Page 40 of Only and Forever
My head snaps toward the sound, my heart racing. Viggo... does not seem nearly as surprised by this as I expected him to be.
In fact, Viggo only seems deeply annoyed.
Curious, I turn toward the closet, reach for the handle, and turn it.
“Tallulah—”
Out tumble three very large men, tripping and bumping into each other. It takes a second before I recognize them—Ren, Viggo’s older brother; Oliver, his younger brother; and Seb, his sister Ziggy’s boyfriend.
Oliver gasps for air, lifting his hands in praise. “Sweet, fresh oxygen. Thank you, Jesus.”
Seb, looking peeved, rakes a hand through his disheveled hair. “Remind me never to hide in a closet with you ever again. You are the least quiet or still personever.”
“I don’t like confined spaces,” Oliver says defensively. “Besides,you—”
“Tallulah!” Ren smiles wide and seems to be trying for a casual lean against the closet door, which doesn’t work out too well—it just makes the door swing back and smack Seb in the shoulder. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“Christ,” Viggo mutters, scrubbing his face.
I turn toward Viggo. “Why were you hiding your brothers in a closet?”
“We,” Seb says, pointer finger darting between him and Viggo, “are not related. Thank God.”
Viggo shoves Seb. Seb shoves him back. Ren wraps an arm around Seb’s neck, breaking up the skirmish, and grins at him affectionately. “Seb, you’re in way too deep now. It’s called honorary Bergman status.”
“It’s too early for earnest feelings, Ren,” Seb pleads. “I can’t choke up before noon; it’s a policy I have.”
“Come here, you big secret softie,” Ren says, tugging him in for a hug.
“We’ll just be going,” Oliver says, doing a little moonwalk past us, flashing me a smile. “Have a great day!”
“What is goingon?” I ask.
Oliver pauses mid-moonwalk. Ren and Seb freeze in the throes of their hug.
Viggo sighs and massages the bridge of his nose. “I might have panicked to them that my place was a mess and you were coming over. And then these fools decided that meant they needed to show up andhelpme.”
Seb rolls his eyes. “Howcruelof us.”
Viggo scowls at them. “I didn’t ask for help.”
“But he clearly needed it,” Oliver says out of the side of his mouth.
Viggo lunges at Oliver, fencing style. Oliver parries with his arm, then ripostes with a poke to his ribs. Viggo yelps and spins away.
“Twelve months younger, but who’s got a two-inch-wider wingspan?” Oliver lifts his arms in triumph and does a celebratory jazz square as he says, “This guy right here!”
“I hope you pull your groin box-stepping out of here,” Viggo grumbles.
“Excuse me,” I tell them. “Cute as this cuddle slash tickle fest is, I believe we’ve gotten off topic.”
“Oh, right,” Oliver says. “So we helped Viggo make his house not look like a bomb went off in it, and as a token of thanks, he shoved us in a closet.”
I frown at the three of them, confused. “And you... went... willingly?”
Viggo turns toward me. “I didn’t see your text that you were on your way until you were literally ringing the doorbell. I panicked and told them to hide.” He glares their way. “Which worked outso well.”
“Seb poked my tickle spot!” Oliver says.