22. Cane
22
CANE
A rchie moved in the weekend after Halloween, even put his house on the market and everything. He went all-in. His house sold pretty fast, and I can’t say I’m completely happy with that.
Not that I don’t want him here with me. God, I do. But it just doesn’t seem fair. He moved his whole life for me. He bought that house and fixed it up when he felt like he didn’t have anything else in the world. I know how big of a deal that is.
Winter is slow for landscaping, so it hasn’t been too much of an adjustment with him living in Larnard. He’s helped me at my shop quite a bit lately, and it’s been amazing having him here. Oakley and Travis plan to start hiring people from around here soon so they can start up in spring. I’m happy he’s had those two in his life for so long, looking out for him. They didn’t miss a beat, adjusting their business to accommodate us. Travis has assured me a couple of times it’s actually helping them out too. Oakley apparently hates turning down business, but I don’t know how comfortable I am with Archie giving up seeing his best friend every day.
Those two are quite the pair—hell, we even spent Christmas with Walker’s family. An amazing bunch of people who clearly see Archie as another son. While I love this house, I’m not totally attached to it.
I don’t need it to be happy. I’m not attached to the place itself at all. As long as we can find a place with a barn, I’d be fine with moving. My store makes it a little bit trickier, but I feel like we can make it work. I feel like the answer is right there under the surface.
And when Archie slips into the way-too-small shower behind me, his big body against mine, he rumbles against my throat, “Maybe we should have Thatcher build us a bigger shower in here.”
His hands creep over my lower abs, making the muscles flex and admittedly making it a little hard to think, but then it clicks. I turn around and face Archie, who looks adorably sleepy and equal parts horny. “Or...”
He raises a brow and cocks his head to the side, listening. “Or?”
“Or maybe we could save that money, sell this place, and buy some land where Thatcher could build us a house with a bigass shower.” It all kind of clicks in my brain in an instant. A great big farmhouse with trees and land. A barn and maybe a shop for me to refurnish the things I find to sell in the store. A grand porch, of course. A place to grill and host dinners with Walker and Dutton.
He looks surprised but not freaked out, and that’s good because I did just blurt that out at six in the morning. “Where would we do that?”
I shrug. “Maybe somewhere in the middle? There’s a lot of land for sale around here.” Come to think of it, I’ve seen plenty of land for sale on my way to Hayes. I have no doubt we could find our home. “My store does well, and honestly, I hate actually being in it for eight hours a day. I was thinking about hiring someone to run it anyway.”
He’s thinking it over, and my heart is just pounding away. I guess this has been in the back of my mind for a while. “You’d do that?”
“Are you kidding?” I ask, wrapping my arms around his neck and pull him into me. “I want this so badly. I want to build a life with you. I want you to have everything you ever dreamed of. But that has to include Walker and the rest of Oakley’s Crew.” I don’t really mind if I see my family again—a sad, but true fact. My father isn’t speaking to me anyway, and I’m okay with that. My mother calls occasionally to see if I’ve come to my senses . I tell her that won’t be happening and even mentioned how I’m in love with the most amazing man in the world—which, of course, has brought on more ridiculous tears. I’m okay with it though. They were never really my family. They wanted me to be someone I wasn’t. I didn’t fit into their mold, but somehow Archie’s family became mine too. I look forward to the weekends spent with Walker and Dutton. I like hosting Travis and Oakley for dinner or meeting up with all of them in restaurants. We’re talking about going on a trip with Walker and Dutton over the summer. I can’t wait.
“I want you to have everything too though. How stressful will it be if there’s an emergency at your store and you live an hour away?”
I can’t help but laugh, holding onto him even tighter. “A furniture emergency?”
He laughs too, a deep rumbling sound I’m growing addicted to. “You never know.” He reaches down and pinches my ass, making me laugh even harder and swat him away.
“Between what we get for this place and the money from your house, we could have an epic home built.” I move my hands to his cheeks, the water raining down over us. “Say you want that too.”
His eyes are bright, the water cascading down over his face, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. “Only if we can have a kickass barn built for Baby, Dolly, Reba, Peach, and Cookie.”
I grin. “Baby, we can get an even bigger barn so we can get more animals, if that’s what you want.”
“I want,” he says, holding me close and kissing my lips. Our cocks are hard between our bodies, but we aren’t in a hurry. We kiss languidly and soap each other up, kissing some more and talking about what kind of shower we want in our dream house before Archie takes us both in his big hand and sends us over the edge.
Our bodies writhe together as our cum spurts everywhere, and my knees go weak. But Archie is there to hold me up, kissing and holding onto me. A profound happiness settles in both of us after we finally get out of the way-too-small shower, get dressed, and have breakfast in the kitchen together.
“You sure about this?” he asks me before taking a sip of his coffee.
“Archie, I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.” I say it honestly, my heart so damn full.
It’s true. I’ve been so unsettled for so long, but not anymore. I’m certain this is the life I want. With this man. No matter where we end up.