Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mia
No wonder Quinn loved working with Rufus so much, because the man is a wizard. Less than twenty-four hours after showing us the former retirement home of my dreams, he leads us out of the lawyer’s office and grins as he hands over the keys.
"I have to say..." He shakes his head with a bemused smile. "This isn't where I expected our search to lead, but I'm so happy we could make this happen for you so quickly."
"You lack imagination," Freddie tells him, his tone too apologetic to think he's trying to be mean. He looks honestly a little embarrassed on Rufus's behalf, which is so funny that I have to bite back a giggle.
"I have imagination," Rufus defends himself. "What I lacked was confidence in your collective sanity."
"That's fair," I chime in.
Spencer runs his hand over the back of my head, down the length of my hair, until his hand comes to rest at my lower back. "So, that's it? We own the place fair and square?"
"The property is yours," he confirms with a nod. Paying over the asking price certainly helped make it happen.
I grab Spencer's forearm with both hands and squeeze. "We bought it!"
The corner of his mouth tips up. "We bought it."
Freddie claps with the enthusiasm of a standing ovation.
I feel deliriously happy for about six perfect seconds.
Then Rufus clears his throat.
He holds his hands up. "I don't want to ruin anything. I just have to remind you that while you all now officially own the property, there's still the matter of zoning."
Right.
That.
My joy deflates like a balloon someone poked a tiny, bureaucratic needle through.
The building is ours, but we can't legally live in it until the city approves our request to change the property to residential use. I understand the details in theory, but I hate the obstacle in practice.
"How long will it take to get the city to approve rezoning?"
Rufus winces. "That depends."
"On what?" I ask, already crossing my arms in suspicion.
"The city doesn't always move quickly on these things." He looks genuinely sorry to be the one telling me this.
Freddie pats my shoulder. "Don't worry, leafy green. If necessary, I'll seduce a zoning official."
Spencer doesn't even look at him. "No, you won't."
"I said if necessary."
"No."
Spencer shifts his body to face me. "We can still start the remodeling work right away. I know some contractors who will expedite our renovations. We don't have to wait on the decision about zoning for that, and the sooner we begin, the sooner we can move in once the zoning change is official."
That does help.
A little.
There's a lot of renovating to tackle before the entire building will realistically be comfortable for us to move into.
But there's still one ugly truth to face.
My heat isn't going to politely wait for municipal approval.
That inevitably sits heavily in the back of my mind all the time at this point.
My body has become increasingly aware of my mates' presence.
Every time Zak calls me his baby girl, or Spencer uses his calm voice to wrangle the pack.
Even Freddie calling me his leafy green, which I think could win awards for most ridiculous pet name of all time.
I want them.
As an omega, I need them.
Rufus, to his credit, is all about introducing solutions instead of problems. "There is one thing you could try," he says cautiously.
All four of us look at him.
He lifts a shoulder. "There's a city hall meeting on Thursday evening.
Sometimes there's room on the agenda for community members to speak and make a personal case for expediting their request. More importantly, seeing the public figures that are behind the request could also go a long way in getting community support for the zoning change, which also might speed things along. "
My back straightens. "So we'll go to the city hall meeting."
And let Spencer and Zak's football fame win over the community to the point that the city has no choice but to approve us swiftly. Perfect. Such an obvious answer.
"Well, there's the one complication with that..." Rufus looks to Spencer.
With a grim expression, Spencer quietly says, "Thursday is an away game."
Of course it is.
Missing practice this morning to finalize details of our home purchase was already a big ask from Spencer and Zak to Coach Lamb.
Their coach ultimately okayed them missing under the circumstances, but there's no way they would miss a game.
I'm sure their contracts don't allow them to, but even if they don't, the guys would never ask.
They're dedicated to the team. And to the game.
The pack matters.
I matter.
So does football.
Spencer blows out a long breath. "Maybe if we drove separately instead of taking the bus with the team. We could leave straight from the game, we could–"
"There's going to be so much traffic leaving the game. We'll never make it back in time," Zak interrupts quietly.
Freddie wrinkles his nose. "It's pretty rude of the team to schedule a game when we have other plans."
All I can do is shake my head at him. Freddie's humor does nothing to ease the ache in my chest.
I focus on Spencer and feel a painful squeeze in my chest. I can see the guilt written all over his face. This information is splitting his loyalty between the needs of the pack and the needs of his team. There's no way for him to win. Someone has to be let down.
So I do the only thing I can offer him in the way of comfort.
I smile.
Or at least I do my best attempt at a smile, hoping like hell that my expression doesn't accidentally look tragic or closer to constipation, instead.
"It's totally fine," I say in a voice I think is surprisingly believable.
Spencer rubs at the wrinkles forming on his forehead. Wrinkles this beautiful man doesn't deserve to have after buying the house of my dreams. I wrap my arms around his waist loosely and look up at him.
"Waiting for the zoning change isn't ideal," I continue quickly, so there's no room for anyone to interrupt, "but your jobs are important. I don't want you to be distracted by this before an away game. We took care of the most important part–getting the retirement home."
"Former retirement palace," Freddie corrects. "Future sexy domestic compound."
I ignore him with the efforts of a saint.
He's too damn funny for a moment this serious.
Spencer studies my face too closely. "Mia..."
I'm not sure he believes the brave face I'm putting on. "I mean it," I insist anyway. "This isn't a choice between your team and me. You're showing up for both of us exactly the way you're meant to."
As much as I want my nest and their knots, it can't be at the expense of Spencer's sanity. I won't let him feel guilty for his loyalty to the team. Not when that's something so wonderful about him, his loyalty to everything and everyone he loves.
I'm lucky to be one of those things.
We'll find another way to push the zoning change forward.
I keep the smile plastered to my face, even as the conversation gently turns to other topics. Remodel timelines. Permit applications. Landscaping recommendations. I try my best to keep up with it all, but the ache in my chest makes it hard to concentrate.
The building is ours.
Our home is ours.
I just can't live in it yet.
And my heat, inconvenient little menace that it is, will not care about that distinction one bit.