I am, though—but not of her.
Not of the thought of loving her.
“You’re ready to settle down somewhere?” Her voice has moved many octaves higher, and her eyes have a sparkle to them that I haven’t seen before.
Nodding again, I wipe my warming palms against my pants. “Yes—I’ll admit though, it’s a scary thing for me.”
“Why?” Her eyes narrow, but her smile remains, an airy laugh floating through the air.
“I’ve never fully settled somewhere. Never rented a place for more than a few months. Never called a place home—and meant it,” I explain, rubbing the back of my neck. “But this time is different.”
She reaches out, putting a hand on my knee and squeezing. “When I moved here, I was nervous. This town, though…there’s something special about it.”
Leaning over and planting a quick kiss on her lips, I agree. “There must be something in the water.”
“I definitely think something is lurking at the bottom of the punchbowl.” Raya quickly turns serious. “Have you seen that part of the conservation area yet? It’s so deep, I don’t think there’s even a bottom to it.”
Shaking my head, I remind her, “No, I haven’t—my last trail walk got happily interrupted.”
Her cheeks instantly turn a shade of red, and she tucks a strand of her beautiful, bright-pink hair behind her ear. “Well, we’ll have to go see it—maybe without any interruptions next time.”
“Not even interruptionsafterwe see the punchbowl?” I pout, my bottom lip sticking out at her, earning a giggle.
She exaggeratedly taps on her chin as if pondering my offer. “That could be arranged.”
I close the laptop, winking at her as I say, “Well, should we go now?”
“No, Arman.” She laughs, shaking her head at me. “First, let’s find you a place or two to apply for—thenwe can go see the punchbowl.”
With an exasperated sigh, I open the laptop back open. “Fine, fine.”
She scoots closer, her chin resting on my shoulder as we scroll through the listings. There are a few listings that appeal to me—mainly, ones that are close to my darling Pinky.
We open a few tabs of the best options, a combination of apartments and houses. All of them have one-year leases, going month-to-month after the first year.
I guess I just got lucky with all my other places being month-to-month off the bat. It’s fine, though. A year is nothing when I plan to stay here forever.
“Maybe after the first year, you won’t even have to do month-to-month…” Raya comments, lifting her head off of my shoulder.
Turning to look at her, I raise a brow. “Why, would I find another place after a year?”
She tilts her chin down, looking at me through her eyelashes. “I meant that maybe by then, you could…I don’t know, move in with me?”
“Wow, moving so fast,” I tease, nudging her with my shoulder. “Keep it in your pants, Pinky.”
With an eyeroll, she laughs again. “Relax, it’s apossibility—who knows, you might piss me off too much before that.”
I place a hand over my chest. “Pinky, don’t evenjokeabout such things. You’re too important to me to even think about losing you.”
She squints at me, and her cheeks get even brighter. “Well…you’re important to me too.”
I reach out, cupping her cheek with my hand and pulling her lips to mine. As usual, she tastes sweet, the familiar flavor of cotton candy now on my own lips.
It’s her signature—or favorite—lip gloss. A taste I can’t get enough of.
Pulling away, I smack my lips a few times. “Delicious.”
She gives me a cheeky smile. “Are you sure you don’t mind the stickiness? Or that it makes your lips shiny?”
