Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Peyton
A week later, I was supposed to be packing but instead, I sat on the remnants of my bed with my tablet in front of me, the hammering in the living room serving as background noise. For the first time in weeks, I had inspiration to draw something.
Christmas was a week away, and my brother and Cole wanted to get the repairs done before we left for Kentucky.
I made that trip every year, but this year it was different.
I’d usually go with Jesse, who tended to forget that I got carsick and teased me about the amount of bathroom stops I needed.
This year, however, he was going early, so I chose to stay and soak up a few more days with Cole.
I wasn’t sure how long it would take for me to adjust to him being mine, but I was going to enjoy the feeling.
There was a crash and then, “Watch it, dickhead!”
“Whoopsie!”
How those two managed to get anything accomplished was beyond me, but they didn’t get to be one of the most successful companies in the area for no reason, so it must have worked.
Cole had finished the roof yesterday, and now they worked together on the flooring.
All things considered, I was lucky. The branch through my ceiling could have been so much worse.
The living room needed repairs, but Cole’s quick work in covering the damage saved the rest of the house.
Not that hit mattered much to me anyway—the place was going up for sale right after the holidays.
Sure, it was mine. It was something I’d worked my ass off for, but it never truly felt like home anyway.
Most of it sat empty because I didn’t have anything to fill it.
When I worked, it was usually in bed or on the couch in front of the TV.
Having a second bathroom came in handy when people visited, but for the most part, it only gave me another room to clean.
More arguing filtered through the closed door.
Snickering, I set my tablet aside to investigate.
I was surrounded by boxes and bags filled with everything I owned.
Soon enough, they’d be filling Cole’s house.
As I passed through the kitchen, the Terror Twins came into view.
They hadn’t seen me, so I watched for a moment.
They stood in the middle of the bare living room floor, arguing over which way to lay the boards.
Cole shoved Jesse, and he retaliated by attempting to put Cole in a headlock.
Unfortunately for my brother, Cole was a bit bigger, much to his dismay.
“Do I need to put you two in time out?”
Freezing in place, Cole’s gaze snapped up to me. His features softened, and he let go of my brother. Jesse straightened his clothes, muttering a phrase I’d rather not repeat.
“Ignore him,” I said when Cole’s eyes narrowed at my brother’s back.
“Are you all packed?”
It had been hours, and I’d hardly done anything. When inspiration struck, it was easy to ignore responsibilities. “Sort of…”
Instead of using his “Daddy” voice in front of Jesse, Cole simply arched a brow and strode over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“I’ve been drawing,” I confessed before he kissed the truth right out of me, a tactic he’d quickly learned got him anything he wanted.
“Yeah? What are you working on?”
Cue the heat over my cheeks. I glanced at my brother, who had returned to knocking the boards in to place with something that resembled a medieval torture device. He couldn’t know what I’d been sketching. The naughty image on my tablet was for our eyes only. “It’s a secret.”
“Oh?”
“I can hear you!” Jesse interjected. “Choose your next words carefully!”
I bit my lip, and Cole smiled, leaning down to press a chaste kiss to my cheek. “Go finish up. I expect to see that drawing later.”
Face on fire, I spun and hightailed it back to my bedroom. My tablet lay on the bed, screen still bright. I picked it up and admired the faint sketch I’d been working on. The final product would never see the light of day, but I needed to get it out of my head and onto paper. Or… screen, as it was.
I was on my knees with Cole behind me. One hand slipped beneath the baggy T-shirt I wore—his T-shirt—and the other wrapped around my throat.
At the image of his lips dusting across my shoulders, goosebumps pebbled up in the same path.
It was just line work now, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it once it was finished, but between being sick and my unwanted visitor, I hadn’t touched my tablet in weeks—it was a start.
Before I got too flustered, I locked the screen and flipped the case shut. By the sounds of it, Cole and Jesse were hard at work again, and it wouldn’t take them long to wrap things up. I had zero desire to spend my entire day packing, so it was time to get to work.
As I cleared out my closet, one large box teased me from the corner: my diapers. I’d stalked that website for weeks and when I finally ordered them, I tracked the delivery religiously. I didn’t need anyone getting a hold of it by accident.
But I also hadn’t been able to bring myself to open it.
I’d been new to being Little when I ordered them. I was curious, but cautious about experimenting with them on my own. Considering how fussy I got when I was wet, it was probably a good thing I hadn’t.
By the time Cole poked his head in the room to check on me, I was nearly finished. The power was still out and with the sunlight fading, it was time to call it a day. “You need any help?” he asked.
I scanned the things around me, deciding that I didn’t need most of it right away. Grabbing a couple of bags, I indicated the box in the corner. “I think I’m good, but can you grab that?”
My heart raced throughout the drive home.
Cole, sensing something, kept a possessive grip on my thigh.
Even after such a short amount of time, neither of us were a stranger to me being in diapers.
It surprised even me that I’d gotten so comfortable with them, even to the point of using them.
But the ones in the back of my closet had been my dirty little secret for months.
I was nervous for Cole to know that I had them, and I couldn’t put my finger on why.
“Where does this go?” he asked about the box once we’d brought everything inside.
Blushing, I looked at my feet. “The nursery.”
Cole paused, no doubt curious, but he didn’t bat an eye. He carried the box down the hall and set it in the middle of the floor. “Do you want me to help you unpack it or…? Baby, what’s the matter?”
I’d frozen in the doorway, unable to take another step. “I don’t know,” I admitted with a huff. “It’s nothing we’re not used to.”
Cole slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his boxcutter. Carefully, he sliced through the tape—and smiled. He withdrew the two packs inside and set them on the changing table. My cheeks were on fire.
There were two different designs because naturally, I couldn’t decide. Both were black, but one was lace-printed while the other had tiny skulls and crossbones all over. Cole took out one of each and admired them, grinning ear-to-ear. “These are adorable.”
“I like yours better.” I wasn’t going to admit that I preferred them because the teddies disappeared…
Cole, unfazed, simply put them away where they belonged. “We can use both. What’s got you so nervous?”
I shrugged, feeling my head grow fuzzy—my body’s natural reaction when I was anxious, but it was ramped up by being in the nursery. With the box empty, Cole flattened it and gathered me into his arms. “I guess I’ve just had them for so long that it feels odd to unpack them now.”
“What kept you from trying them?”
I arched a brow. “You’ve seen what I’m like when I’ve had an accident. Can you imagine if I had to handle that myself?”
“Say no more,” Cole chuckled, bending down for a kiss. When our lips parted he said, “I have something to ask you.”
“What’s that?” Our lips ghosted across each other, and I was desperate for him to spit out whatever it was so I could haul him to the bedroom.
“Will you come home with me?”
Confused, I pulled back and furrowed my brows, scanning the space we were standing in. “Um, we are home. Did Jesse hit you in the head with that torture device?”
“No, he didn’t,” Cole laughed. “And I don’t mean here.”
“I’m going to need more information.”
“My parents, Peyton. I want to take you home to my parents.”
That didn’t clear anything up at all. “Cole, I already know your parents. I think they like me better than they like you.”
“Of course they do but that’s not the point. I want them to meet you as my partner.”
Heat rushed to my face so quickly that I swayed, lightheaded. “Partner?”
“That is what we are, isn’t it? Is there another term you’d prefer?”
I shook my head. “No, no. Partner’s fine. You’re sure?”
Cole smiled against my lips. “Peyton, I’ve moved you into my house and you’ve monopolized so much of my mind for the last fifteen years that I’m not sure any of it belongs to me anymore.
Yes, I’m sure. When we go to Kentucky next week, come with me.
Because I want to walk into my parents’ house with my arm around you, introducing you as mine. ”
Damn him. My eyes stung, and I blinked the tears away. “You’re such a romantic,” I teased.
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No,” I hauled my partner down to my level, crushing his mouth to mine. “Not at all.”