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The last time I had received a test score in the low seventies was during my senior year of high school after my parents died. I had been struggling with my grief, so it had been understandable back then. Now, not so much. There was too much at stake for me to mess up my grades.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart? You’ve been staring at that piece of paper as though it holds the secret of life for the past five minutes.”
Looking up, I noticed that Tyler must have finished putting together our dinner and popped it into the oven since the pan wasn’t on the counter anymore. “Sorry, it’s just that I bombed a test last week, and I’m not sure what to do.”
Gently pulling the test from my hands, Tyler flipped it over to look at my grade. “Your definition of bombing and mine must be different since a C is passing.”
“I can’t let my grades drop too low or else my scholarship will be at risk. Anything below a three point five, and I’ll only have a semester to pull them back up,” I explained.
“And if you didn’t, you’d be stuck paying for your last year?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I sighed, propping my chin up with my hand as I scooted forward on the stool to lean my elbow on the counter. “But there isn’t enough money left from my parents’ life insurance policy to cover the difference. The only way I could do it was if I got a job on top of my TA position to help pay my rent.”
Tyler shook his head and growled, “Another job isn’t the solution. You already work hard enough as it is.”
“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted, willing myself not to cry. It had only been a little more than a week, but I already couldn’t picture my life without Tyler in it. “My TA position is part of my federal aid, and my clinicals are a required part of the curriculum. I can’t cut either of them out of my schedule to make more time for studying so I can keep my grades up.”
“The craziness of my shift rotation at the station doesn’t help, does it?” he groaned.
“Not really,” I admitted softly as I reached for his hand to give it a squeeze. “But I’m not willing to give up my time with you, either. I’ll just have to figure out a way to make it work.”
Tyler rounded the counter, a determined gleam in his blue eyes. Stopping in front of me, he swiveled my stool to stand between my legs. “Move in with me.”
“Move in with you?” I echoed softly, positive I’d heard him wrong since we hadn’t known each other that long.
He nodded. “Yup, it’s the perfect solution.”
“How so?” I asked, still not seeing it even though I was sorely tempted to just throw caution to the wind and agree.
“I’m not convinced that one C means the possible end of your scholarship, not with how damn smart you are.” His eyes were full of confidence as he grinned at me. “But I’m all for taking some of the pressure off you. Moving in with me means that you don’t need to worry as much about maintaining your scholarship. If you lost it, rent wouldn’t be an issue. It would also be easier to find time to spend with each other with us going to bed together each night. And you could just invite your study group over here, so you wouldn’t need to sacrifice any sessions with them. I’d also be around to help you study. I’m sure there’s some overlap between my degree in paramedic science and yours for nursing.”
As out of left field as his suggestion had originally sounded, it started to seem logical as he rattled off his rationale. Except for one thing. “That all sounds great for me, but what about you?”
His grin turned a little wicked. “Did you miss the part where I mentioned having you in my bed each night?”
I needed more than that. “You really want me here?”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t.” He brushed his lips over mine and added, “If anything, it’s more a case of me taking advantage of your situation to get you under my roof sooner rather than later. Not the other way around.”
“I do love how you take advantage of me,” I teased with a smile.
“Then move in with me, sweetheart,” he urged.
I nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic.” He claimed my mouth in a deep kiss to seal the deal. “I’ll arrange for the movers to meet us at your apartment on Saturday.”
Two weeks to the day after I met Tyler, I was once again carrying stuff down the stairs of my building to a moving truck parked in front. Only this time, they were my belongings instead of Jaelyn’s. And I had a bossy caveman of my own since Tyler was being as much of a pain in my butt over what I could carry as Rand had been with her.
