Chapter Twenty-Six
Mac
Davis grabs my shoulder and spins me around as Lee shuts the bathroom door. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Opening them, I stare into Davis’ blue ones. “Give her five minutes before you rush in and save the day.”
“I’ve got to get her out of here. They’re going to rush in here any minute and try to sweep her away.”
“We’re going to take a minute and calm down.
After you’ve both had a minute, we’ll get you guys out of here and to her surprise.
From the looks of it, your brothers aren’t letting anyone in here anyways.
” He nods to the big glass door where my little brothers and their friends stand shoulder to shoulder so no one can get in.
I can’t see anything besides their backs and the kids playing in the far background.
“Okay.” I resign.
“I really think this is a great opportunity to exercise honesty and courage by allowing her family to know where you guys are going.”
“She’s an adult. I don’t need permission to take her anywhere.”
Davis nods in understanding, “You’re right. But you’re still building up trust with them, and you’re about to flip them on their heads this evening. Don’t wreck what you’ve worked so hard to build.”
He’s right. I know he is. It’s why he’s quickly become my closest confidant. His advice is solid, and he’s on my side without being a ‘yes man’. “You’re right. Will you come with me while I go back out there?”
He smirks at me, “So you admit it? I might be right from time to time?”
Laughing I playfully push his shoulder, “Oh, fuck off.”
“No, this is a big step. The absolute asshole I met months ago realizes that he actually needs me.” He’s biting back his laugh, making me roll my eyes.
“Come on before I change my mind and sneak her out of here.” Moving to the door, I hear his footsteps behind me. He may still be a douche, but he’s dedicated to making sure I don’t fuck my life up again, and for that I can never thank him enough.
* * *
Pulling away from the driveway in my Jeep, Lee has pressed her head to the side of the door while she watches the trees pass on the side of the road.
When I convinced her to come with me after talking to her family, she agreed, but only if I promised she could stay with me tonight.
That was the easiest promise I’ve ever made.
Reaching over, I grab her hand and rest our intertwined fingers on her thigh.
“I’m sorry tonight didn’t go as planned, baby.” I offer her a sullen grin as she squeezes my hand.
“It’s okay. We just know now that we have to keep them separated. I’m sorry I pushed for it and messed up our birthday.”
She pulls my hand completely in her lap and begins playing with my fingers.
It’s such a Lee thing to do. Always trying to fidget with something.
I turn off the road my family lives on, and where I would typically turn left to go back into the city, I turn right to go further into the small town of Corey Heights.
Dieter’s shop is over here. His and Jakob’s houses are also out here.
Turning down the little side street beside Fischer’s Auto, I take us down a few more streets before pulling into an empty driveway.
“Where are we? Is this where Davis lives or something?” I smile and hold onto the surprise a little longer.
“No, Davis lives on the next street over, though.”
“Who lives here then?” She stares out at the window.
“We do, Beautiful. If you want to.” Her eyes whip to mine, disbelief taking over every feature.
“What? How?”
“Well, a lot of help from my brothers and Davis. We gutted the inside and, with Annie’s help, made it exactly how you’ve always wanted it.” Tears spring to her eyes as she takes in the house, struggling to process what she’s seeing as well as what I’m saying.
The yellow bungalow sits in the center of our plot of land.
White trim, gutters, steps, and porch make the yellow pop even more than it already does.
Ceiling fans are installed on each side of the porch so even when the heat is stifling we can move the air around.
There’s two porch lights that look like old school lanterns hanging on each side of the door frame.
The door is a sage green color; I know I was skeptical too.
But everyone swore it’d look good, and it actually does.
Two rocking chairs sit on the long side of the porch, and on the short side, a wooden porch swing.
A detached garage the same color as the house sits in front of my Jeep.
I’ve worked my ass off to get this ready for today, and all I can do now is hope she loves it.
“Can we- I mean, is it okay if we go inside?” She looks so unsure, like this isn’t her house.
It makes sense. I bought this house a week before I left for the cabin. I’ve had months to adjust to this, she hasn’t. It went up for sale, and I knew with the right work it’d be the perfect house. I figured I’d fix it up eventually, then decide what to do with it.
When I got home from detox, I realized that I was going to have a lot of time on my hands.
Especially because not much is going on with work right now.
That’s a good thing. It means no one is currently coming after us.
At the same time, it gives me even more time to not be busy, so I decided to gut the house and make it into mine and Lee’s dream house.
“Yeah, sweetheart. Let’s go check it out.” I get out and round the front to grab her door before she can open it. Helping her down, the smile she gives me knocks the air out of my lungs.
We walk up the sidewalk and climb the steps to our home. Our home. It has a nice ring to it. Quickly unlocking the door, I push it open, and in the next minute I have her cradled in my arms, bridal style. She yelps as she quickly wraps her arms around my neck.
“Quill! What are you doing?” She laughs loudly.
“I’m carrying you over the threshold of our house. Now hush, woman.”
She glares at me as she digs her thumb into the space between my collarbone and neck, causing me to flinch and laugh at her.
Fiery little sprite. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry!
” She grins triumphantly and settles into my arms as I carry her over the threshold, then gently place her feet on the floor and step back so she can take in what I hope is everything she ever wanted in a house.
She takes in the medium shade wooden floors, the stairs that are slightly to the right of where we are, the white walls, and the fireplace on the long back wall.
Much like the house I grew up in, this one is also open concept.
Directly to the right of the stairs is the dining room, which is complete with an eight person table.
If you move into the little hall through the dining room is a bathroom to your left, then the kitchen.
It’s open and according to Annie, has just enough counter space not to drive her sister crazy.
It’s also equipped with top of the line appliances.
She made sure to point out that the large island is exactly what Lee has always loved about her parents’ kitchen.
From the kitchen, you’re staring directly into the living room. Fully decked out with a huge sectional that Lee and I have been talking about wanting. The TV mounted over the fireplace is bigger than necessary, but a guy’s gotta have one thing. It’s just waiting for Lee to add her touch to it.
There’s a hallway off the living room leading to an office and a bedroom.
The bedroom is equipped with a four poster king sized bed, matching dresser, walk-in closet, and a huge bathroom.
The office is big enough for both of us to work in there if we want.
Right now I have it set up for myself and hers set up upstairs, but it’ll take nothing to move it around if she wants to.
I watch in fascination as she explores the downstairs space. I’m pretty sure she’s in shock because she doesn’t say a word the entire time she’s looking around. It’s almost like she’s worried about moving anything out of place, which is amusing because it’s all hers.
Moving behind her, I wrap my arms around her frame and set my chin gently on her shoulder. “So, what do you think? Good enough for us?”
She spins in my arms and her watery eyes come to mine.
Shit, is that good or bad?
“Ours or yours? I want to be really excited right now, but I need to know.”
“Beautiful, this is ours. And if something ever happens to me or to us, it’s yours. We’re two streets from Dieter and Hannah.” I let the implication hang in the air, and I can see when she realizes what I’m being cryptic about.
“We live on the same street as Jakob?” Her eyes mist over before I can confirm.
“Yeah, he’s about a dozen or so doors down.”
The elation radiating from her every pore cracks my heart right open. She’s perfect, and she’s mine. She wiggles out of my hold and grabs my hand to lead me upstairs.
As soon as we crest the top of the stairs, we’re standing in the den.
There’s a gray oversized sleeper sofa to the right, just waiting for Lee and I to spend lazy days cuddling on it.
On the opposite wall is another TV. Directly behind us are two doors on either side of the stairs leading into two bedrooms with a Jack and Jill bathroom attaching them.
One bedroom is set up as her office. Fully furnished and stocked with everything she could ever need.
The other bedroom is set up just like the one downstairs. I figured I’d let her choose.
“I don’t know what to say.” She looks at me in awe. “It’s gorgeous, I can’t believe you did all of this.”
“I’d do it a thousand times over just to see you smile like this again.”
Her eyes shine with unshed tears of happiness.
I want to tell her everything, all the little touches we added.
How we made the upstairs completely functional so on the bad days she doesn’t have to stay in our room but also won’t have to climb up and down the stairs to get a change of scenery.
I want her to know that hanging on the wall in her office is a framed picture I found of us from our first day of kindergarten.
That her parents are coming around to this, and that Tory already knows to be here on Monday instead of the apartment that she’ll no longer be staying in.
I can’t do any of that right now because the thought of my lips on hers consumes my every thought.
Grabbing her hips, I pull her tightly into me and my lips descend onto hers.
She opens up for me instantly, lashing her tongue against mine playfully.
Using my index finger, I tilt her chin to exactly where I want her and get lost in the kiss.
If this is what life will be like for us, just the two of us, I’ll be just as happy as if we had a baseball team of kids.
I don’t need the fanfare of the life I was raised in.
I don’t need anything aside from her and our little house on Midnight Drive.