Cash surprised me by bringing his TV from home (a prospect picked it up in case anyone was watching the house) and setting it up on the dresser across from the bed, saying, “I’m not sure how long we’ll be here, but we can always pick up another TV when we move in together.”
“We’re moving in together?”
He let out a quiet snort but didn’t actually answer my question.
“Cash?”
“Yeah, Turtle?” he asked distractedly as he connected the cables to the TV.
“When did you decide we’re moving in together?”
“When we get engaged, I figured it’d be the next step.” He moved from behind the television and grabbed the remote, handing it to me. “Hit the power button when I say go, okay?”
“Sure,” I said, then processed what he said. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘when we get engaged’?”
“Go,” he said, and I hit the power button.
The TV came on and the menu button came up on the screen.
“Menu screen’s up,” I said.
“Excellent.” He shimmied out from behind the dresser and pushed it back against the wall.
“Are you going to answer my question?”
He grinned, taking the remote from me and setting it next to the TV. “What was the question?”
“Cash,” I hissed, and he chuckled, wrapping his arms around me.
“Gonna marry you, Turtle. Doesn’t need to happen immediately, but it’s gonna happen. I love you, and I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. I’m not lettin’ you go.”
I bit my lip. “I have two conditions.”
“Anything.”
“I want all of this furniture. We’ll need to figure out how to pay the club back for it.”
“Wasn’t planning on submitting the receipts.” He smiled. “We’ll take it to the new place with us. What’s the second condition?”
“I want to live close to my parents.”
“Done. We’ll start looking for a place to buy next week.”
“Wait, buy?” I frowned. “Cash, I don’t have enough money saved—”
“I do.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.” He cocked his head. “Not to mention, my AARP status’ll get me a low down payment option and a kickass interest rate.”
I burst out laughing as Cash pulled me into his arms.
“You gonna marry me?”
I met his eyes. “You gonna propose to me in a manner in which I deserve?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
