"I'm obviously very annoyed by you, Andy. Stop being so annoying."
He laughs, shaking his head, and buries his face into the side of my neck, hugging me tightly. He plants kisses along my cheek, making me laugh, too.
That's when Malia walks back in. She takes one look at us and throws her hands in the air like she's just walked into the middle of a soap opera.
"Ugh! You guys are going to kill Tina withallthis PDA. No offense, Andy... it's not you.Dad, you know she hates seeing you do this shit, period," she adds, rolling her eyes so hard it looks like it hurts.
I ignore Malia and bury my face deeper into Andy's neck, pulling him even closer. Andy laughs, unfazed, and kisses the side of my head.
Malia mutters, "You guys are hopeless," and heads back outside, leaving us alone for a moment longer."Tina," she calls out, "don't come back in here yet. They're still hardcore making out."
Andy shakes with laughter against me, and I grin.
Yeah, this is our chaos, but it's our chaos... and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Chapter 39
Ted-Vomit-Green
Vince
"Thisisn'tthewayto your house..." Andy points out, glancing out of the dusty, beige passenger-side window of the Land Rover.
"Yeah, it is."
I insist on driving his car, now loaded to the brim with his stuff, while Malia drives Tina back in the Porsche. I tell Andy it's to give his hand a break... but that isn't entirely true. This is the beginning of my surprise.And I am so fucking nervous.
Suddenly, at one of the red lights, the car stalls.
Panic shoots through me as I try to shift the gear, but it feels stuck.
My heart is in my throat.
For a second, I think we're about to end up in cross traffic.Just as I'm about to tell Andy we're screwed, the car jolts back to life, lurching forward as the light turns green.
"Holy shit!" I shout, gripping the steering wheel like it might bolt. "What the fuck just happened?"
Andy laughs, like we haven't just narrowly avoided disaster. "Yeah, it does that sometimes when it's shifting down to first gear. I usually keep it in second... it always wants to go back into second."
"Andy—fuck! You've been driving a death trap this whole time, and you didn't think to tell me?!"
He rolls his eyes. "It's fine, Vince. It's not going to kill me."
"I cannot believe—"
"Where are we going?" he cuts in, leaning forward to glance out the windows, clearly trying to change the subject.
"Hush. You'll see."
As I drive closer to the destination, he starts to piece it together, but he stays quiet. I'm not sure if he remembers the exact spot... he's only been here once, to help me paint. My nerves twist tighter with every second. When I finally pull into the driveway of my beach house, I park, take a deep breath, and turn to face him.
"What are we doing here?" he asks, his tone cautious but curious.
"I wanted to ask you..." I begin, my chest tight. "I wanted to give you an option."
He frowns slightly, tilting his head. "What do you mean?"
"Do you want to move in with me... here? Or do you want to move in with me on Mulholland?"
