Something So Right(55)

“I asked him to find us a bigger home, with more land, something with a pool because we both know Allison is like a fish. I also wanted a two-car garage. Definitely more than three bedrooms. I was also thinking of a basement gym area. Oh, and a bigger kitchen. When you were gone, I remembered how much I loved cooking with you, so I also asked him for a huge kitchen. Preferably in the middle of the house. Kind of like center ice.”

“You’re moving here?” she whispers.

I laugh because out of all that the only thing that sticks out is that I’m moving here.

“Well, the arena is an hour from here. Not exactly the five-minute drive from my condo, but this is even better. It’s not that bad. I mean, we have forty-one home games a year. The rest are on the road, but it’s usually turn around or there are big stretches sometimes where we go on the road for a week. But we can work on that later.” My hands are now on her legs, holding them, my thumbs rubbing.

“You’re buying a house and moving here? To live here? Why?” Her brows pinch together.

“Babe, don’t know if you are aware of this, but I love you. I almost fucking lost you because of fucking stupidity. It smacked me in the face how much you mean to me. How much I’ve grown to want to wake up with you. How much I look forward to us just sitting down drinking coffee together. You have kids and a business. You can’t just up and move. I can. But more importantly, I want to. I want you here. Or wherever we find a house. I want you there when I get up or get in or come home. I just want you.” And before I can say anything else she leans into me and kisses me full on the lips. Not a soft peck, not a soft kiss. An all-consuming kiss. A kiss I feel right down to my soul, her tongue sliding alongside mine, commanding it to go deeper. My arms move up her back, one staying around her waist, the other making its way into her hair, tilting her head to the side to make her chest get closer to me.

It’s like no other kiss before. It’s a different kiss than before. She pulls away from me. I see the razor burn on her chin. “I love you,” she says while she places her forehead against mine. “I really love you. I was scared. I wasn’t looking for this. I just wanted to get laid,” she says, giggling this time. “But it changed. You changed it. You just wouldn’t take no for an answer. You would be all up in my face each and every time. I realized I was in love with you the minute Barbie opened the door. The pain in my chest,” she whispers, “I felt it to my bones. That night while I sat on the couch in the cabin looking out into the darkness I admitted it. I had come full circle to only end up in the same place as I did before.” And just before I’m about to interrupt her, she places a finger on my lips. “It was different. I can’t explain it. It was just like I disconnected with myself and all I could think about were the last couple of weeks, and I couldn’t see how I could have been duped. But Meghan, she was there, putting these things in my head that nothing is what it looks like, and she actually told me to give you the chance to explain. I wanted to call you, I wanted to hear your voice, but I broke my phone. It’s actually shattered. I think there are pieces left in my truck.” She laughs softly.

I’m about to take her into a kiss again, when right then I hear someone walk in, almost in a half sleep daze. Rubbing her eyes while dragging her rabbit, she walks to the side of the bed.

“Cooper, we had a sleepober? Can we habe pancakes?” she asks while trying to climb into bed with us, and in that moment, I’ve never felt more complete.

Pancakes with chocolate chips,” I agree, dragging her next to us, placing her sitting in front of her mother, hugging them both.





Chapter Twenty-Six


Parker





It’s been two weeks since Cooper decided that he’s moving here. When I say decided, that is a nice way of putting what we went through.

After making pancakes with Allison while I drank my coffee at the breakfast nook, he told her about the day he had planned. He had many ‘castles’ for us to see. At that point, I wanted to rip his eyeballs out for him telling her.

She was all too happy to go in search of Elsa and Anna’s true-life castle. So I glared at him from across the table while they both went on about what things they should have in this said castle.

Matthew didn’t even look up from his plate. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t taking in the conversation.

So, after cleaning the kitchen, Cooper left to go to his house. According to him, he had to pack his shit for the rest of the week. I didn’t know what to expect. I mean, was he here for a week? Was he staying here till he finished? It was all up in the air. My mind was going a hundred miles an hour when Matthew came into the kitchen.