CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ingram
“Does it feel weird?” I asked Mouse as we packed up his room.
It had been a month and the house was officially ours. Well, technically it was in Chris’ name for now but I had come to see it as not that big of an issue.
Chris and Ky were watching the kids at our new house while they waited for some of our new furniture to arrive. I couldn’t wait to get it all set up. We were still picking out a theme for Sparrow’s room but we went ahead and ordered the white bedroom set that we found since we liked it so much. And unsurprisingly, Chry had gone with a car theme for his room. Uncle Ky was so happy about that one.
“A little. I mean I’m so used to living here I don’t know if I’ll know what to do with the quiet,” Mouse responded with a smile and a shrug. “But I’m happy.”
“Me too,” I told him as I reached for another stack of books on his small bookshelf.
I paused before putting them in the box. As I read the titles of the three I had in my hands my mind began to spin. Suddenly, I was looking up, searching for more of the same. And there were two more sitting right there.
“Mouse?” I asked and I couldn’t tell if I was scared or wanted to cry.
“Yeah?”
“Wh-what is with these books? Why do you have them?”
I swallowed thickly. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to hear his answer.
“Shit,” he mumbled and moved to take them out of my hands. He tossed them on the bed and did the same with the two other ones left on the shelf. “In your letters, you went on about how you didn’t understand why all of this happened to you. And how you didn’t understand why there were people out there like… you know. I felt so deeply that you needed answers that you weren't getting, and I guess I wanted to do anything to help you understand.”
“Oh,” I said softly.
“I tried. Maybe I wanted to know a little of what you went through, too. I wanted to understand so I could help you any way possible. But all I learned was that those people are crazy. Narcissistic and manipulative and just plain evil.”
“Yeah, I sort of figured out that there wasn’t really an answer that would set me at ease.”
He didn’t say anything else but I could sense his sadness.
I was stunned though I shouldn’t have been. This was my Malcolm, after all. The man that would bend over backward to make me happy. I knew it in my heart that he would do everything in his power to keep me safe and loved. So maybe, I shouldn’t have been surprised that he took that extra step to want to understand and help me.
“It’s alright,” I said shaking off the fog invading my brain. “I guess I wouldn’t be here if I had not gone through all that. I suppose I should see it that way. I wouldn’t give you or all of this up for the world.”
It was true and I meant it from the bottom of my heart. I wouldn’t have Chry. I wouldn’t be here with Mouse. And Ky might not have even realized he loved Chris. So despite how horrible things had been for me when I was younger, I knew that if I had to crawl through all of it to get here, I would.
Mouse reached down and pulled me to my feet then wrapped me up in his arms. His nose went to my neck as he held me and though he was trying to be sly, I knew he was inhaling my scent. Something he did often and I loved it.
“You’re so amazing and strong. I love you so fuckin’ much, Ingram.”
“I know that now. I know that I can take anything life wants to throw at me and with you by my side, it will be even easier. I’ve given you my heart, Malcolm, because I trust you enough to take care of it.”
He kissed me and I melted into his arms.
It got heated for a moment and right when I was ready to rip his clothes off and mine, he pulled back and cleared his throat.
“Pack now. Touching later,” he said thickly.
“You can take me on our new bed tonight,” I promised him and that was enough to get him moving quickly.
Since he was leaving all the big stuff here, there really wasn’t much to move. This would still be his room even if he wouldn’t use it all that much.
Mouse got a few of the prospects to load the boxes into the club SUV that Mouse had been using for a while now. He had plans to get a car of his own but there had been other things on the top of the list to take care of first. Besides, Iron had told us that there was no rush.
The prospects followed us over to the house and stuck around for a while, helping us move everything into place. Brand, Cami, Lake, Bridget, and B-ry showed up a little while later with a bunch of pizza and drinks. Since we hadn’t gotten a dining room table yet, we all sat around on the floor eating off of paper plates. It was perfect.
