“Oh no you don’t, not here. It’s been two days since I’ve been inside you, and as much as it’s killing me, it won’t be happening today either.” He stomps towards me. Ryder’s right. My parents didn’t mind us sharing a room. They both know we’re adults, but we also knew that there was no way I could be quiet. Plus, their room is just down the hall, and as Ryder says, yuck.
“I know. I love my family, but I think next time we come back to visit, we stay at the bed and breakfast instead. Sleeping next to you and not having you inside me, it really sucks.” Ryder sinks down beside me, his arm going around my shoulders, and kisses the side of my head.
“We might have to no matter what, but at least have adjoining rooms. Something tells me Melody and Tanner may join us, or we’ll be bringing Sienna up here for spring break.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Ryder?” I ask.
“Tanner pulled me aside before we left. He’s asking Melody and Sienna to move in with him.”
“That’s great news! Why keep two places when they can have one? And not for nothing, you can tell he worships the ground Mel and Si walk on.” I think about how Ryder and I are basically doing the same thing, but my rent is dirt cheap and he hasn’t said anything.
“Which brings me to the next topic at hand. We need to figure out what we’re doing with our own living arrangements. We’re at your place more than mine. You want to look at getting rid of them both and starting fresh? Maybe build a home or find a fixer-upper like Jasper and Aspen did? Or we could keep one of our places.” Clearly, Ryder has put a lot of thought into this.
“You think we can do something like buy? I’m still young, and while I don’t have any student loans and my credit is great, I haven’t been at my teaching job very long,” I tell him honestly, because before I met Ryder, I knew I’d want a home of my own. Not to rent an apartment or a condo, I looked at owning a home as an investment.
“I’m not a mortgage broker, but I think between the two of us, we’ll be alright. We can start looking into it when we get home. You didn’t answer though, fixer-upper or new build?”
“Oh, my goodness, never a fixer-upper. I mean, I know Jasper and Aspen didn’t have a lot to do with physically fixing their home, but I think I’d prefer a new build. That way, it’s built to our modifications and we can keep up with it easily. What do you think?”
“Thank God, because I’m no handy man. My hands only work in the kitchen and on you.” He winks.
“I can’t wait to see what our future holds,” I murmur into his chest. We may not be married yet, yeah, we’re still on that newness level, but when you know, you really freaking know.
“Ditto, sugar. Ditto.” We spend the rest of the afternoon with my family, knowing tomorrow we’ll be heading back to Texas for a late Thanksgiving with Melody, Tanner, and Sienna. For right now, though, there’s no other place I’d rather be.EpilogueRyderSix and a Half Weeks LaterToday is the day. It’s New Year’s Eve, and what better way to spend it than making Berkley my fiancée. We got lucky when we started looking at new-build homes. The one we’re in now, and somehow managed to close on right before Christmas was something neither of us were expecting. It probably had a lot to do with the changes we wanted, which weren’t much. Our home was mainly done, besides the paint colors on the interior and exterior, the closets, specifically the master closet. Thank goodness it’s a his and hers, giving Berkley the bigger one because that girl has more clothes than she knows what to do with. And then the lighting.
“Berkley,” I call out, my hands full with two champagne glasses and a bottle of champagne.
“I’m on the back deck.” That’s where she spends most of her time, she and Sienna, both of their noses in a book or eating some kind of snack I’ve left for them in the fridge. Not much has changed when it comes to us having Sienna, well, more Berkley than me after school now. Even though Tanner and Melody had a small wedding, all of us work in the afternoon and for Sienna’s breaks, except Berkley. We didn’t even have to ask her, she just stepped in and said, “Si will stay with me. I mean, she’ll have to stay after school for an hour, but other than that, I’ll just bring her home with me while you all work.” Berkley and I did finally confess to each other that we’d eventually have children, but we both wanted to wait. We want the house paid off in half the amount of time, even if that means we don’t have furniture in each and every room yet. Something that I know will happen once Berkley’s parents and cousins come to town.