AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her jaw drops. “I just put together three tables! And besides, wouldyoube able to get any work done with him around? Look at him.”
All emotion drops right off Cam’s face as he shakes his head slowly. “There is so much wrong with what you just said.”
Devin cringes. “Agreed.”
My sister looks at me like I’m diseased, and I flip her off before focusing on my girlfriend. “You’re not becoming a handyman, babe.”
“Why not?” she presses playfully. “I could make a killing—especially if I do it topless.”
That gets Mali’s attention. “Ooh, you might be onto something.”
When Devin goes to open her mouth is when I draw the line and point my finger at her. “One word out of you and Cam is bringing your ass right home.”
Her lips clamp shut, meanwhile Lucas is frantically searching his pockets. Owen’s brows furrow as he watches him.
“Dude, what the fuck are you doing?” he asks.
He keeps patting everywhere on his body and looking around. “I can’t find my damn keys.”
“We’re not done bringing shit in,” Cam tells him. “Where are you trying to go?”
“IKEA,” he says, as if it’s obvious.
Everyone chuckles, but I’m too busy in a staring contest with Laiken. She just loves pushing my buttons, and mentioning herself topless in front of Lucas, she knew he would bite. Neither one of us looks away as Mali groans.
“They’re doing that thing again.”
“Doing what thing?” Aiden questions.
Cam sighs and answers for her. “That thing where they forget the rest of the room exists and live in their own little world.”
“It’s nauseating,” Mali grumbles.
I ignore them and tilt my head to the side a little, giving her a certain look. She knows exactly what it means, and she gets up without a word. As she walks straight into me, I wrap my arms around her.
“Mine,” I growl, mostly for Lucas’s benefit.
But it’s Mali that answers, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, we know, caveman. No need to brand her to clarify.”
“It’s so weird seeing him like this with a chick,” Owen says.
Cam grunts. “How do you thinkIfeel? Being around the two of them almost makes me miss jail.”
But none of their opinions matter as Laiken looks up at me and my eyes meet hers—because she’s the best thing to ever happen to me. And I will spend the rest of my life being hopelessly in love with her.
LATER THAT NIGHT, AFTEReveryone goes home, it’s just Laiken and me. I’m hanging up a few things she picked out at the store, letting her leave her own personal touches all over the place. I’ve thought about asking her to move in with me—more than I’d like to admit, actually—but something keeps holding me back. Every time I go to say the words, they just won’t come out.
She’s sitting on the couch, humming to herself as she works on a song she’s writing, and I can’t help but smile. She looks so at home, wearing nothing but one of my shirts after I took a break for the sole purpose of fucking her. After her topless handyman shit, I needed to remind her why no one else gets to see her the way I do. And if I paid extra attention to her tits out of pure jealousy, that’s no one’s business but my own.
Watching her like this, I get a warmth that spreads throughout my whole body. It starts in my chest and slowly makes its way through me. And the way she looks up and smiles at me reminds me of how my mom used to smile at my dad before everything went to shit. I slip my phone out of my pocket, setting it on the mantel and pressing a couple buttons until “Blessed” by Thomas Rhett plays from the speaker.
Laiken looks intrigued as I walk over to her and hold out my hand.
“Dance with me,” I tell her.
She giggles. “Babe, there’s no room.”
I glance around a moment before sliding the coffee table right out of the way. “There. Now, dance with me.”
