“Do you need to get that?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Nothing is more important right now than talking with you. I have to ask you, though, if you’ve talked to your brother recently.”
Grimacing, I shake my head. “No, I’ve kind of been avoiding him.”
“He’s bringing his girl home. I’m moving into a one-bedroom apartment.”
“Where?” I ask quickly.
I’m already picturing awkward joint custody of Rhys. He may have bought the puppy for me, but Rhys is just as much Decker’s as he is mine.
“Here. Same building. But he wants more space for his girlfriend.”
“I guess I have to look for a new place, too.”
This wasn’t what I expected us to talk about, and now I’m in a flurry of panic. What if I can’t find a place that allows dogs that I can afford? And is in a decent location?
“Holly?”
I snap up and look at him. “Yeah?”
“You made a decision?”
“Oh, yeah,” I say.
For the first time in my life, Decker Thomas looks nervous. His Adam’s apple bobs as he locks eyes with me. “And?”
“What do you see when you think about your future?”
His tongue slides over his lip, the piercing catching my attention and yanking me back to the memories of how great it felt on various parts of my body. Skills I’m aching to revisit.
“In a perfect world, I see you. And Rhys. We’re living together. Maybe a little house. Talking about a family—kids or animals, whatever we want.”
“Really?”
He shakes his head. “That’s what I’dlike.But the truth is, when I think about the future, the only thing I know for sure is that two people will always be in it. You and your brother. I just hope you’re there as my girl, not my best friend’s little sister.”
“How does it work? I don’t know Decker Thomas as a boyfriend.”
Taking my hand, he toys with my knuckles. “I don’t really know how to be a boyfriend. Besides the sex part—I’m solid there.”
That cocky grin is back. I can’t refute his claim.
“I see myself spending my free time with the woman I’m madly in love with. The woman I’ve probably always been in love with, if I’m honest. The only one who has ever challenged me before.”
“What did you just say?”
Interlocking our fingers, he brings my hand to his mouth and kisses it before gazing into my eyes. “I’m in love with you, Holly Jordan. I know I have to figure out the one-woman thing, but I know I can do it—with you. Only with you.”
My heart pounds. “Why only with me?”
“Because we were friends first. Unless you picked the coffee guy. Then we’re still just friends.”
He loves me. Decker Thomas loves me, and I’m lightheaded. It’s like I can’t get enough oxygen to my lungs. I have to be dreaming. Right? There’s no way.
But I focus on our hands joined together, and I’m suddenly grounded. Brought back and in reality. It’s true.
I let out a shaky breath. “I couldn’t get you off my mind. No matter what, you were always there. I just didn’t know how this would work knowing your history—”
