I was about to punch him in the head when he caught Codie’s eye and winked. I’d told Auryn, Casper, and Dom that Codie would be moving in. They’d all been cool with it despite Auryn’s jackass comments.
The house had three bedrooms plus a finished basement. More than enough space for all of us. Dominik and Casper had the basement. Auryn’s bedroom was down the hall from mine with a spare room left over upstairs. We currently used it to store extra stuff that had no other place.
“Damn right. No worries, Auryn. I have some great fluffy pink pillows just for your room.” Codie beamed in his direction, not taking any of his crap.
I loved how she already fit in so perfectly. While Casper helped me carry in her desk, Codie busied herself in the kitchen finding a place for some of her dishware. She’d left her bed at the apartment for Ripley to have since she wouldn’t need it here.
Dom had surfaced from the basement long enough to make himself a grilled cheese sandwich before disappearing back downstairs. He’d been especially moody lately. Hopefully I would be able to encourage him to join us tonight. We were all heading to a Halloween event the town was putting on complete with haunted houses and the like. After we would party at the graveyard.
“For a woman that lived in a small apartment, your girl sure has a lot of shit,” Auryn observed as Casper and I brought in Codie’s dresser.
“You could give us a hand.” I shot him a glare.
He pressed his lips together like he considered it before shaking his head. “No thanks. I’m good here.”
Casper gave me a look that said more than any words possibly could. Auryn was such a lazy shit at times.
Even though my room was a decent size, it was getting a little squeezed with all of Codie’s things. Since I had a dresser in my room already, we placed hers in the spare room for now. There would be time for better organization later.
The attached bathroom in my bedroom quickly became littered with hair and makeup products as well as bath and body items I’d never seen before. Seeing signs of Codie all over my space brought a smile to my face.
“Damn, the infamous manwhore has truly been tamed,” Auryn remarked when I brought in the fluffy pink throw pillows Codie had mentioned.
She emerged from the kitchen in time to catch his comment. “Tame is not a word I would use to describe Stray. Maybe you need a nice girl to get your ass off the couch. I could set you up with someone.”
“That’s a hard no. I’m a confirmed bachelor. But if you know anyone who’s only looking for a sweet one night stand, hook me up.” He laughed when her expression changed into one of disgust.
After we got all of Codie’s things unloaded, we got ready for our night out. Codie insisted we needed to dress up. Willing to do anything she wanted, I grabbed the mask I’d worn the night I came to her apartment and tied her up in bed. She took one look at it and rolled her eyes.
When I came downstairs from showering to find her hanging out in the living room with the guys, I had to stop for a moment and take it all in. She was dressed as a black cat. A simple black bodysuit with cat ears on top of her head. Her makeup had a cat-like quality. That wasn’t what stopped me though.
Codie sat on the couch with Casper. She paid close attention as he slowly went through several signs. She repeated each word as she replicated every sign back to him. He smiled and nodded.
She really had to be the most amazing woman in the world. Not only did she put up with my shit, she was taking the time to learn sign language. Not for me. For Casper. To bond with him and learn how to communicate the way he preferred.
I’d never been as head over heels for her as I was right then.
“Is this right?” Codie stared at her own hands as she carefully made each sign. “That means how are you? And this one means what time is it?”
Casper reached over to adjust her finger placement on one sign and nodded. They ran through a few more common phrases before deciding that we should get going soon.
“What are you supposed to be?” I asked Casper who wasn’t dressed up in any way.
“What does it look like?” he signed. “I’m a fucking ghost.”
I shook my head, unable to argue with that. “Not very friendly though.”
He flipped me the bird and grinned.
When Dominik took his sweet time joining us, I shouted down the stairs for him to hurry his ass up. Finally, he left the sanctuary of the basement. He’d painted half his face like a creepy black-and-white skeleton. Well, at least it was an effort. Auryn had made a half-assed effort as well with his Squid Game numbered jumpsuit.
When we were in the car on the way to the event, Casper tapped Codie on the shoulder. He held his phone out to her so she could read the message he’d typed.
“Yeah, Luna will be there.” She read the next message and laughed. “Yes, she’s currently single. Do you like her?” Casper typed something else that made her say, “She’s a great girl. A bit of a hippie chick with a good soul.”
The two of them kept talking amongst themselves. Casper typing up messages and Codie quietly replying. When we arrived, I pulled Codie out of the back seat and possessively said, “I’ll take my girl back now. Thank you.”
Codie gave Casper a conspiratorial wink and said, “We’ll talk later.”
