13. Atticus
THIRTEEN
ATTICUS
“Yes.”
I hear the word, but it takes me a moment to process it. “Yes?” I question.
“Yes,” she says, nodding her head.
Leaping up from the floor, I pull her into my arms and spin her around.
Her white, sexy dress twirls off her legs as I whirl us in a circle.
Slowly lowering her to her feet, I kiss her, not caring that my friends are still in the room.
Honestly, Gaelle and Holly wouldn’t care if I lifted her skirt and fucked her right here in the kitchen, but instead, I devour her mouth until we’re both breathless and I have to drag myself away from her.
“Congratulations,” Holly singsongs, rushing over to pull first Lemon, then me into hugs, her huge baby belly pressing against me as she holds me tight.
As Holly hugs me, Felix makes a beeline for Lemon, pulling her into his arms. When she melts into him, I exhale the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
Felix is the other half of my soul, and I’m grateful that Lemon gets that.
But I hope she understands that she’ll never need to compete with him, because he might be my soul, but she’s my heart.
After he lets Lemon go, Felix comes to me, and we rest our foreheads together the way we’ve been doing since we were babies. “I like her, Att,” he tells me softly.
“I like her too.”
“She’s family.”
“Yes,” I agree.
“One of us.”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” he tells me. “She fits.”
“Yeah, she does.”
“Love you, bro,” he says.
“Love you too.”
Felix and I don’t need to say a lot to understand each other.
We never had. He showed me he approved of Lemon the very first time he met her, and he’s been showing her ever since.
If he didn’t like her, I’m not sure what I’d have done, but I don’t need to think about that because he’s right.
She fits. She fits in our home, she fits in our family, she fits me.
Once everyone has hugged and congratulated us, Felix and Marcus excuse themselves and head back down into the studio.
“Let me see how the ring fits,” Gaelle demands, and Lemon obediently holds her hand out to her.
“It’s a bow,” Lemon gasps, obviously not having really looked at the ring I slid onto her finger until now.
“Those are pink sapphires, and the center stone is a diamond. The band is rose gold, like your collar,” Gaelle tells her.
“Atticus, it’s beautiful,” Lemon says, not pulling her hand from Gaelle’s hold, but turning to look at me.
“Gaelle and I worked up a design years ago. I didn’t know she’d actually made it until yesterday,” I tell her softly. “But it looks like it was always meant to be there, and now it always will be,” I tell her, tugging her away from Gaelle and pulling her into my arms.
“Where are you going to get married?” Holly asks excitedly.
“Where do you want to get married, Princess?” I ask her.
Blinking, she looks up at me in shock. “I…”
“We can figure out the details soon. All that matters is that in six weeks, you’re going to be my wife.”
Gaelle fusses with the ring, insisting that Lemon take it off so she can make adjustments.
It takes her less than an hour to resize the band so that it fits perfectly, and when I slip the ring back onto Lemon’s finger again, I bring her hand to my mouth and press a kiss to the ring and her finger beneath.
“Baby, we need to get going. I’ve booked us massages at two p.m., and I want to get us settled into the room before then,” Gaelle announces.
“Thank you so much for bringing the rings,” I tell Gaelle, reluctantly letting go of Lemon so I can pull my friend into a hug.
“You’re welcome. Thanks for giving us an excuse to leave the in-laws early. I don’t think we’ll be able to get back out here for the wedding, so we’ll need to make plans for you and Lemon to visit us once the baby is born.”
“We’d love to, and let me know when you’re ready for that tattoo.”
“What tattoo?” Holly asks excitedly.
“Atticus is going to design a piece for me after the baby is born,” Gaelle says.
“Oh, I want a tattoo. Can I get a tattoo too?” she says, her belly bouncing as she vibrates up and down.
“We’ll see,” Gaelle says. “If you behave.”
“I never behave. That’s why you love me so much,” Holly says, sticking her tongue out playfully at her wife.
After we follow them outside, Lemon curls into my side as we wave them off.
“Are we really getting married?” she questions as the electronic gate slides closed behind them.
“Yes, of course we are.”
“I don’t even know what your middle name is,” she admits.
“I don’t have one.”
“We know nothing about each other. This is a lovely fantasy, but we’re basically strangers,” she blurts, panic lacing her words.
“Settle, Princess. We’ll learn all the things we need to because we have the rest of forever to know each other,” I assure her.
“God, you’re so calm. You make me feel calm, but I shouldn’t be calm because this is crazy. In the few days since we met, I’ve quit my job, gotten a new one, had sex, been collared, called you Sir, told you I love you, and now we’re getting married. This is too much. It’s all too much.”
Pulling her into my arms, I hold her close, her muscles tight and tense from how overwhelmed she is.
“Settle, Princess. I know this all feels like a lot right now, but we can just take one thing at a time. We have no plans until tonight, so let’s grab some boxes, and we can start packing up your things from your apartment.
Regardless of me and you, I know we both agree that getting you away from your crazy roommate is a priority. ”
She inhales slowly, not speaking as her muscles start to relax and soften.
“I do need to start packing regardless,” she concedes.
“Okay. So let’s go then,” I encourage, not giving her a chance to protest. Keeping my arm around her, I steer her into the warehouse and toward where Marcus is frantically typing on his cell. “Marcus,” I call, not wanting to startle him.
Jolting, he spins to face us, clutching his hand against his chest. “Oh my god.”
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you,” Lemon says, reaching out a hand toward him.
Jumping back, Marcus throws up his hand to cover his face, his eyes wide and terrified.
Curling my arm around Lemon’s waist, I pull her closer to me. “It’s okay,” I tell him softly.
“Yes, of course. I’m fine,” he says too quickly. “I was miles away. You startled me.”
“That’s okay. Could you point us in the direction of the packing boxes?” I ask him, not wanting to question his reaction, but filing the conversation away for later.
“Should I arrange for a moving company to come and pack everything?” he asks, his voice the fast, ultra-professional, impersonal one he used for the first six months that he worked for us.
“No. God, no. Avery would lose her mind if I let movers into the apartment,” Lemon says quickly.
With a brisk nod, Marcus darts across the studio, his body stiff as he reaches behind a cabinet and pulls out several folded cardboard moving boxes.
Carrying the boxes back to us, he leans them against the wall, then darts off to another cabinet, pulling out tape and a roll of bubble wrap, before bringing them back to us too.
“These are perfect. Thank you,” I tell him, not mentioning his wild eyes and frantic body language.
Handing Lemon the tape and bubble wrap, I pick up the boxes and carry them out to my car, opening the trunk and placing them inside. “Do you have your house keys?” I ask Lemon.
“They’re in my purse.”
“Okay, you climb in, and I’ll go and fetch them. I’ll be right back.”
Opening her door, I watch as she gets herself situated in the passenger seat before I head back inside and make a beeline for Marcus.
His eyes go wide when he sees me, but I place my hand slowly on his arm and speak before he can. “Are you okay?”
His eyes are glassy when he purses his lips and nods.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
He shakes his head.
“Do you understand that Felix, Lemon, and I are here for you? Not as your boss, but as your friend and your family.”
A single tear slips from his eyes, but he quickly wipes it away. “I know.”
“Okay, so when you’re ready, if you’re ever ready, you can come and find me and tell me, and I’ll make sure that whoever hurt you never hurts you again.”
“You already did that,” Marcus whispers.
Swallowing thickly, I nod, remembering the visit I paid to his asshole ex when he was hassling Marcus before we left to move to Montana. “I wish I’d made my visit to that asshole a lot more violent right about now.”
“Violence he understands, but being intimidated isn’t something he’s used to. He won’t contact me again,” Marcus says quietly.
“I’m glad about that, but if I’d known—”
“You’ve already done more than anyone else did,” Marcus whispers.
Unable to resist, I pull the other man into me and hug him tightly.
“What’s the matter?” Felix asks, suddenly appearing behind us.
“I’m just pleased that Marcus decided to move here with us,” I tell my brother, not wanting to share Marcus’s story without permission.
“Oh. Okay. I’m happy you’re here too, Marcus,” Felix says.
Pulling away, Marcus quickly wipes his eyes and clears his throat. “I’m glad too. Applying for the job as your PA is the best decision I’ve ever made,” he says, then, like this confession is as much as he can take, he rushes away.
“Lemon and I are heading to her place to start packing her stuff so she can move in here. Are you okay with that?”
“Of course. She’s my sister now.”
“Here you go, Princess,” I say, handing her purse to her as I climb into the driver’s seat.
“Thanks,” she says, opening it and searching the contents until she finds her cell phone. “Oh god,” she says beneath her breath when the screen comes to life.
“Everything okay?”
“Avery sent me a text.”
“Saying?” I question.
“Reminding me of the rules we agreed to, only she decided to add ten new ones.”
“Like what?” I question, half amused, half furious that Lemon has been dealing with her roommate’s level of crazy for almost two years.