And now…he glanced over at her quickly before returning his eyes to the road, grinning when he caught her already looking at him.
The last six months together hadn’t always been easy. They fought about stupid shit, as most couples did, and he could’ve sworn she had steam coming out of her ears when he asked her to move in with him.
Much to his surprise, she acquiesced, but not without presenting him with a laundry list of reasons why it was a bad idea, and then, when he shot down every one of those, an even longer list of demands, the biggest of which being they would find a new place together.
That was only two months ago, but they had easily settled into sharing a space. Lexie didn’t complain—much—when Mitch inevitably left wet towels on the bathroom floor, and Mitch didn’t complain when she refused to put her clean laundry away, preferring to leave it spilling out of laundry baskets in the walk-in closet. They loved the same foods, and both were perfectly content to eat takeout every night instead of cooking, which was something neither of them was very good at.
The beautiful thing was they traveled together, which was the true test of whether or not their relationship would go the distance. Mitch’s real estate portfolio continued to grow, now encompassing rental properties all over the country that he was converting into Airbnbs or low-income housing, and Lexie’s infamy as an influencer rose daily.
The addition of her hot, former professional hockey-playing boyfriend to her Instagram didn’t hurt matters, that’s for sure.
When her parents learned that not only were they back together, but that Mitch was investing in properties all across the country, they showed up on Lexie’s doorstep, unannounced, demanding to be allowed to help Mitch out.
Lexie, bless her, told them in no uncertain terms to get the fuck out and don’t come back.
He was so proud of her for that, for finally standing up for herself. They were her parents, the two people who should’ve loved her unconditionally, and he knew some part of her still held onto the hope that one day they would. But in that moment, when they came back into her life only because of what she could do for them, she’d finally had enough.
And he fucked her senseless afterward in celebration.
“I can’t believe they’re having a baby,” Lexie said when they pulled up to the Atheneum. A valet approached the driver’s side and greeted Mitch before taking his keys. Mitch walked around and let Lexie out, giving her hand a quick squeeze before he shuffled to the back to retrieve the gifts.
“I can’t either,” Mitch said.
But truthfully, he could. Brent and Berkley were going to be the most amazing parents, and he was excited about the prospect of being Uncle Mitch for real. The little guy had no idea how blessed he was.
“Do you want kids?” Lexie asked conversationally as they strode through the front doors of the hotel and into the lobby.
Well, for anyone else it would’ve been conversational, but his girl didn’t ask questions or make small talk for the sake of filling the silence. Her question had him stopping dead in his tracks, nearly dropping all the gifts on the floor. “Is this your way of telling me something?” He asked, heart beating almost painfully against his ribs.
“What?” Lexie said. “No! I’m just curious.”
He did set the gifts down then and pulled Lexie into him. She came to him willingly, and he was surprised by how well they fit together, even after all this time.
Almost like they were made for each other.
“I never considered it,” he said, “until I met you.”
She gave him one of her smiles that conveyed she felt the same.
“One day at a time?” She asked.
“One day at a time,” he replied, dropping a kiss on her lips. “I love you.”
Lexie just nodded and mumbled, “Me too,” before attempting to pull away. But Mitch held fast.
The words had never been easy for her to say, even if she’d gotten better about it since they got back together. Every now and then, he liked pushing her on it.
“‘Me too’?” He asked, arching an eyebrow at her. “C’mon, Lex.”
“What?” She asked, looking up at him and glaring daggers.
“You too what? I need to hear you say it.”
For several long moments, during which she folded her arms over her chest despite the fact that he was still wrapped around her, she didn’t speak, only continued to look at him as though he was the bane of her existence.
Finally, her shoulders slumped, and she placed her palm over his heart.
The heart that beat only for her.
“I love you, too, you big dumb asshole.”
Mitch grinned and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “Thank you.”
Then, together, they gathered the mountain of gifts and went inside to celebrate Baby Jean.
