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Again, a poet, Voss was not.
But I think I liked how he was tripping along into this. Somehow, that made it feel even more special.
“We are absolutely doing this,” I told him before sealing my lips to his.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Voss - 1 week
“Why are you here?” I asked, looking over at Sully who’d followed me to the house I was viewing.
Sylvie had signed off on a bunch of places online. You know, after a lot of bitching about how she didn’t think it was fair for me to spend all the money on the house and yada yada yada.
Silly shit.
It was just money.
But, coming from humble beginnings, and having struggled a lot in early adulthood myself, I understood how several hundred grand dropped on a house sounded astronomical to someone working for an hourly wage. Not a great one, either, since charities weren’t exactly rolling in dough.
That said, I had the money. I would continue to have the money. The club made bank with the illegal shit. But it also had money coming in through the legal businesses too. There was more than enough to go around. And I’d been sitting on almost my whole salary since the beginning, what with living at the club and not having any expenses.
I had it.
This was what I wanted to spend it on.
Her.
Us.
A future.
That shit was priceless.
“Just wanted to check out what the local real estate market has to offer,” Sully said, looking up at the house, looking ridiculous in a neon pink Hawaiian shirt with fucking purple octopuses all over it.
“Why? You buying a house?”
“Not yet. But maybe one day, I’ll find me a honey of my very own, and want to settle down. Good to know what I’m looking for.”
Shaking my head at him, I made my way up the front path.
It was the house that needed the most work on the list, and therefore cheaper, but it was the one Sylvie had clearly liked the most. That, mixed with how close it was to the clubhouse, had it at the top of my list too.
Even if we would have to put some work into it.
Or, rather, I would have Brooks make Sully, Sutton, Nave, and Callow put some work into it. Free labor. Couldn’t beat that.
It was a moderately sized bungalow with the typical sloped roof, one level, and a small veranda out front.
The light yellow wooden shakes had seen better days, and the rungs on the porch were rotted away.
But I could picture it redone, could see sitting on the porch at night with Syl and Nitro.
The yard was fenced, just a four-foot chainlink that we both agreed would need to be replaced with something higher. Because of Nitro, but also for privacy.
The lot itself was on a quarter acre, which was pretty decent for the area. Plenty of room for a swing set, a back patio, maybe even an above-the-ground pool.
“Don’t even see the point of going in,” Sully said. “Looks like you already decided.”
I all but had.
Still, it was a house. An investment. I had to take a look around, see if there were any major red flags.
We walked into a decent-sized living room. Big enough for a sectional and a nice TV. One of those big orthopedic beds for Nitro.
“This is small,” Sully declared, walking around the kitchen.
“For you,” I agreed. “But not for two people who don’t cook,” I reminded him.
“She’s learning,” he insisted.
“To do it, but not to enjoy it,” I said, shrugging. “Don’t figure she will choose to do it as often as she will choose to order in.”
He placed a hand to his heart like the words stung, but said nothing else as we toured the rest of the house. A nice-sized primary bedroom with a full bath, plus two more smaller bedrooms and one other full bath.
Plenty of room.
Even if we had kids.
When.
I was pretty sure kids was a when not an if at this point.
We’d both casually mentioned the need for extra bedrooms. Which we only needed for kids.
“Hey, this is the perfect spot for the lizard,” Sully declared, pointing toward a built-in cabinet at the end of the hallway that would lead out back.
It was, too.
Pretty much the exact size of his enclosure.
“So, you gonna buy it?” Sully asked as we both stood out back, looking at the yard.
“Think so,” I said, nodding.
“You gonna ask her to marry you?”
Shit.
Somehow, in my mind, I’d skipped over that.
The house was easy.
We’d already been living together for weeks. This was just making it more formal. And comfortable. A place we could call our own. Where she didn’t need to wear pants. And where I could… appreciate her not wearing pants.
“I think that’s how this goes,” I agreed, nodding.
“Don’t get her a boring-ass diamond. She wouldn’t like that. And don’t take her to some touristy place for your honeymoon. She’d hate that too. What?” he asked at my look. “The girls club, they talk. And since I am an honorary member, I listen. It sounds like, because she traveled a lot as a kid, she learned to appreciate the places that no one else really knows about. Figure you probably know some of those places too.”
