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“Okay, I’m here if it’s too heavy,” I remind her.
“I know.” She smiles.
“It’s cute how much you worry about her,” Jen adds, carrying a box marked pillows into the place.
“You do what you can for those you love,” I say with a shrug.
It is second nature for me to care about Lainey and to look out for her. Which includes moving into my place. Even though Steve is still off far away in county jail, and won’t be allowed to be within five hundred feet of Lainey ever again. It seems like the better and safer option for us to move into my place. It is bigger and there are no leftover memories from him. And he had never followed me as far as Lainey and I knew, which means he doesn’t know where I live. Something both Lainey and I feel much safer about.
“Well, don’t just stand around!” Lainey jokes and snaps me out of my head. Today is supposed to be a positive and happy day. I don’t need to think about one of the worst days of my life. I need to soak in each and every moment of today.
“You got it, boss!” I salute her, and she shakes her head laughing.
I head to the truck and grab the dog stuff from Lainey’s apartment. We had adopted a German Shepherd a few months ago from the local animal shelter. Which Lainey named Derek Shepherd after her favoriteGrey’s Anatomycharacter. I was just happy to have a dog with her that I didn’t mind what we named it. He was a little older than we thought we’d get but the moment we saw him, we both knew it was the dog we wanted. Plus it was rare that older dogs got adopted so we made a point to take him home while we could. He spent his time straddled between Lainey’s place and mine for the last six months. Which was a little bit complicated but we wanted to wait until we were sure we were in a good spot to move in with each other. We didn’t want to rush it, even though some would say that less than a year is rushing it.
“Derek!” Lainey shouts playfully as I walk in the box of his toys. “Look, Mama’s got your toys from my house!” We’ve also gotten used to calling each other Derek’s mom’s.
“I’ll take that.” Jen smiles and grabs the box from me. We’ve gotten along great too, getting to know each other better after the incident. Jen was a little weary of me. I mean I was the first woman Lainey ever dated, and I was so soon after Steve, I get it. But I am not some rebound, I am the real deal, and I plan on proving that to her any chance I get. Which I have over the last six months.
“Thank you.” I head back outside and grab the rest of the boxes. Between the three of us, it only takes a few hours to pile in all of Lainey’s things into my place. We put it in the extra bedroom I have and although Lainey promises to unpack as soon as possible, as long as she’s here, I don’t mind.
Jen leaves after dinner and that gives Lainey and I some alone time to start unpacking together. Lainey starts in the kitchen with cooking utensils, most of which I don’t have, and I unpack a few boxes of books and dvds in the living room. When we’re both too tired to move anything else, we retreat to the couch together and turn on a random movie to watch.
“I love being here with you.” She smiles.
“I love having you here,” I agree.
“I cut back some hours at the bakery, so I’ll be home more with Derek.” She smiles.
It is something we have both talked about, life is too short to work ourselves to death. So instead of being on call seven days a week, we both are down to working four days a week each. Sometimes our days off overlap, which is my favorite because then we spend time together going on adventures or staying in bed together.
“Even more?” I ask surprised.
“I want to be here more, I’ve hired extra help and my parents are supportive of it,” she explains.
“Whatever you want to do, I’m happy if you’re happy.”
“I was thinking about starting to sell pastries and things at the farmers market on the weekend. I really enjoy baking and then I’m not tied to my parents’ recipes.”
“That sounds awesome! I’m down to be your taste tester anytime.”
“Oh yeah?” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.
“I was saying something nice and you have to make it dirty.” I roll my eyes at her.
“I want to be a taste tester for you.” She smiles mischievously.
“Oh shush.” I toss a pillow at her and she laughs.
“Mmm, please?” She smirks and I lean in to kiss her.
Just as I’m about to pull her into my lap, Derek runs over and puts his head in my lap.
“He probably wants to go out, I usually take him out at this time,” Lainey explains.
“Okay, I’ll take him and be right back.” I give her a quick kiss on the lips and reach for Derek’s collar and leash. Putting it on him, his tail starts wagging and he knows what’s coming. I take him for a quick walk around the apartment complex and then head back after he’s done his business.
Heading in the apartment, I don’t see Lainey on the couch or in the kitchen so I look around confused. I call out her name twice and she doesn’t answer. My heart begins to beat fast and I start to panic, is something wrong? Where is she? I’m about to call the police after checking the extra bedroom, when I get to our room and I find Lainey lying completely naked on the bed, only wearing a pink strap on and smiling mischievously.
