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“I’m saying I’m looking into my options.”
“And those options are…?”
“Do you want a commute? Do you feel comfortable being up here alone when I’m gone? Would you prefer to move closer to the city or live near your parents?”
“Those are an awful lot of options, Mack.” She places her hand on top of mine. “But I haven’t heard you mention yourself in any of them.”
My dark chuckle fills the cab as I shake my head back and forth. She doesn’t get it. She’s never understood. And it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve tried to explain my feelings. I’m not sure she’ll ever fully grasp how much she means to me. “I don’t matter, Kate. Not with this. I wanna be where you are. Whether it’s in this house or across the street from ModernLabs. I wanna be with you.”
“I want to be with you, too, but where you live doesn’t affect that. Not unless…” She chews on her bottom lip, her eyes brimming with hope.
“I want us under the same roof when I’m not traveling for work. And I want to keep doing that for as long as you’ll have me.”
“Are you asking if I want to move in with you?” she whispers.
“Yeah. I am.”
“And the house?” she prods.
“I want to be where you are. Wherever it is, Kate. And if you say yes, and agree to live with me, I think what happens to this house is both of our decision.” I flip my palm up and tangle our fingers together, resting the back of my hand against her thigh. “So what do you say? Where do you wanna live?”
Her teeth dig into her bottom lip as she looks at the front of the house again. The stained wood door. The pot of marigolds she’d planted on the front porch. A small stack of wood lining the side of the house.
She turns to me again and nods. “I fell in love in this house, Macklin. I want to stay here. With you.”
“And the commute?”
“I mean, I might have to get a more reliable car for the winter, but––”
The garage door whirs into motion with the click of a button, and I pull inside, turning off the SUV’s engine. A shiny, white Jeep Grand Cherokee is parked on the right-hand side, and Kate stares at it carefully.
“Mack?”
“One of the best four-wheel drive vehicles on the market. It’s yours.”
“Mack,” she repeats, her voice nothing but a breath.
It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been dating. She’s never once asked about my money from the lottery. She hasn’t cared. Being with me was enough. And even though accepting the gifts I’ve purchased over the last few months has made her prickly, it’s only made me want to buy her more.
“A graduation gift,” I clarify.
“Mm-hmm.” Her lips purse as she stares at the SUV for another minute.
“Do you like it?”
She nods, meeting my eyes. “I love it, Mack. Just like how I love this house and how I love you.”
I hook her neck and tug her into me, kissing the shit out of her. Because I love this girl. And she loves me. Loves me enough to move to the middle of fucking nowhere. Loves me enough to commute to her new job on the opposite side of town. Loves me enough to put up with my bullshit and embrace me and all my flaws.
And fuck me.
It might not be today, but I swear I’m gonna marry her because of it.
And if she keeps kissing me like this?
It might be one day soon.
The End
