Chapter 45 Couples Who Match
WREN
Iwalk out into the living room dressed in jeans, my Vans, and my favorite Team Cody sweatshirt. It’s dark green and has a big ribbon on the front.
“I like that sweatshirt,” Tanner says. He’s wearing a white T-shirt, gray sweatpants, and tennis shoes.
“Dink Responsibly.” I laugh. “Nice shirt.”
He looks down and chuckles. “I like yours better. The weather is supposed to be chilly today. You think I could get one of those?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure if there are any left, but I can look when we get to my parents’ house. What time is the moving truck going to be ready?”
Dolly runs into the room chasing a little ball. She pounces on it, and it shoots across the floor, hitting my foot. “Morning, baby girl,” I say, reaching down to pet her head.
“We can pick it up at nine.”
I walk over to the fridge, pausing when I see what’s waiting for me. There hangs a Post-it, and on it are the same dog and cheetah doodle that he’s given me countless times, but they’re sitting in front of a moving truck with little boxes all around.
“I love my doodle,” I say, taking it off the fridge.
“What do you do with them?”
“They all live in the top drawer of my nightstand.”
“You save them?”
“Yes, silly. Come with me.” I walk back past him, grabbing his hand and tugging him into the room where my furniture is. Opening the top drawer of my nightstand, I reveal every doodle and note he’s ever left me.
“I can’t believe you saved them all,” he says.
“Of course I did. They’re one of my favorite things—the story of you and me.”
He spins me around and kisses me. “Tanner!” I giggle. “We have to go, and I still need coffee.”
“You’re killing me,” he says, checking his watch. “We may have time for a quickie if we hurry.”
“I promise I’ll make the wait worth your while, but we have to go. My parents are waiting for us to arrive.”
“Fine,” he pouts, kissing my nose.
We head back into the kitchen, and I prepare my coffee in a to-go cup. At eight thirty, we make our way down to his car and get across town to pick up the moving truck Tanner rented.
“I figured you could drive my car, and I’ll drive the truck,” he says.
“That’s fine with me. Oh, I forgot to tell you Gwen called yesterday, and the adjustable tables shipped, so pending they don’t go swimming in the middle of the ocean like my mattress, they should be here soon.”
“That’s awesome, babe.”
I squeeze his hand, smiling that I’m one step closer to my dream becoming a reality. “Do you know when you close on the bar?”
“The lawyer emailed me this morning. A month from tomorrow. If all goes according to plan, the bar will re-open at the end of January, and then we will break ground on the pickleball courts at the end of February.”
“You don’t want to do it all at the same time?”
“I’m hiring all of the current staff, so I’m trying to minimize the time I’m having to cover salaries when they aren’t working.”
“I’m sure they appreciate it.”
“It’s a win-win. I get to keep Jerry’s team, and they get paid and the holidays off.”
He turns into the rent-a-truck parking lot, and I switch into the driver’s seat of his car. “Do you want me to wait?” I ask, kissing him through the window
“No, you go ahead,” he says, opening the back door, pulling out a little bag.
“What’s that?”
“You’ll see,” he smirks. “Go, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He kisses me again and then begins to walk toward the office door, and I finish the short drive to my mom and dad’s.
_____
“Hey, everybody,” I yell, walking through my parents' front door.
“Hey, sweetheart,” my mom says. “Where’s Tanner?”
“Just a little bit behind me. I dropped him at the rent-a-truck place. He shouldn’t be long. Cody doing okay?”
“Your brother is fine,” she says. “He’s watching some movie with your dad.”
We walk further into the house, and I greet my dad and brother.
“Where’s your boyfriend?” Cody asks, using his speech device.
“On his way,” I say. “Hey, Mom, do we have any more of these sweatshirts from last year’s walk? Tanner was asking.”
“I’m not sure. I can check.” She walks out of the room.
“So, you're really living with your boyfriend,” my dad says, making Cody laugh.
“Yes, Dad. I’m really living with my boyfriend.”
“I’m fine with it. I just want to make sure you’re protecting your heart. You were devastated when Chad broke it off with you.”
“Tanner’s not Chad, Dad.”
“I believe you. He seems like a very fine young man. You’re just my little girl, and I want you to find someone who will love you wholeheartedly.”
I giggle thinking about the conversation Tanner and I had the night after the hospital. “I can assure you he does.”
“Oh, will you leave her alone,” my mom says, walking back in. “I couldn’t find a sweatshirt, but I found a T-shirt.” She lays it across the back of the leather chair.
A knock comes from the front door, and both my parents yell, “Come in!”
“Good morning, Dawsons,” Tanner shouts as he walks into their house, holding the small gift bag.
“Morning,” my parents say in unison.
He walks over to me, kisses me on the top of the head, and then walks over to Cody. “I got you a little something, man.” He sets the bag on Cody’s tray table, holding it steady while my brother removes the tissue paper. Tanner helps him pull out a small box, and Cody’s face lights up.
“What is it?” I ask.
He begins to type, and I wait for his response. “Thor thank you,” he says.
“You’re very welcome.” Tanner spins the box around, and it’s a special edition Funko: Pop! Thor figurine. “I figured he needed the best superhero on his shelf,” he says, laughing.
“How thoughtful,” I reply with a giggle. “Everyone will be here soon. Should we start moving the boxes upstairs?”
“Let’s do it.”
Tanner and I make our way downstairs to the basement to begin moving the boxes. As we pass by the leather recliner, I grab the shirt. “I had my mom look for a sweatshirt and she couldn’t find one, but we had some T-shirts,” I say, tossing it in his direction. Catching it, he smiles.
“A T-shirt is perfect.”
He pulls the shirt he’s wearing off in one motion. His back muscles flex as we descend the stairs. “What are you doing?”
He stops at the bottom and pulls Cody’s shirt over his head. “I figured I’d wear my new shirt.”
“No, you’re not. We are not one of those couples that matches our clothes.”
“We could be.”
“No!” I laugh. “That’s so lame.”
“Too late. You gave me the shirt, and I’m wearing it. I think we look cute.”
“You think we look cute?”
I reach the bottom of the stairs. “Well, I think you look cute, and I like the shirt. Plus, think about how stoked Cody’s gonna be when we go back upstairs matching.”
“You’re—”
“Insufferable?”
“I was actually going to say amazing, but you are a little insufferable.”
The doorbell rings, and then heavy footsteps echo above us. “That’ll be the guys,” I say.
A minute later, Logan, Jacks, Donovan, and Enzo appear at the top of the stairs.
“Y’all are really trying to be one of those couples that matches,” Jacks says.
“See, I told you,” I say, giggling.
“Honestly, I would expect nothing less from Tanner,” Logan says. “I’m surprised he didn’t make you wear gray sweats too.”
“Well, I considered it, but then I remembered all of you big, strong men volunteered to help me, so I went with jeans because I don’t think I’ll be doing much heavy lifting.”
“Volunteered?” Donovan asks. “I think we all got voluntold by Lacey to be here.”
“Regardless, I appreciate you all. These boxes, those paintings, and the couch all need to be on the truck.”
“Couch?” Enzo questions. “Y’all already have a couch.”
“No, we have a torture device that costs as much as a car.”
“She’s not wrong,” Tanner laughs. “If my girl wants her couch, we’re bringing her couch.”
“Got it,” Jacks says. “Any other furniture?”
“No, we’ll leave it all here until we have more room for it.”
“You’re the boss,” Tanner says, looking around the space. “Let’s do this boys.”
TANNER
Seven hours and forty-two minutes later, Wren is unpacked and officially moved into our apartment—and as fate would have it, her mattress is officially here.
When we got home from her parents’ house, it was propped up against the door frame, and after some minor complaints from our friends, it’s on her old bed frame.
There are two couches in our living room, and every one is sitting around eating pizza. I wrap Wren up from behind, and she leans back into me. Dolly circles our feet, and I’ve officially never been happier.
My phone rings, and my dad’s name flashes across the screen.
“You should answer it,” Wren encourages. I quietly excuse myself toward our bedroom and swipe up, shutting the door behind me.
“Hello,” I say.
“Tanner,” his voice booms through the phone. “Is now a bad time?”
“Wren moved the rest of her stuff over today, so all of our friends are here, but I stepped away. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is good. I was calling because your mother and I would like for you and Wren to come to Thanksgiving. Your brother and Farah will be moving the following week, so we thought it would be nice for everyone to get together. Fleur has an entire menu planned.”
“Wren’s parents invited us to their house for Thanksgiving,” I say, thinking back to my conversation with Wren’s dad earlier today. “And we said we’d be there.”
“Oh, okay. Well maybe if you have time, you all can stop by.”
A soft knock comes from the door, and Wren walks in. “You okay?” she mouths, and I nod. Placing the phone on speaker, I grab her and pull her in between my legs, her back against me.
“I’ll talk to Wren and see what we can do,” I say.
“Talk to you soon,” he replies and then hangs up.
“They want us to come to Thanksgiving dinner, but I told him we had already committed to your family.”
“Do you want to go to Thanksgiving with your parents?”
I shrug. “I feel like I shouldn’t want to go, but they’re my family. Mitch and Farah are moving the next week, and I don’t know the next time I’ll see them, and Bella is there.”
“Then we should go. My parents usually do an early lunch, and then we can pop over to your parents’ house for dinner. Cody will probably be tired early anyway, so it’s no big deal. Plus, I’d really like to meet Bella.”
“You sure?”
“As long as you’re sure, I am,” she says. “How are you feeling about everything with him?”
“At the end of the day, I have you, and all of the people sitting in our living room. Soon I’ll have the bar, and one day you’ll have your camps, and I think I’m starting to realize I don’t need his validation to know that I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
She leans forward and kisses my nose. “I’m happy, too, T. I had this plan, this idea I was comfortable with, and you completely blindsided me and wrecked the whole damn thing, in the best way.”
“I love you,” I say, tugging her closer.
“And I love you.”
Banging erupts on my door. “Stop doing it, you two, and come eat!” Enzo yells.
A giggle bubbles out of Wren, and we stand to walk back out to join our friends.
“Who’s to say I wasn’t eating?” I joke.
“Don’t be so gross, Tanner,” Lacey says, throwing a wadded up napkin at my head.
Poppy passes out champagne, and Wren clears her throat.
“Thanks for helping me move twice; we promise to hire movers the next time.” She giggles. “If it hadn’t been for everyone here, Tanner and I would’ve never met, so thank you, and cheers to wrecked plans!”
“Cheers!” They all toast, raising their glasses.
As I look around the room at the people in front of me, pure happiness settles deep in my bones, and I know that as long as I can do life with Wren and our friends by my side I’ll always be happy.