Chapter 23
Pete
“Open it!” Mom demanded, like I wasn’t going to do it unless she told me to. Christmas morning was fully under way, and considering I wasn’t even opening a present from her, told me she was likely drunk. It was nine A.M. but I wasn’t about to point that out to her.
I gasped when I saw the sci-fi series I’d wanted for months. How the fuck had he known? “How?” I dared ask, eyeing Jackson with new appreciation. Was he a wizard too?
“Mike,” he admitted. “He told me you had a wish list where you kept track of the books you wanted to own. It was easy after that.” The man shrugged, like it was nothing.
This was everything to me. “Oh, and the realtor, Susie, told me the mansion had a library that was closed off, really weird but I’m not bothered by it, I just don’t want you to worry about not getting a real library, there’s another one but if you don’t like it, we can use another room to make your dream library. ”
I was gaping, I knew because I almost drooled. “Marry me,” I teased, but really meaning it, too.
They all laughed and Jackson placed a kiss on my cheek before whispering, “Oh, I definitely will. Some day.”
Then it was Mike’s turn to open his present, and Jackson had been so secretive about what he’d bought for him, that I couldn’t contain my excitement either.
Mom was again demanding he open his gift, yelling at him to get a move on before she peed her pants.
She apparently had to pee like crazy but didn’t want to miss anything.
Mike was smiling wide as he opened the box, pulling out something long and brown. I broke out in laughter with Jackson and Dylan. It took a while for Mom to figure it out, but she was soon laughing too. Ida was the only one not getting it.
“Seriously?” Mike whined.
“Oh no!” Mom laughed even harder. “I peed a little!” Then she ran for the downstairs bathroom and we all laughed even harder.
Mike handed Jackson the whip. “You’re the one who’s into this sort of thing, you take it.” He gave him a smug smile.
“Oh, I’m sure Pete would love that,” Jackson smirked.
Mike’s smile faltered before he whined again, “Whyyyy?!”
“What did I miss?” Mom asked, as she returned wearing a new pair of pajama pants.
God, how I loved her. She had taken the news of Jackson and I moving in together so well.
All of them had. It had helped the somber mood after Mike had told the others of his next work assignment.
We wouldn’t see him for two years, and we’d only be able to communicate with him whenever he got a connection.
It was in the rural parts of Africa and we weren’t told anything else.
Polly told Mom what she’d missed and I appreciated it. It seemed Ida finally figured out what the whip was used for, as her eyes widened, even if she tried to hide it.
Ida was the next to open her gift from Jackson, and he’d truly known what she needed most. A gift card for new clothes and one for makeup.
She didn’t have much with her when she came here, but now she’d be able to get a lot of new things.
He was such a great brother, and I could tell Ida appreciated the gifts.
It was time for my gift, so I handed Jackson what I hoped would be a good present. I had to sneak it out of him, but I felt confident he would like it. He looked confused at first, but then he smiled. “You bought me stuff so I can draw?”
I nodded. “And stuff so you can learn how to draw. Look under the papers.” A book on how to draw basic shapes, animals, and humans was included. I just had to make sure he gave himself the time to actually use it.
“Thank you,” he said, kissing me in front of our friends and family.
I leaned into the kiss, loving we could do this now.
This Christmas hadn’t been like any of the others.
I wasn’t sitting away from Jackson and daydreaming about him holding me as I opened my presents. This time the dream was reality.
I looked him in the eye and whispered, “I love you.”
Two months later.
Finally!
Susie had called Jackson three days ago with good news.
The mansion was ready for us to move in, we just needed to wait until the new week started and then it was officially ours and the investigation was done.
Daisy had told me it wasn’t because of Mitch’s death—I might as well refer to him as his real name since I’ll technically share house with him soon—the investigation had been on the owner Dave, and it was still ongoing, but the mansion had been cleared. Finally!
I still hadn’t seen it, and Jackson hadn’t either since his quick hookup with Dave.
Big surprise there, but I’d surprised us both by laughing when he admitted that Dave had been his hookup.
We weren’t sure if the mansion needed cleaning or not, or what state it was in.
Susie had told us it seemed clean enough and that Dave had left a lot of furniture behind after fleeing.
Only I knew why he’d fled; Susie had told Jackson it was likely because of the investigation that he’d left without most of his stuff.
Her reasoning had worked on Jackson, who never questioned it.
I was helping the movers fill the moving van while Jackson had left to look at the mansion, taking his motorcycle so I could take his car. I’d given my old one to Ida, who’d been speechless. Jackson preferred his motorcycle anyway, so his car was basically mine now.
As soon as Jackson called me, I would drive to the mansion. I was so excited! I’d only seen the pictures, but it was massive. Dylan was so jealous and had joked he might become a member when we opened the club.
To think that Jackson and I had only dated for a few months, and here we were moving in together. I shook my head. This was what I’d dreamed of, and I was living it.
Jackson had given Mike their apartment, but with him leaving for two years, they’d decided it would be best to sell it.
Jackson had paid for seventy percent, but he still gave Mike everything so he could buy some place new when he returned.
For now, Mike would leave some of his things at Mom’s and some at our place for safe-keeping.
Ida’s mom had finally reached out and they were mending their relationship.
I was glad for Ida’s sake, but I just hoped her mom wouldn’t hurt her again.
When she’d asked for Ida to come home, she’d said she already was, making my mom cry.
The two of them were getting closer each day, and even with Ida staying there, her mom had seemed to accept it. For now, anyway.
My phone rang just as I’d handed over the last box. We’d already boxed up my room and got that in the van before emptying Jackson and Mike’s apartment. Mike had already left, so the apartment needed to be completely emptied out today.
I greeted Jackson and he told me the mansion was ready and no deep clean was needed for today.
I suspected Mitch and Nic had cleaned up the place.
Daisy told me they were the only ghosts on the property, meaning they would have the power to touch things.
Ghosts shared energy and power so more ghosts meant less power for each ghost. One ghost meant one crazy powerful spirit.
That was often the reason more ghosts were favorable, then they couldn’t hurt or touch you, or your stuff.
But knowing they were friendly and that I would basically be spying on them helped.
I told the movers to meet me at the mansion and drove ahead of them, only taking two of my own boxes with my most treasured belongings. My books and mug collection. I knew I could trust the movers, but I wasn’t risking it.
I’d said my goodbyes to Berlina and Sven when I had two minutes alone without the movers, and I felt comforted that they would continue to watch over the building. Maybe it would become more normal for mediums to stay longer after having passed. It seemed like a good cause.
The mansion was much grander in real life.
Beautiful too. I could see why Jackson had been so obsessed with it.
I was too now. I’d carried in my first box of books and Jackson had helped with my tour around the property.
Mitch and Nic had eyed us both with clear interest and it was already apparent that they found Jackson sexy as hell.
I tried to hide my amusement; it was hard but I needed to get used to it.
“This could be your very own library,” Jackson said, gesturing to a door.
I entered the room and gasped. It had two big windows and was facing the backyard.
It had a decent size to it, and I really didn’t need a huge room for my books.
If I did end up with more books than the room could fit, I was sure we’d be able to figure something out.
“I would love this room,” I gushed, running my fingers over the paneling on the walls. “I want a chandelier in here. And new curtains.” The ceiling was high, making it perfect for a huge chandelier, and the windows were tall too. With the perfect curtains they’d look even better.
“What about painting?”
“Definitely. A dark blue shade. Not navy, but more dusty blue.”
He seemed amused. “Dusty blue. Noted.”
Ignoring him, I continued to look at the details, like the wooden flooring. “Maybe a darker stain? I want a rich and warm vibe in here. With dark wooden bookshelves.”
“We can do all of that.”
“And a white fluffy rug.”
Jackson was positively beaming at my excitement. “Anything you want, baby.”
I left to grab my last box from the car while Jackson helped the movers with the heavier stuff. My collection of cat mugs was important to me, and they were fragile, meaning I trusted no one but myself to get them safely put away.
A few hours later and we’d finally gotten everything inside and now had to deal with the unboxing part.
“Let’s leave it for tomorrow,” Jackson said, offering me his hand.
I was sitting on the living room floor, ready to tackle the first box.
“I want to order Chinese to celebrate our first night here. And I’ve bought pink lemonade too. ”
This man, seriously.
Two dreamy sighs came from my right and I knew we had company. I already liked Mitch and Nic; they seemed like nice guys, even if they drooled over my man. Couldn’t fault them for that, though.
“I love you,” I said, accepting his hand, then when I was back on my feet, I kissed him. Then, knowing we had an audience, I deepened the kiss, loving that I’d made both of them jealous.
This would be fun.
He groaned. “We don’t have time to celebrate like that, baby. The food will be here in under ten.”
I grinned as I tugged him down on the couch with me.
Dave had left his old couches behind, but we would order new ones soon.
We’d taken Jackson’s old bed at first, but had ordered a bigger one for delivery next week.
“Let’s watch a movie while we eat,” I suggested, loving that we would eat Chinese on the couch.
“Sounds perfect. You pick something while I grab plates and such from the kitchen.”
“Deal.” I turned on the TV then picked a random action movie. It was something both of us enjoyed watching, that and comedies. I was a sucker for fantasy and sci-fi, but it wasn’t really Jackson’s style. Surprisingly, he liked rom-coms, who would’ve guessed?
Jackson had just placed everything on the coffee table when the doorbell rang. Perfect timing.
We settled in and began eating. I couldn’t have pictured a better way of celebrating this new chapter for us. We clinked our glasses of pink lemonade together and toasted for what we hoped would be many good years here.
When the movie was over, we were about ready to pass out, so we each took a quick shower, separately, since we had every intention of celebrating in bed, too.
We’d gotten dressed in our sleepwear since we had to do a quick run down of the whole mansion, making sure every light was turned off and that all doors and windows were locked.
It wasn’t a surprise that Mitch and Nic were already in the bedroom waiting for us.
They were silent as they watched us undress, but cheered as more clothes were shed.
I had no idea I would be so into having sex in front of an audience, but I was loving it.
It was thrilling having their eyes on us as Jackson caressed my body with his mouth and hands. I felt so wanted. Worshipped.
Jackson was on top of me, ready to push inside me when he whispered, “Welcome home, baby,” then claimed my body as his while our ghosts looked on with eagerness.