I nod my head quickly and wipe my face with my sleeves, then head back into the main house.
I was supposed to talk to Theo and Charlee about the money, but walking in and seeing everyone interacting and happily entertained, I decide to wait for another time. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of them.
Walking over to the island, I lean against it and join in on Charlee and Atlas’s conversation about their summer plans.
Harley walks into the room, leaning against the door frame, just watching. Finally, he walks over to Chase and Theo and speaks in a low tone, and I can’t make out what he’s saying. Before I can dissect that, they all turn and walk out of the room.
We migrate into the living room, where all the boxes sit.
“Charlee, you wanna help me unwrap the couch so you guys can sit while I unpack my books and things?” I ask, excited to put all my things in my home.
“Hell yeah, girl. Let’s do it!” Charlee shouts, grabbing Aria and heading into the living room. Atlas comes over and grabs my hand and squeezes.
I look down at our hands and then back up to meet her eyes. “Thank you for needing me, Atlas. If you’d have never asked me to move this way, I would have never had the possibility of any of this,” I tell her before wrapping her up in a hug. “And when you’re ready to talk about whatever it is you need to talk about, I’ll be here.” She gives me a tight hug back and we walk into the living room. Aria is in a makeshift box playpen Charlee made so she can’t escape, she’s happy as a clam playing with newspaper.
Charlee and I are pretty toasted, and we take turns taking hold of the Saran Wrap, running it the opposite direction to unwrap the couch. We laugh so hard, I almost pee my pants. I never get to unpack the books, because we all squish onto the couch and bullshit. For the next hour we chat and laugh, until the guys walk into the room from the entryway.
“You about ready to head home, Charlee?” Theo asks. “I’ll go grab the boy.”
“Party pooper!” she yells at him as he walks through the door into the garage. She gets up and heads into the kitchen to gather her things.
“Do you need help making it home?” Chase asks Atlas from the door.
“I’ll be okay, thank you though,” Atlas responds, passing Aria to me. “Can I leave the pack and play?” she asks as she stands from the couch.
“Of course, that room is yours and Aria’s when you come. Harley said we could decorate it any way you want,” I tell her, my head leaned back as I watch her walk into the kitchen.
“I’m gonna drive the U-Haul home, and then meet Harley tomorrow afternoon to get the last bit of his house,” Chase says, coming around and sitting on the couch. Harley walks in through the front door, and I didn’t even realize he’d walked out.
“Chase, can you help me carry in the espresso machine? It’s on the wood slab so if you grab one end, I can get the other,” he asks, leaning his head into the room, hanging onto the door frame.
“Yeah, no prob. I told Ember I was taking the U-Haul tonight, and we’d meet tomorrow afternoon.” Chase relays what we talked about before heading out the door with Harley.
I sit with Aria in my lap, and I fall asleep with her in my arms. I wake up as large arms circle my body, and carry me up the stairs. Harleywalks through the door, and I expect to be lowered to the mattress on the floor, instead he lays me down just slightly lower, into a pillow soft mattress. I snuggle into the bed and wait for Harley to slide in. I drift back to sleep before he comes back, but later I feel the bed dip with his weight as he slides in and pulls my body close to his. I curl into him, feeling peace and comfort for the first time in over a decade.
I wake up to find Maggie staring at me from Harley’s side of the bed. Confused, I scratch her ears. I thought Chase had said they’d be meeting in the afternoon, but maybe I drank more than I thought and mixed something up. I lean up, stretching in the bed, and realize I’ve never seen this bed before. Getting out of the bed, I stand back and look at it. It’s a black iron bed frame with a tall, gothic window style headboard. The comforter is white, and a spider web throw blanket is draped across the bottom. I head into the bathroom to take care of my morning routine. Harley has laid out all of my morning skin care routine things, and opening the cabinets, I see he has already put away all of his things as well.I adore that man.
I find my way downstairs, Maggie following me down the stairs. I hear rusting around in the kitchen, so I follow the noise. I lean against the door frame in the kitchen entryway, enjoying the sight. Harley is cooking over the stove, back to me, showing all of his tattoos on his cut back. I walk over to him and slide my hands around him.
“I’m so sorry I passed out before everyone left.” I plant gentle kisses on his back. “I guess I drank more than I thought and was more tired than I thought.”
“It’s fine, babe,” he says as he reaches for a plate to slide an omelet onto. He spins around, kissing me on the lips. “Everyone knew you wouldn’t have fallen asleep unless you needed it. Atlas said she’d talk to you later today, and Charlee said she’d text later.”
He grabs a stool that I’ve never seen before and pulls it over to the island, setting the plate down, and lifting me to sit. The metal stool is cold on my nearly naked ass and sends a shiver down my spine. Harley reaches around me, handing me a beautiful matte black mug with shiny spider webs all over it. “Oh I love this, where did it come from?” I take a sip of coffee and examine it. I raise it up and see a logo on the bottom.Mud & Mossis imprinted on the bottom with an ineligible signature.
“Moss like, Chase Moss?” I ask Harley who is making his own plate now.
“Chase’s dad owns a pottery shop,” he tells me without looking at me.
“You made me a baby coffee,” I tell him playfully. “You’re going to have to make me another.” I laugh and take a bite of the omelet. Ham, cheese, and tomato. My favorite. “This is so good. Thank you babe.” I look over and Harley is watching me closely, a strange look on his face.
“Did you finish your coffee?” he asks, his plate in his hand, his knuckles white from gripping it.
“Are you okay, babe?” I ask him, hopping off the stool and walking over to stand in front of him. I send my hands up his chest, not sure how to soothe him, or if he even needs soothing.
“Yeah, I just didn’t sleep well last night so I stayed up unpacking things, and then got up early.” He switches his plate to the other hand and puts his hand on the small of my back, leading me back to where my food is sitting. “Hurry and finish your coffee, and I’ll make another before I sit down.”
I turn and grab the cup, and throw it back like a shot. I bring it down, and something white in the bottom catches my eye.
