“So, you want this house?” he asked, his arms around me and his happy eyes looking into mine.
“How would it even be possible?”
“Well,” he started and sucked in a deep breath through his nose which told me that I might not be all that happy with what was coming next. “Chris actually found this house. He came to me yesterday and said he wants to… help us get it.”
“You mean he wants to buy it for us,” I said and all the air deflated out of my lungs.
“Yes, but I told him that not only did I know you wouldn’t be crazy about that idea, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about it either. I don’t want to start our life on someone else’s dime, if you get me.”
“I do, I completelyget you,” I told him with a nod.
“So he said that he would work it out and we could pay rent for a while. We can all sit down and talk about it tonight. He said it wouldn’t be the full amount in the end because they want to give us… like some sort of gift. Like you’re my woman, I’m your man, they support us, type of thing. But I told him that I wanted to pay him back the full amount. I see they mean well, but I can’t let them.”
I thought about it for a moment. While part of me wanted to dig my heels in and say no, the other part of me understood where Chris and Ky were coming from. And oh, how I wanted this house. I wanted the life I saw in this house.
It made the stress ease a little that Mouse had it in his head that he was going to pay them all back. I’d help with that, even if he didn’t know it yet. That was a fight for another day. Though, I had a feeling I had ways to make him give in easily.
“Maybe this is like some sort of branch or whatever,” I said seeing how Ky would do it this way.
“Olive branch?” Mouse asked with a chuckle but I knew he wasn’t making fun of me.
“Yes, that! I heard that somewhere before. That’s right, right?”
“Yes, Ingram. That’s right,” he said and kissed me on the tip of my nose which caused my smile to grow even more. “So, are we doing this?”
“Okay. Yes,” I told him. “Was the sex part of your plan to get me all relaxed and gooey so I’d give in?”
He laughed. And I loved the sound.
“Well, I hadn’t planned that part but I think it worked out quite nicely.”
I rolled my eyes at him as I swatted him on the chest playfully.
“We should get down there before she comes looking for us,” I said and took his hand as I made my way out of the room. “Let’s go talk to our brothers.”
How weird did that sound? I mean it worked for me because Ky was my brother and I saw Chris the same. And it worked for Mouse because that was what all the members liked to call one another.
“Never say it that way again,” he said and I sent him an apologetic face.
I took one last look at the house as we pulled away.
Yes, this felt right and I wasn’t going to fight it.
