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"I'm surprised he hasn't kicked down the door yet." I choke out a rough laugh and my eyes widen in shock at the unfamiliar noise. It feels good to laugh.
"Want me to get him?"
"Please." I slip my bottom lip between my teeth and chew on it. With a quick nod, he stands up from the bed, places a soft kiss on the top of my head, and walks to the door. He straightens his back when he opens it, and in less than a second, I watch Tyler bust through the threshold, bee-lining it to my bed.
I let out a shocked gasp when he reaches down towards the bed and picks me up. He grips my thighs in a tight grip and wraps them around his waist. He holds me like I could disappear into thin air at any moment. He sighs deeply when his nose finds my hair and I smile, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting the stiffness fade from my limbs.
"When I heard you scream, I—" I fist his shirt and shake my head, cutting him off.
"Lay with me?"
His chest rumbles against mine. "You don't even have to ask."
The funeral was last week. And if I'm honest, I only remember small fragments of that day. Something I think I did subconsciously. A way to protect myself from the agony that filled me to the brim, threatening to bubble up and explode like a shaken pop bottle with the lid half twisted.
I remember the fat raindrops pelting down on the smooth mahogany wood as they lowered it into the wet hole in the ground. I remember the weight that rested on my shoulders as I fought to keep my knees from buckling when Oakley read the eulogy with streams of tears staining his wind-bitten cheeks. I remember our Grandma—Dad's mom—as she showed up with tears in her eyes, pretending that she hadn't abandoned us when her son passed away sixteen years ago. And I remember holding the hands of the only other people who, like myself, wore white to the funeral.
Mom hated wearing black. The last time she wore it was for Dad's funeral. So we wore white. We honoured her that day: Oakley, Ava, Adam, Braden, Tyler, and myself. We didn't say goodbye to her. Why say goodbye when it wasn't goodbye? Not forever, anyway. We said, see you later, instead.
"I've been wanting to talk to you about something," Tyler mumbles against the bare skin beneath my breasts. His head lies on my stomach with my fingers laced through his hair. And the longer I play with his hair, the more I want to run to the bathroom and grab a pair of scissors so I can snip a few inches off. He's been too distracted—between playoffs and taking care of me—to get it trimmed and he’s looking a bit scraggly. My lips twitch into a smile.
"Okay," I hum and soak in this moment of comfort.
"I never gave you an answer when you asked me to move in with you."
The strands of black silk fall from my fingers. "What?"
He laughs a deep, content laugh that makes my skin break out in goosebumps. That beautiful sound is equal parts adrenaline pumping and heart lurching. I become addicted to this feeling almost instantly.
"Would we be living here or at your place? Because I don't fit in your castle, and you sure as shit don't fit in mine, princess."
I fumble for a reply, opening and closing my mouth as my tongue dries up. "Uh."
He tilts his head until our eyes meet, a mix between humour and curiosity consuming his. I swallow the nerves knotting together in my throat. "How about neither?"
"Really?" His eyebrows jump as if he expected me to push for him to live somewhere he wouldn't be completely comfortable.
"Really," I giggle. "The only reason Oakley got me that fancy apartment was because he wanted to make sure that I was safe. But I don't need anything like that anymore. Not if I'm with you, Ty. Nothing makes me feel safer than you do."
I watch a sliver of vulnerability flicker across his milk chocolate gaze as he stares at me, not daring to speak a single word. I trail my fingers down the sharp grooves of his cheekbones and grip his chin, pulling him closer so it's easier to place my lips on his.
"Then let's do it." His words have a strong sense of finality to them that makes my stomach flutter as they blow across my wet mouth.
"Yeah? You think you can handle being around me that much?"
He snorts. "I already am around you that much, Gray. And I've only almost jumped from your penthouse window a couple dozen times."
I scoff and flick him in the ear. "Asshole."
"Too late to leave me now. My return policy is long expired."
"Shit. What do I do now?" I bat my eyelashes and push out my bottom lip.
"I can think of a few ideas," he mumbles slyly before I gasp, my breast becoming swarmed with the warmth of his mouth. Gripping his hair again, I decide that this is exactly where I want to spend every single one of my future days.
With him.
