Out of Nowhere (Balls and Brawn Bodyguard #4)

43. Chapter Forty-three Seo-jun

Chapter Forty-three: Seo-jun

“ D o you think it was my mother’s presence, or was it just that all the houses looked better in the spring than they did in the winter?” Dex asked as he lay in Seo-jun’s arms in their king-sized bed.

“Who cares? We found a house.” They’d looked at six the first day Bea arrived, and another five the next day. On the third day, the very first house the realtor showed them caught both Seo-jun and Dex’s attention. It had two floors, a sunroom at the back of the house that was perfect for Seo-jun to have as many plants as he wanted, a newly remodeled state-of-the-art kitchen, three spacious bedrooms, two and a half baths, a fireplace, and a fenced-in yard with a deck. The house was fifteen minutes from work, had a two-car garage, and beautiful hardwood floors. There was a neighbor to the left of them, but not too close, and only dense woods to the right. Seo-jun thought it was perfect.

They were moving in the following day.

Now to address the elephant in the room.

“Your mother says Anna’s talking about putting the baby up for adoption,” Seo-jun said softly. At Dex’s stricken look, Seo-jun added, “I think I’m speaking for both of us when I say we can’t let that happen.”

Dex’s eyes warmed as they stared at each other. “How? Our jobs…”

“We’ll stagger our cases. When that’s not possible, we’ll find someone perfect to come here. We’ll make it work.”

Dex brushed a lock of Seo-jun’s hair out of his eyes. “And you want this? Really? You’re not just doing it for me?”

“I want this,” Seo-jun said. He’d never meant anything so much in his life.”

“Pi-vot!” Sean yelled as he, Colt, and Saint carried the couch up the stairs of the new house. Seo-jun and Dex had decided to put it in the den and order a new couch for the living room.

“That stopped being funny after the fourth time you said it,” Saint grumbled.

“Who pissed in your Cheerios?” Sean asked, then yelled again. “Pi-vot!”

“I’m gonna PI-VOT! you, you red-haired devil!” Saint vowed. Privately, Seo-jun was rooting for him, since he was ready to throttle Sean himself.

Jude appeared at the railing at the top of the stairs, a pink scarf tied around his blond hair. “The bedroom’s all dusted, swept, and ready for the bed!” he called down to Hawk and Mal, who were balancing the king mattress between them. Logan and West stood nearby with the frame.

“Okay, as soon as the couch clears the stairway!” Hawk called back up to Jude.

“Jude!” Zion yelled from the bedroom, sounding panicked. Jude took off running. Someone cried out—Seo-jun wasn’t sure if it was Jude or Zion. The guys with the couch set it down in the hall and scrambled over it to get to the bedroom.

“What’s going on?” Mal yelled, already half-way up the stairs, Hawk at his heels.

Another shriek. “Fuck!”

Seo-jun, who had been unpacking boxes on the main floor, was the last to make it upstairs and crowd into the master bedroom with the others.

“It’s just a spider,” he heard West say before wedging himself between Logan and Hawk so he could see into the room.

“It’s fucking huge!” Jude shrieked, pointing at an alarmingly large dark spot skittering down the wall.

“Ohmygodit’scomingatus!” Zion ran for the door, currently blocked by eight men, and nearly climbed West’s body in an attempt to get as far away from the floor as possible.

Jude tried to trap the spider with a cup, missed, and then shrieked when the spider changed course and ran toward him, eight legs eating up the space at an alarming rate.

“What is that fucking thing?” Saint demanded. “That’s no normal spider.”

“What’s going on?” Seo-jun heard Dex say from the hall. “I heard someone scream all the way from the end of the driveway.”

Sean disentangled himself from the melee and pushed his way into the hall. “It’s a spider the size of Wisconsin.”

“Really? Let me see!”

God, my boyfriend is a geek , Seo-jun thought, smiling to himself. He moved back so Dex could get into the room.

“That’s a tarantula,” Dex said. “They aren’t indigenous to North Carolina. It must have been someone’s pet that got away. Come ‘ere, fella.”

“Holy shit, Dex is gonna pick up that thing,” Logan said. “You sure you want to live with him, Seo-jun? You can still back out.”

“Is the big, bad Marine scared?” West said in a baby voice.

“It might bite you, Dex!” Seo-jun called out, ignoring them.

Dex held the huge spider in his cupped hands. “It won’t. It’s a Brazilian black tarantula. They’re mostly docile. I think it’s a female, which means it was pretty expensive. Someone’s got to be looking for this spider.” He took a step forward, and all eight men still wedged in the doorway took a simultaneous step back into the hallway.

“Watch it with that thing!” Sean swatted at Dex.

“Be careful! These spiders are delicate. A fall from this height could kill it,” Dex said sternly.

“Since when are you an expert on tarantulas?” Sean grumbled, stepping back to let him through and past the others, who instantly tried to blend into the wall.

“I had one when I was a kid. I think they’re cool.” Dex descended the stairs. “Do we have anything to put this baby in?”

“A plastic bag?” Colt offered.

“What? No! She’ll suffocate.”

“Then, no. Nothing.”

“I saw your neighbors outside a while ago. I’ll go ask them if they know who the spider might belong to,” Logan said, looking eager to escape the house.

“I’ll go with you.” West disappeared around the door.

Shaking his head, Dex sat down in the only chair in the living room and watched the tarantula scuttle up his arm.

Seo-jun suppressed a shudder. “With its size and all the hair, it seems less like a spider and more like a little animal.”

“Want to hold her?” Dex offered.

Seo-jun stepped away. “No, thanks. I’m good.”

Chuckling, Dex shook his head. “I can hear them putting our bed together upstairs. We should be helping.”

“Matilda!” A boy around twelve suddenly burst through the front door. Racing toward Dex and the spider, he said, “Thanks for finding her! I’m Kobey.”

“Hi, Kobey. No problem,” Dex, said, handing Matilda to her owner.

“She got out of her habitat when I was cleaning it.” Lifting the spider, the boy said to it, “I was so worried!”

Logan walked in accompanied by a plump young woman with a nice smile and introduced her as Chelsey Callihan.

“They found Matilda, Mom!” Kobey showed her the tarantula.

“I see that. Thanks so much,” Chelsey said to Dex. “You guys are moving in?”

Seo-jun tensed. What if these people had a problem with two gay men living next to them? They’d just have to get over it. But he hoped it wouldn’t be an issue.

“Yes,” Dex said.

“Well, maybe you can have dinner with us one night. It’s just me and Kobey next door. Oh, and Matilda,” she amended when Kobey looked up at her with a frown.

“That sounds great. Let us know when, and we’ll be there.”

Seo-jun relaxed.

After they left, Seo-jun and Dex got busy helping their friends bring in the rest of their furniture. The apartment had been small, so there really wasn’t all that much to bring in. At five, Andi and Tara arrived with all the fixings for a taco bar. Salem arrived shortly after with a pan of chocolate brownies. Jude put on some music, and by the time the food was ready, Seo-jun and Dex’s bed had clean sheets on it, the bathroom was set up, and most of the kitchen appliances were put away.

“Dex and I really appreciate all of your help,” Seo-jun said, raising his glass of wine as they all settled down to eat. “Cara and Kris, Scott and Kasey, and Jase and Ezra are all working on cases and couldn’t make it, but they’re with us in spirit.”

“Here, here!” Everyone lifted their glass or beer bottle and then drank.

“I haven’t been the easiest person to get to know,” Seo-jun continued. “Trust comes hard for me and I don’t say much.”

“No way, not you!” Colt called out, and, smiling, Seo-jun shot him the bird. Shaking his head, he said, “I trust you guys, though, and, with Dex’s help, I’m learning to open up a little.”

“We always understood you are a private person,” Mal said. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Personally, I always thought you were a secret assassin or a government spy,” Sean quipped, making everyone laugh.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with it,” Seo-jun addressed Mal’s comment, “but I was cheating myself out of a lot by closing myself off.”

Seo-jun looked at Dex to see if he wanted to say something.

“To friendship,” Dex said, lifting his beer.

“To friendship,” they echoed. After that, everyone built their tacos. They stayed late, and as Dex and Seo-jun stood on the front porch saying goodbye, it struck Seo-jun how much his life had changed in such a short time. He was no longer alone. He had friends and he had Dex. They were making a home together. And, if everything worked out, he and Dex would add a baby to their family.