“Hmm.”
That’s not an answer. I arch an eyebrow and wait. He doesn’t look like he wants to elaborate, but I think I might have an inkling. Reed likes it here. He has friends here, is making new ones all the time. I bite the bullet and just ask. “What about around here? If you want to stay...” I have no idea what the housing market’s like around here, but I wonder if he’s even looked.
His smile turns rueful. “There’s nothing around here that suitable and that I can afford.” He groans and covers his face with his hands. “I like it here, but I can’t stay in your spare room forever, so I need to keep looking.”
Do you?
It’s on the tip of my tongue, the urge to correct him, because he’s wrong. Hecanstay here for as long as he likes. If that happens to be forever, then that’s okay by me because I don’twanthim to leave.
It strikes me then, as I’m sitting on my sofa looking at houses that are all wrong for Reed... I don’t want him to be my lodger anymore.
I want my house to beourhouse.
I want to come home and smile when I see his car on the drive and the house all lit up. I want to surprise him with dinner when he’s had to go into the office. I want to pretend I don’t notice him stealthily calling for Frank so that he’s not left on his own when we’re all together.
Of course I can’t say any of that.
Not yet.
Not when Reed’s dead set on finding a place of his own.
But maybe if you told him . . . ?
Nope.
Not happening.
But the defeated sigh he lets out as he tosses his phone on the sofa hurts my heart. I don’t like seeing him like this either. So I offer a compromise. One that I can live with, without feeling like a shitty friend.
“Hey.” I reach for his hands and tug him until he’s facing me. “How about this?” I nod to his phone. “Ignore all that for now. You can sell your house without worrying about finding a new one.”
“But—”
I squeeze his fingers. “I meant what I said. There’s no rush for you to move out. None.” He’s still tense and I can’t resist stroking the backs of his hands until some of the tension eases. “Stay with me.”Please. “Enjoy Christmas and the New Year, and in a couple of weeks we can visit some of the areas where those houses are and see for ourselves what they’re like.” Even if it’ll kill me.
His eyes search mine, and I do my best to hide the emotions swirling inside me.
“You’d do that?” he whispers, those sea-blue eyes far too perceptive and I have to look away as I answer.
“Of course I would.” I look back when I add then next bit, because I don’t need to hide the truth of it. “I just want you to be happy, Reed.”
Ideally here, in this house, with me. But thankfully those words don’t escape, and he smiles. It’s a soft, wonderful thing, and I fall a little harder for him as he murmurs a heartfelt thank you, then closes the distance between us and kisses me.
I sink into it, shutting my eyes, and forget about everything else. Reed’s here now, so that’s what I’ll focus on. Everything else can wait.
Sean’s houseis as warm and welcoming as always when Reed and I arrive on Christmas Eve. Fairy lights decorate the outside and the wreath on his front door looks remarkably similar to the one I have on mine. I nod to it as he lets us in. “Pete?”
Sean laughs. “Yep.” He steps back, herding their two dogs out of the way and grins at Reed. “Come on in, Vic’s just finishing up in the kitchen.”
We follow him inside, and the smell of something delicious fills the hallway. “Oh my god, what is that?”
“That would be the steak and ale stew that Vic’s been cooking all afternoon.” Sean has the smug look of a man who knows he picked a good one. Which reminds me.
I wait for Reed to go into the kitchen to talk to Vic, then tug on Sean’s arm to stop him from following. “Still doing that thing tomorrow?”
It takes him a second, then he nods quickly. “Yep,” he murmurs, then mimes zipping his lips.
I grin and squeeze his shoulder. I couldn’t be happier for him, for both of them, but I can’t lie, as much as I hate to admit it there’s a tiny part of me that’s incredibly jealous.
