She nods. “Okay. Sorry. I don’t mean to be weird. Am I being weird?”
“You seem like someone trying to make sense of everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours. And I get it. But we’ll do it together, okay?”
I take her face in my hands and kiss her. When she melts into me, I deepen the kiss. I want her to be here with me.
“Hey, lovebirds. What are we doing for dinner?” Charlie walks in, interrupting us.
Brooke clears her throat. “We’re gonna get a pizza.”
“That works. Do you want me to order?” She lifts her phone in her hand.
“I got it. Just tell me what everyone wants.” I grab my phone from the counter.
“Maybe just a cheese, veggie, and whatever you boys want. I assume my brother went to Noelle’s since Chelsea is here?”
“Yeah, I guess. He told us he would see us later, but that was it.” I tap on the app and place the pizza order.
“I figured.” She takes a bottle of water out of the fridge, then turns to face us.
Brooke’s hands are resting beside her now, but I’m still between her legs.
“So, how are you guys feeling about everything?” She studies us.
“I feel great.” I smile widely. “A little sore still from the game and pretty tired, but I got to come home to this.” I wrap my arms around Brooke’s shoulders and tug her in tight.
Charlie has a smile on her face. “Good. And, B, how are you feeling?”
What’s she doing? I’m sure they talked about it before I got home.
“I’m good,” she says quietly.
“Awesome. Maybe you guys should go try to figure out where Brooke can put her things.” She gestures toward my room. “I’ll call y’all when the pizza gets here.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” I say, lifting Brooke off the counter, but I keep her in my arms, so she wraps around me again.
When we get to my room, I see her bags sitting neatly in front of my small dresser. Not sure how we’re going to fit everything in here, but I’ll toss out all my clothes just so she can have space.
“I wasn’t really sure where to put my bags. I’ve never really been in your room before.”
“Yeah, I guess you haven’t. But this is fine for now. I just need to clear out the drawers. I don’t have a ton of stuff. And only a few things in the closet.” I set her down on my bed. “I can always run to Target and get some bins for under the bed, too, if we need them.”
“Silas, is this … is this okay, really?”
I kneel down in front of her and push her legs apart so I can fit between them, then run my hands up her thighs. “Brooke, thisis more than okay. Yeah, so we did this in a very unconventional way, but my feelings for you are real. Like I’ve already told you, I have zero regrets.”
“But what if us trying to make this into something real is a mistake? You have a lot going on, and I feel like, I don’t know, that timing is just not the best. I’m in school, and I have my own goals.” She takes a deep breath in. “I don’t want to hold you back or anything. And I wouldn’t want to be a distraction for you either.”
“Cupcake, you might be a distraction, but not in the way you’re thinking. Yes, I have a lot to prepare for, but as far as I’m concerned, having you by my side through it all will just make everything better.” I lift a hand to her face and brush her cheek with my thumb. “Are you having doubts about this?”
“Honestly, I just don’t know. Yes, I wanted to have fun and do some things out of my comfort zone, but maybe getting married was taking it too far.” She laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “I mean, I didn’t even know you had feelings for me.”
“Really? You didn’t? I’d try to be near you whenever you were here. The night of Noelle’s party wasn’t the first time we’d fallen asleep on the couch together.” I raise my brows. “The kiss at the basketball game? Well, that was just a golden opportunity, and I took it. And the first person I looked for after the game yesterday wasn’t my family; it was you. I wanted to celebrate the win with you.”
“You did?” She smiles sweetly.
“Hell yeah, I did. I think about you all the time. I’ll do anything to show you how I feel about you.”
“We haven’t really been on an official date. Maybe we should just get an annulment or something, then date and try to do this the right way.”
