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“Shh,” he whispers.
“What are you doing?” I whisper back.
“Memorizing the moment.”
“So that’s a no?” I ask, amused.
“That’s a hell fucking yes!” He stands and leans over me, pressing his lips to mine. His tongue traces my lips, and my hand goes around his neck, keeping him close to me. “You’re moving here? With me? When?” He fires off questions in between peppering my face with kisses.
“Soon. I need to give notice and pack up my place.” Excitement bubbles inside me at this new start. With Cooper. It’s everything I could have hoped for, yet it’s more. I’m deliriously happy.
“So? A week or so?”
“No, I have to give work at least two weeks.” It’s going to be hard to leave, but I just need to remind myself of all the kids I’m going to be able to help. I’m so excited to hit the ground running with this new foundation.
“You should do it now. The sooner, the better. Hold on. Let me get my laptop.” He stands and rushes down the hall.
“Coop! I’m not going to email them. I’ll tell them on Monday!” I yell after him.
He comes back into the room with his laptop. “Fine, but we can start looking at houses.” He takes a seat next to me.
“What do you mean, look at houses? I mean, I know you mentioned it, but we live here.” I motion around the room.
“You said we.” He’s grinning like a fool. “You said we live here.”
“Well, maybe not today, but in a couple of weeks.”
“I love you.” He leans in and kisses me. “I signed a five-year deal, so we’re going to be here for at least five more years. I’d like to be here longer, but we’re going to need a house. The kids need a yard to play in, and you need an office to work from home,” he rattles on.
“Coop.” I place my hand on his arm. “We don’t have to do this all at once.”
“Yes.” He nods. “We do. I’ve been waiting for this, for us to start our lives together. We’re doing this, Reese’s Pieces.” He winks.
It’s been months, hell, maybe longer than just months since he’s called me that. That was always his thing, and we lost that, but now we’re back. We’re better than ever, and it makes my heart happy. We each might have traveled the long road to get here, but I’m confident we’ll be traveling it together for the rest of our lives.
“Okay, so what are we looking for?” I ask him.
His eyes light up. “That’s my girl.” He types something into his laptop and then stops and reaches for his phone. I watch as he dials and places the phone to his ear. “Roger, hey, man, how you been?” he asks. “Listen, I’m ready for the realtor’s name. Does she have a website?” I hear him ask. “Thanks, man. Talk soon,” he says, ending the call.
“Was that Roger, as in Roger Watters, the quarterback for the Defenders?” My voice is a shrill squeak. How is this our life?
“Yep.” He nods as he types. “He bought a house last year and had a great experience with his realtor. This is her site.” He turns the laptop so I can see it. He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me in close. “Time to find our dream home, baby.”
That’s how we spend the rest of our night. Scrolling through house listings. It’s surreal searching through the homes he’s got us looking at. They’re huge and fancier than anything I’ve ever lived in. Cooper says we need to have the best because that’s where we’ll be raising our family. I argue it’s too much money, but he counters that it’s our home base and that if we’re going to blow money, a home is a good place to do it. He’s right, but it seems frivolous.
“Babe, I need you and our future kids to be safe when I’m on the road. These neighborhoods are the best, and most of the houses have gates,” he explains when we’re lying in bed.
“Okay,” I concede. “I can’t believe you called the realtor at eleven o’clock at night.”
“She was happy to hear from me.” He laughs.
“She was happy to think about the potential commission.”
“I don’t care why. All I care about is that she’s making it happen, and we’re going to look at houses tomorrow.”
“This is unreal, Coop.”
“This is us, baby. This is our life.”
“Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“I should be saying that. I know I hurt you, and yet here you are. In our bed, in my arms.”
“Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
He kisses the top of my head, and I close my eyes. I’m content and happy, and it’s hard to believe we’re here, but he’s right. This is our life, and it’s what we make it.
