“Something that is both of ours.”
“We don’t have to rush into anything,” Charlie reassures me.
“When there’s a ring on my finger …” I wiggle my hand at him, “I’ll happily look at buying a new place.”
“Is that the deadline?”
“Yep.”
“Good to know. Let’s see how we go living together. I might not want to put a ring on it.”
“Oh my god, that’s so me.” I nudge him as he bursts out laughing.
“I’m joking. You’re stuck with me, D. I ain’t going anywhere.”
“Good,” I say, giving him a glare.
It’s not long until we arrive home. I drop my suitcase in the doorway, flop face-first onto the couch, and groan into a cushion. “Wake me up in a week.”
Charlie sits beside me, running a hand through my hair. “We have groceries to get.”
“No, we don’t,” I mumble into the cushion.
“We do.”
“We have takeout apps. That’s the same thing.”
He laughs, leans down, and presses a soft kiss to my temple. “I missed this.”
“What? My complaining?”
“Yes. And also, your face. Even the slightly battered version.”
I turn my head and look up at him. “You doing okay being back?”
His expression shifts to something quieter, thoughtful. “I will be.”
I reach up to run my thumb gently along his jaw. “We’re home. We’re together. And if your nightmares show up again, we’ll deal with them here too.”
He nods, eyes warm as he pulls me into his chest, his heartbeat steady under my ear.
91
DERRICK
Bros Chat
Tavish: Lads. Tell me this is fake. *Sends screenshot from a gossip site* “ROCKSTAR CHANCE COLE MARRIES A LORD IN VEGAS”
Callum: What the fuck?
Rowan: Wait. Is that …
Tavish: He’s wearing the family’s fucking kilt.
Callum: Nope. No. Absolutely not.
Derrick: Um …
