“Sounds like witchcraft to me.” He hops onto the couch like he built it himself. “Anyway, congrats. This place officially smells better than it did when it was just D and his gym socks.”
Dylan looks up from the instruction-less bookshelf, grinning. “I still have socks older than your taste in women.”
Murphy points to Sophie without missing a beat. “Excuse you. My taste in women is right there. And I’d thank you to respect her as the smart, emotionally grounded, slightly terrifying goddess she is.”
Sophie rolls her eyes. “You’re lucky I find you funny.”
“I’m lucky you find me at all, babe.”
Dylan groans. “Get a room.”
“Gladly,” Murphy says, hopping off the couch and grabbing Sophie by the hand. “Come on, we’ll leave these two lovebirds to stare longingly at their spice rack.”
As they disappear out the door laughing, I look over at Dylan.
“My spice rack is the one thing I insisted on bringing,” I say. “I’ll die on that hill.”
He walks over, wrapping his arms around me from behind. “I’ll let you bring anything you want. So long as it means you’re here. Every day.”
I lean back into him. “You’re getting soft.”
“I’ve always been soft for you.”
God. This man.
DYLAN
I never thought I’d be the guy standing in a kitchen with his girl unpacking cereal boxes like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
But I am.
And it is.
Mia’s been living here officially for two days. Unofficially? She’s been mine since the night she fell asleep on my couch with her hand in mine, before either of us had the guts to say it out loud. She’s here now. Fully. Finally.
Her shoes are next to mine by the door. Her hair bobbles have migrated to every drawer and I wake every day with her stray hairs wrapped around body parts I’d rather it wasn’t. Her name is on the lease. And her presence is like a balm on everything I never knew needed healing.
From the hallway, I hear Sophie shriek-laugh and Murphy yell, “NOPE, THAT’S A SPIDER, YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN, WOMAN!” followed by a loudthumpand a dramatic cough.
“Should we check on them?” Mia asks.
“Nah. If it’s serious, Sophie will kill him quickly.”
She smirks. “They’ve been like this for weeks.”
“Yeah. He’s in deep.”
“He’s in denial.”
“Same thing.”
I take a step back, watching her spin slowly in the middle of our living room, taking it all in.
“I never thought I’d find this,” she says softly. “A job I love. A guy who makes me feel like I can breathe. A weird-ass best friend who talks to my plants…”
I walk over and kiss her temple. “You found all of it because you didn’t settle. You fought for it.”
“I think we both did.”
