroom door and he comes in just after I say it.

“Well, you’ll never have to fake happiness again, will you?” he asks, his eyes flashing with furious hurt.

“No,” I say calmly. “I won’t.”

I brush past him, heading for the front door. There’s a knock at the door and I open it out of habit. It’s the guys, back for load number two. Between the three of them, they manage to gather up the rest of my things, leaving me holding nothing but my hair care. With the guys’ arms full, Preston seems to have found a little more courage. He comes up to me, nose to nose, breathing my air. I lean away from him. He scowls.

“Now that you have your things, I never want to see you again,” he says between his teeth. “Don’t call. Don’t text. Don’t show up. You lost your chance with me. It’s over, Josie.”

Beau chuckles, setting his load down. He swaggers over and puts his arm around me. “Why the hell would she ever want to call you? She has us.”

Preston’s expression goes tight. His lips curl and his eyes are wide and angry. I shrug.

“It’s true,” I tell him. “Goodbye, Preston.”

Beau picks his load back up and I open the door for the guys. We take the elevator back down to the ground floor. I wave at the doorman as we leave and he simply nods at me. After loading the rest of my stuff in the truck, we’re all still for a moment, looking up at the condo.

“It never would have worked out,” I say eventually. “That place could never have contained my messiness.”

“I think you mean awesomeness,” Hunter says, nudging me. “But yeah, that place is cold. Feels like a morgue.”

Beau snaps his fingers. “I knew it reminded me of something!”

Laughing, I head back to my car, Emmett in tow. Next stop: my place.

As I pull away from the curb, I glance in the rearview mirror. The building shrinks behind us, all that black glass catching the streetlights, and I wait for the pang of regret or loss or something. It doesn’t come. What comes instead is a looseness in my chest, like a knot I didn’t know was there just quietly came undone. I have my shampoo, my boxes, and three men who showed up for me without being asked twice. I don’t look back again.