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“It’s a small housewarming party.” I give her a smile, hoping she’ll smile back.
“I thought we…were celebrating alone.” Watching her shift in her seat, my insides soar. My nerd craves for me as much as I do for her.
“Oh, we’ll celebrate alone all right, couch girl.” I raise my eyebrow as her face becomes scarlet. I turn off the ignition, and holding her hands in between mine, I place a kiss on her palm. “But everyone is too excited to see the house we’ve been raving about for months.”
“I guess that makes sense.” She giggles before opening her door.
I lead her to our front door. Before she can turn the knob, I hold her hand.
“What is it?” She looks up at me in confusion.
“Ring the bell.”
“Isn’t it open already?” Rose cocks her head to the side but rings the bell regardless. The sounds of chirping birds and smooth piano music greet us. “Wow!”
This is one of those surprises I thought she’d like.
I open the door, but before she can walk in, I grab her by the waist, lift her into the air, and enter the house.
“What are you doing?”
“Crossing the threshold with you.” I kiss the tip of her nose. I can’t believe this is my life. In such a short time, this girl has changed everything. I’m looking forward to a future I never even dreamed for myself.
All because of her.
My fiancée. My couch girl. My soon-to-be wife.
“Isn’t that something we’re supposed to do after we get married?” She peeks at me shyly.
“For me, we’re already there. God, I want to carry you to our bedroom. To hell with the family,” I say before capturing her lips with mine.
“Come on, guys. Let’s get this party started!” Zach’s holler interrupts us. He’s probably starving already.
“Let’s go before he burns down the place.”
Rose chuckles, then she grabs my hand as we join the others in our living room.
22
ROSE
“Rose.”
Dad joins me, sitting down on the gray upholstered armchair by our beautiful fireplace. Zander didn’t even tell me about this—like so many other additions he implemented in our place.
“Congratulations, my Rose girl! You’ve built an amazing place.”
My heart does that happy dance whenever he calls me his Rose girl.
“Thanks. But I can’t take all the credit.”
He grabs my hand, forcing me to look at his beaming face.
“We got you something.” He clears his throat before adding, “Your mom and me. It means a lot to us. Especially her.”
I hate the heaviness seeping into his voice. I don’t know why, but Sophia and I are drifting apart instead of getting closer, and I know this growing distance between us is killing Dad. Every time I look at her, I try to find my mom, the one from the journal, but all I see is Sophia from my childhood, rejecting me, keeping me at arm’s length. Even though I know now she was doing all this to keep us safe, the hurt doesn’t go away overnight.
“I would love to see it, Dad.” I try to dwindle his sadness with my words, and thank God it works. A small smile graces his lips.
