I held out my hand to Declan and Theo. “Give me the cutters,” I ordered firmly.
“Oh, fine.” Theo sighed, bending over to cut Tom loose himself. “Maybe next time, you’ll call first,” he suggested with a cocked brow to Tom.
“Definitely,” Tom agreed emphatically, rubbing his wrists briefly before bending down to pick Trixie up. “How’s my sweet girl?” he crooned. He looked over at me, curiosity evident in his eyes.
“I’m house-sitting for Brad,” I answered his unspoken question. “He didn’t want Trixie to be alone. I’ve also come into a bit of trouble, so the guys here are a bit on edge.”
That was putting it mildly.
His nervous gaze shot around the room, taking in the testosterone-fueled space.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my head cocked to the side.
“I miss him.” Tom sighed. “He hasn’t been taking my calls. I thought if I forced him to see me that we could talk.”
“Middle of the night break-in is a bit stalker-ish,” Theo pointed out.
Tom’s cheeks grew red. “It’s something we’ve done in the past. You know, to keep things fresh?”
Declan cleared his throat and shot a look to Theo as though to say “you asked for it, buddy.”
I nodded, ignoring the guys and their childish antics. “I’ll tell him you wanted to see him,” I told Tom, feeling bad for the guy. He’d wanted to surprise his ex-boyfriend and instead ended up hog-tied, terrified, and was now feeling embarrassed on top of all that.
He nodded with a tired sigh. “I’d appreciate that. I’m sorry I scared you. I honestly had no idea anyone else was here.”
“It’s okay,” I replied as he stood up. “It gave us all an unexpected safety drill.”
Sid snorted and I shot him a look as Tom moved toward the front door. He handed Trixie over to me with one last kiss on her head.
With one final look around his former home, he disappeared through the front door.
My shoulders slumped with exhaustion the minute he was gone.
“Let’s get you back to bed,” Sid murmured, putting a solid arm around my shoulders.
I nodded gratefully before I shot a look to Theo and Declan. “Thanks for coming, guys.”
“You know it,” Dec replied with a chin lift. “Night, Sam.”
“Night,” I murmured.
Sid tucked me into bed, dropping a kiss to my forehead. “I’m gonna see the guys out. I’ll be back in a second, baby.”
I was asleep before he even closed the bedroom door.
CHAPTER 14
Sid’s mood had been pensive all morning. I’d tried to draw him out into conversation but he’d remained sullen and removed. Finally, I’d given up and allowed the silence to take over. He’d disappeared upstairs after breakfast.
I left him alone, knowing he needed to work through whatever had crawled under his skin. I called Piper, desperately needing some girl time, even if it was just over the phone.
“How’s my favorite bride-to-be?” I smiled when she picked up the phone.
“A bit frazzled,” she admitted. “We’re in the final countdown now, though.” I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Under two weeks away.” I grinned.
“But you’re coming a few days beforehand, right? Like we talked about?” I could hear the hope in her voice.
I winced. “Well, Pipe, I’m still working on Sid,” I admitted. I’d brought the subject up time and time again only to be met with the same noncommittal response.
“Still?” she exclaimed. “I thought after he talked to Ry, he’d feel okay about it.”
“Me too. He’s wound pretty tight these days, and we had an incident last night. It turned out to be nothing,” I rushed to add. “Brad’s ex-boyfriend broke in, trying to surprise Brad. Even though there wasn’t a real threat, I think it set something off with Sid.”
“Shit,” she muttered.
“I still think I can get him to come around. I’ll do just about anything to be at your wedding.”
“I know.” She sighed softly. “I’m not trying to put extra pressure on you. Your safety is the most important thing.”
“Watching you get married is also really freaking important,” I replied firmly. She’d asked me to be her maid of honor and I’d be damned if I missed the opportunity to stand up with my best girl. “I’ll talk to him later,” I promised. “Or, er, maybe tomorrow,” I amended. “Cade’s having people over for his birthday tonight. Hopefully I can get him loosened up. He’s had almost no time to unwind. He needs it, we both do.”