But now that we were mated and engaged… double engaged, really, given we had two proposals, it was time to move things along and get rid of one of the places. Or maybe both. We hadn’t really talked about it, but my lease was up, and it was the perfect time to open the discussion.
I grabbed the paperwork my landlord had sent over and brought it with me to Lincoln’s house. The lease being offered was fine. If I hadn’t met Lincoln, I’d have signed it right then and been on my way. It wasn’t a question about that. The lease was more a prop to begin the discussion more than anything else.
For dinner, we had already decided on delivery. Staying in and watching a movie was the plan. It was the end of a really long week, and we were both exhausted, but being exhausted together versus being exhausted apart was a much better option.It wasn’t as if we’d be more relaxed in our own homes. If anything, it would’ve done the opposite because we’d be missing each other.
I got there a few minutes early and walked in. I already had a key, just as he had one for my place. In so many ways we were already living together. We always fell asleep together, ate together, and even split chores. The biggest difference was that we were doing it at two places instead of one.
Lincoln wasn’t home yet. I checked the clock. He was late, but not overly so. He was great about letting me know if he wasn’t going to be there on time, which meant I’d see him any minute. Normally, I’d have tried to find a movie we could watch or make a short list of delivery options, but tonight, I was tired. So very tired.
I went and plopped on the couch, my paperwork in my hand. I planned to close my eyes for a few minutes while I waited for him. My plan failed. Instead, I fell asleep almost instantly and was so sound asleep that I didn’t hear him come home.
When I woke up, I was covered with a blanket. My mate was sitting in the chair on the other side of the room, holding the papers that I’d been clutching.
“What time is it?” I blinked, attempting to clear my eyesight.
“About ten.”
“You didn’t just get home, did you?” I thought about sitting up, but my body was still half asleep.
“No, I got home about ten minutes late today, and you were already asleep. Did you get here early to nap?”
“No, I was just about on time.” I pushed myself to sit up. “I must have been really tired. Sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. When you’re tired, you should sleep. This was in your hand,” he said, holding up the lease. “I took it out and saw it. Is that all right? That I saw it?”
“Yeah. I brought it to talk to you about.” I didn’t hide things from my mate, but if I was planning to, it wouldn’t have been by holding it out in the open. “My lease is up.”
“Don’t sign it,” he said a little too loudly.
“Huh?”
“That’s what you were going to ask, right? If you should sign it or not.”
I loved how he just said what was on his mind. It made conversations like this one a thousand times easier.
“I guess, sort of. I just thought it was a sign that it was a good time to talk about getting rid of this back-and-forth stuff.”
He crossed over and sat beside me. “You’re really romantic in the ‘move in with me’ conversation, aren’t you?” He kissed my mating mark which wasn’t making it easier for me to concentrate. At least not on the topic at hand.
“Me?” I kissed his cheek with a smack. “Yeah, I suppose that didn’t sound so romantic. But real talk, I don’t want to go to bed without you by my side, and this back-and-forth is just a lot.”
He pulled me onto his lap. “We’re mated, so it’s not like we’re not serious. What do you think? Can we do this?”
I snuggled into him. “I think we should. But my place is a no. You need a place for your beautiful panther to get out. We can stay here, or we can look for someplace else.”
We talked back and forth about the pros and cons of all of it and decided that staying at Lincoln’s and saving up for potentially moving later was a better option. In theory, we could save my entire rent each month. And with savings like that, we’d be good to go if we decided to move.
“Let me go make you something to eat. What would you like?”
“It’s kind of too late to eat, isn’t it?” As much as I loved spending time with my mate, my body was willing me to go back to bed… this time until morning.
“Your stomach’s been growling for half an hour.” He picked me up off of his lap and set me on the couch beside him. “So food it is.”
“All right, let’s just do eggs or something equally quick, and then we can go to bed.” I closed my eyes and leaned back onto the couch.
“You’re sure to doze off again. Let’s get you to bed.”
He picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. Unlike the other times he carried me here, it wasn’t for a knotty good time. Instead, he helped me get ready for bed, before tucking me in and getting ready for bed himself.
