Chapter 22
Rohan
“I...I think I need the sparkly ones.” When I finally made it into his office, Knox was standing in the doorway of his closet going through piles of notebooks. “This seems like a sparkly notebook kind of day.”
Were sparkly notebooks like Xanax?
“I think that’s a great idea.” Author Xanax or not, they were a good distraction and almost got a smile from him as he petted one of the sparkly bright green covers. “You know, this pile looks small. We should probably look for some new ones too.”
Knox cocked his head and made an approving sound, but it wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic a response as it should’ve been. “That would be fun. You like getting out of the house and I like notebooks. It would be a good trip for us.”
Oh, that was entirely too reasonable for him.
“Perfect.” I’d add to the pile of random stationery if it meant he’d smile. “What do you think about going to that pub place for dinner...the one with the big pieces of that chocolate monstrosity they’re always advertising?”
He’d end up in a sugar coma but I knew it was something he’d like.
Bingo.
“I...I like cake.” Anything that had fudgy chocolate cream between layers of cake and something that looked like chocolate cheesecake could not just be called cake.
“I think it sounds like a date then.” Coming up behind him, I ignored the odd looks he was giving me and focused on the pile. “What about that sparkly black one and the purple one? The black one says fabulous death scenes and the purple one says erotic naughtiness.”
That finally got a happy sound out of him and he leaned into me. “Yes, those are good choices.”
Taking that to mean I should pick them off the shelf, I grabbed them and placed them in the stack he already had. “What else? I want to make sure you’ve got everything you need to be creative and write me more sex scenes.”
His chuckle made me smile and something had him pressing against me and turning his head so he could nuzzle against me. “I...I’m still going back home, right?”
Oh.
That was a conversation we needed to have at some point, but he was too raw for it at the moment. So I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “I made you an office, and all the food is at the other house.”
Barely holding back a smile, he tried to look bored. “You’re right, and you’re in charge of feeding me, so we have to keep that in mind.”
Besides, we both knew he wasn’t going to be able to relax around this house for a while. There were too many memories and it was entirely too close to his family for me to be comfortable.
His sister hadn’t exactly been pleased and the other idiots her son had been conspiring with looked like they were bouncing between scared and pissed. That was a bad combination in a teenage boy and I didn’t want Knox in their line of fire.
Under normal circumstances, I’d have expected someone in Missy’s position to be polite and explain that she’d handle her kid.
She hadn’t.
She’d just stomped off like a pissed-off three-year-old who’d been denied a toy at Walmart.
“Exactly.” Trapping him against me, I shrugged. “Besides. I’m pretty sure I was promised a blow job, and there’s no takebacks on that.”
He snorted out a laugh. “When did I do that?”
“I’ll remember the details at some point. Just trust me.” That got a giggle out of him and he wiggled in a circle so he could rest his head on my shoulder.
“I do.” He made a happy sound when I kissed his head. “Thank you for...for all that.”
“For being rude to your sister or trapping the gremlins?” I wasn’t sure how he would respond, so I was glad when he snickered.
“Both.” Letting out a deep breath, he didn’t seem to be in any rush to move. “I...I wasn’t expecting any of that, but I’m glad the gremlins didn’t eat you.”
“You would’ve had to go back to feeding yourself if they’d eaten me.” My ridiculous answer got another snicker from him, so I played up the silliness again. “And then there’s the whole I keep you on track thing. Yep, I’m very useful and you don’t want me to get eaten.”
His groan caught me off guard. “Ugh, Lori.”
Ah.
Laughing, I hugged him before slowly relaxing my hold. “She’s never going to believe this, but at least it will be a good distraction for when you have to confess you moved to my place.”
Knox couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to laugh or groan. “I’m going to need more alcohol for that conversation.”
“As long as you don’t go thinking you need to make any more job postings, I don’t mind watching after a drunk Knox.” But if he thought I was going to leave him completely unsupervised, he and I were going to need to have a longer conversation.
Nearly giggling out a laugh, he shook his head. “No job postings. You do very well at taking care of me.”
Since it seemed like we were both on the same page with that, I nodded. “Good. But for now, taking care of you means we need that calendar and a few more clothes. Is there anything else you want?”
His shrug said he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t move away, so I wasn’t going to rush him. “I think I might grab those lamps in the living room. I think they should go in my office.”
Hmm.
“Okay.” Rubbing his back, I ignored the questions that popped up and made a thinking sound. “Do you want me to go upstairs with you and help you pack? I was thinking about cleaning out the fridge while we were here.”
Especially since it didn’t seem like he was moving back in any time soon.
“It’s daytime, and you’re here, so I can go upstairs by myself.” His response was clear and technically not confusing, but it just added to my questions list.
Had he really grasped that the house was safe?
“Perfect.” He stepped back and smiled as I released my hold on him, but there was something in his eyes as he looked around the room that said it was time to find a therapist. “I’m going into the kitchen and you’re heading upstairs. Let me know if you need me, but once you’re done, we’ll regroup.”
And then we’d see how much furniture he was planning on bringing over to the other house.
“Yes. Pack and regroup.” Knox seemed to be mostly talking to himself as he grabbed an empty cardboard box from the bottom of the closet and started stacking his notebooks in it.
All of his notebooks.
We were going to need more boxes.
I wasn’t sure we were at the point where a conversation would be helpful, though. Knox needed to get out of this house and he needed time to process. “Let me know if you need me, but if you’re good and don’t get distracted, I’ll consider a reward later.”
There was no way he’d get distracted, but the game seemed to lighten the mood.
He flashed me a grin and tried to look suspicious. “I’m not sure if I should work hard without more specifics on that reward.”
I shrugged and headed toward the door. “Oh well then.”
He huffed and did his best to hold back a laugh. “Anyone who says I’m difficult hasn’t met you.”
I was better at hiding my laughter than he was and made it to the kitchen without giving away how funny he was.
But then the chaos killed my delight. The little pricks had left it a mess again.
I was beyond angry and into dangerous for their health territory, but I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I worked my way around the room.
Once the trash was picked up and I had the dishwasher running again, I started my original project and cleaned out anything in the fridge that could go funky in the next week. Knox’s fridge had been nearly empty to begin with, so it wasn’t as big of a project as I’d worried it would be.
I just hadn’t been able to remember how empty it’d been, and I was grateful it didn’t take long to get in order.
Once that was done, I listened for Knox but he was talking to himself upstairs. Since it seemed like I had time unless I was willing to question what my nut was doing, I decided I would start clearing out some of the gremlin shit.
All the odd dishes went by the door to the garage before I found another box and began working my way around the living room. Knox had already given me enough information on where to start, so I picked out the new shit the assholes had added to his living room and went to work.
Two more boxes of random crap later, I heard Knox again. “That’s not too much. Master said to get anything I might need and he doesn’t need to be doing laundry every few days.”
How much had he packed?
Master?
Making sure all the obvious gremlin crap was by the back door, I shook my head and listened as Knox rambled a wonderful justification for whatever he’d packed. He gave me just enough information to be worried, so I quietly walked to the front door and almost laughed.
Besides the box of notebooks and random shit he’d grabbed from his office, there were now lamps and a small rug piled neatly by the front door. He’d warned me, so I just shook my head and followed the sound of Knox’s ramblings up to his bedroom.
Wow.
Two big suitcases and a box that used to contain printer paper were on the bed and he was frowning at the pile as I came in the door. “I don’t think I need my tux.”
Huh?
There was probably a rational thought behind the odd statement, so I just treated it like it was completely reasonable. “I don’t think you need it either, but if you show me where it is, I can come back to get it if we need it.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the promise that he could have it if he needed it or the implied promise that he didn’t have to come back, but something got a big smile out of him. “That’s a wonderful idea. I’ll show you.”
His mood got even brighter as he took my hand and dragged me over to the closet.
“It’s back here and packed up carefully.
I also have some dressier suits than I usually need and a ball gown from a Halloween costume that was too pretty to throw out.
So if we need them, you’ll know exactly where they are. ”
“First, you’re an amazing pack rat.” He had the weirdest shit. “And second, we really should figure out the closet situation at the other house before we bring the ball gown over.”
There was space in my closet, but not ball gowns and tuxes space.
His lips pressed together as he cocked his head. “You’re right. We’ll figure that out first before we make any more trips.”
Was there a polite way to ask a shell-shocked sub if they were planning on moving in with their Dom?
Hmm, maybe I needed a therapist too so I could figure out what questions I should be asking?
“Perfect.” Later. We’d figure out questions later. “I have the kitchen cleaned up and de-gremlin-ed.”
Knox went very still and wide-eyed, but I pretended not to notice since I wasn’t completely sure what had freaked him out. “Sometime later this week we’re going to sit down with the pictures we took and you’re going to let me know what else needs to come to the other house.”
Whatever he was expecting clearly wasn’t that because he let out a breath and deflated as the panic he’d been reaching toward wasn’t needed. “Yes. Yes. I can look at the pictures. We’ll...we’ll make a list.”
Since that seemed to be moving us in a good direction, I nodded. “Then I’ll haul all that crap to the dump or Goodwill, and I’ll bring home your important stuff. You have all those shelves in your office to fill, and if we need to, we’ll buy more bookshelves.”
The promise of more furniture had his sparkle coming back. “You...you have space for more shelves. Just...just the hallway to the office has room for some at the end of it and...and by your front door, maybe?”
“That’s a good idea.” It actually was. “How about we do some measuring this week and see what will fit?”
He let out another dramatic breath that wasn’t nearly as subtle as he seemed to think it was and nodded. “I’ll help measure and then we’ll take notes.”
“Great.” He was happier and we had a plan, so I nodded toward the pile on the bed. “Is that all? Are you sure you don’t need anything else?”
I was brilliant.
Knox gave me another beaming smile and shook his head. “No, I think that’s enough for a few days and we’ll figure out the rest.”
Yep, there would be plenty more where that pile came from.
“That sounds like a good plan.” At least it was until I figured out how to ask more questions. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
For now, at least, it was definitely home for both of us.