“Liam.” She puts her hand over my mouth, laughing. “Hudson is right there.”
“He doesn't mind. Do you, Hudson?”
“Not at all, Mr. Novak,” Hudson says, but he lets out a chuckle.
Avery laughs, the sound filling the car and my chest with warmth. “This is insane. You're insane. We're insane.”
“Is that a yes?”
“A yes to what?”
“To us. To trying again. To moving forward instead of backward.”
She's quiet for a moment, studying my face in the dim light of the car. “I'm choosing to trust you and to believe that you meant what you said back there. That you're really done with Nova and ready to just be Liam.”
“I am. I promise.”
“If you hurt me again…”
“I won't. I swear on the Stanley Cup we just won, I won't.”
She smiles. “I love you too, you know. Even when you're being an idiot. Even when you're making grand gestures on live television.”
I cut her off with a kiss, pulling her into my lap. She wraps her arms around my neck, and suddenly we're making out in the backseat like teenagers.
“Your place or mine?” I murmur against her lips.
“Yours. The puppies are there.”
“Our puppies,” I correct. “They've been asking about you.”
“Dogs can't ask questions.”
“Princess has been moping. I swear she's been depressed without you. Just like me.”
She laughs, and I capture the sound with another kiss.
“Move in with me,” I say suddenly.
She pulls back. “What?”
“Move in. With me. Into my apartment. Our apartment.” I'm talking fast again. “Bring your stuff. Make it yours. We can get more bookshelves for your collection, and you can finally organize my kitchen the way you've been dying to since the first time you saw it.”
Her eyes flick between mine. “Liam, it's too soon.”
“We've basically been living together for months. Your toothbrush is already in my bathroom. Half your clothes are in my closet. You have a key. The puppies consider you their other parent. What's the difference?”
“The difference is making it official. Admitting that we're doing this for real.”
“We are doing this for real.” I kiss her nose, her cheeks, her mouth. “I'm all in, Avery. I have been since Chicago, probably. So move in with me. Make it official.”
I can see her brain working through logistics and risks and all the ways this could go wrong.
“Ask me again in a month,” she finally says.
“A month?”
“If we make it a month without you doing something insane or me having a panic attack about our relationship, ask me again. And I'll probably say yes.”
