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He's mid-sip when the words leave my mouth, and he spits the hot coffee all over the front of me.
"Seriously?" I deadpan. "Can we not make this a thing?"
As I pull my shirt off, he puts the mug down. "Sorry, it just surprised me. I mean, a few weeks ago you two weren't even talking. You don't think it's too soon? I mean, moving in together is a big step, isn't it?"
I smile before walking into my room. I grab another shirt out of the drawer, along with something else. As I get back to the kitchen, I open the small box and put it in front of him.
"No bigger than this," I tell him.
Jace's jaw drops as he stares at the diamond that glistens in the light. While we were in Miami, Tye wanted to go to a specific restaurant before we left. On the way, we passed a jewelry store that she said was her and Davi's favorite. Apparently, the jeweler there made custom jewelry for their prom as well as a couple other occasions. The next day, after Tye left for class, I was on the phone with them and ordering a custom ring.
It's beautiful, with a diamond in the center and a mix of her and Davi's birthstones surrounding it—a small personal touch that I know she'll gush over. The only thing I know she'll hate about it is that it wasn't cheap. She'll say I spoil her too much and that she would be fine with a ring pop. But she’ll never know that I paid the jeweler an extra ten grand to rush it. You never know when the perfect moment will present itself.
"I'm not proposing tomorrow or anything," I tell Jace as he inspects the ring like it's a foreign object. "But there's not a doubt in my mind about it. I'm going to marry her one day."
ONE MONTH LATER
We're sittingat the oversized conference table as we wait for the lawyer to come in. Carter's knee bounces nervously, and he can't seem to sit still. Jace looks over at him and his brows raise. Carter stops his movements entirely.
"What?" he asks innocently.
"Keep doing that," Jace warns. "Watch what happens."
Carter smirks and purposely bounces his knee again, but when Jace goes to lunge at him, the door opens. The lawyer comes in with a stack of papers and a smile on his face. The two idiots stop acting like children and become serious adults in seconds.
"It looks like everything is good to go," the lawyer tells them. "Your all-cash offers make it easy, and both owners are willing to hand over the keys today. We just need to sign some paperwork."
When we decided to start looking for our own place, Jace said he was going to stay in the dorm. However, the second they told him that he would be getting a new roommate, he changed his mind. Of course, Carter saw this as an opportunity, and Jace being able to buy the house next door was added to our list of needs.
It didn't take long to find a couple of houses with everything we wanted, though I'm sure that has a lot to do with the practically unlimited budget. The development is nice, and both houses overlook the lake behind them. It may be a little bigger than we need right now, but Carter is anxious to start filling it with babies. Dude better slow his damn roll.
As soon as we're all done signing papers, they pass one set of keys to Jace and Paige, and the other set to Carter and me. The lawyer congratulates us, and when we stand up, Carter and Jace hug each other before even attempting to hug us. I walk over to Paige and we watch curiously as they have the lawyer take their picture with their keys.
"Does their level of codependence concern you too, or is it just me?" I ask.
She chuckles and shakes her head. "I'm starting to think we should take one house and leave them to take the other."
I purse my lips. "That's actually not a bad idea. We can just have conjugal visits."
Carter looks over at me and smirks, waving me toward him. We take a couple pictures and then he turns to me. He rests a hand on my cheek and stares into my eyes while I lean into his touch. I never used to believe in love. The whole idea of it freaked me out, and I swore I would never have anything to do with it.
Until him.
"You ready to go home?" he asks.
His words send a wave of emotion through me. I’ve never really had a place that felt like mine, between moving around a lot and living in a house of horrors. Even moving in with Davi, I always felt like I was just on a really long sleepover.
But this...
This feels like going home.
I’M WIPING DOWN THEbar as Amelia and Kennedy walk in. Amelia skips over to me lookinglike she’s about to burst at the seams while Kennedy seems like she’s about to vomit. Literally. She may actually be a hint of green I’ve never seen before.
Since her and Easton broke up a little over a month ago, she hasn't been the same. She walks around irritable most of the time and doesn't really want to do anything other than work and school. She even lost interest in cheerleading, though she still does it to keep Amelia happy.
I wish I could say that her and Easton have stayed friends, but they don't really talk. Although, I think that's more her doing than his. She just can't look at him the same anymore.
“I have news!” Amelia singsongs. “Kennedy does too, but hers doesn’t look nearly as exciting.”
