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Both lads laugh.
“Where are you planning on surfing?” Gabe asks. “We’re kind of far from the ocean here.”
“Teddy got invited to this fucking swish summer program in California. Right on the beach,” Charlie explains.
“I gotinvitedto apply,” I correct him, which reminds me that’s something I haven’t done yet. “I don’t know if I’ll get in.”
Charlie and Gabe trade glances.
“California, huh? Right on the ocean? I like the sound of that. So will Jan-Jan. She’ll be able to fly in for a visit whenever she wants.”
I wince. “She’s going to have a lot to say about the four of us, isn’t she?”
Grinning, Gabe nods.
“You’re gonna make me explain it to her, aren’t you?”
“Oh yeah,” Gabe says, looking extremely pleased with himself. “She’ll only give you half the earful she’ll give me. I rescued you from your Da, so you can run interference with my Jan-Jan.”
I roll my eyes at him.
Darwin ambles back through the kitchen, his hands in the pockets of his tailored trousers. He’s only had two nights of solid sleep, but he’s already regained those ethereal good looks: the winter sunlight gilding his flawless skin, glinting in his silver eyes, gleaming on the edges of his teeth, bared by his trademark smirk. Fuck, has there ever been a boy as smug as Princely?
“Agent’s haggling, but it’s ours. Want to move in this weekend?”
I gape at him. It can’t possibly be that fast. When Elliot leased our shop-front in Salford, it took nearly three months to get the keys. Surely purchasing a house takes longer?
“Could we?”
He nods. “I’ll get workmen out here later in the week. I want to take out the wall between the bedrooms to make a game room and study, replace all the cabinetry, and update the kitchen and bathroom. Shouldn’t take more than a few days. If you want to pick colors, I’ll have them paint as well.”
I just stand there like a numpty, staring at him. He pushes between Gabe and Charlie to take me in his arms.
“You’re giving me that ‘Princely’s at it again’ look, teddy bear. Am I going too fast?”
“Nuh-no, I just didn’t expect ... all this, when we came to look at a flat.”
“You want a home. I get that. I want to give it to you. And, maybe, I want to give it to me, too. I’ve lived in a lot of places, but none of them have been home. You said I could be part of your family. I want to give our family our first home.”
The boys press in around me as my eyes fill.
Darwin touches his forehead to mine. “Yes? No? Maybe so?”
I sling my arms around all three necks, trying to drag them, impossibly, closer. “Yes.”
“I’m not trying to buy my way in,” Darwin says.
At my incredulous look, even through my tears, Darwin grins.
“Maybe I’m trying to buy my way in a little. You can buy our next place, okay?”
I nod and go up on my flexible toes to give him the kiss he deserves, not just for buying our family our first forever-home, but for recognizing his own bullshite.
* * *
After Darwin finalizesthings with the agent, and puts the deposit for the house on his credit card—who even has a credit card you can put a house deposit on?—Charlie and I head to the gym for our Monday-night spar.
For the first time, we have an audience.
