I couldn’t agree more. “I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of Serenity moving in with me.”
Her mouth curved into a grin, eyes gleaming. “It’s about time,” she finally said.
I took a drink of my latte before responding. “Well, that was not what I was expecting you to say. You don’t mind me stealing your roommate?”
She smirked. “As long as you’re okay with me stealing yours.”
I scrunched my eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“Gio and I talked about what we’d do once you finally took the plunge and moved in together. We’ve become good friends, and we’ve decided to be roommates.” I was surprised. I’d only seen them interact twice, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t talked or spent more time together. I was too wrapped up in Serenity to really notice anyway.
A small chuckle escaped. “Everything I thought was going to be hard about this conversation had already been figured out before I even invited you to coffee, huh?” I teased.
Her laugh echoed. “It’s the thought that counts.”
We made small talk as we finished our coffees. We discussed how proud we both were of Serenity and how happy she was to witness Serenity being saved. Emma didn’t know how Serenity saved me the most.
I headed off to work but stayed consistently busy, so I didn’t worry too much about Serenity’s conversation with her mom.
“Why didn’t you tell me you have plans to move in with Emma?” I asked Gio while we ate our lunch in the break room.
He laughed. “We were just trying to get a head start on finding a new roommate when you inevitably asked her to move in. You’re going to ask her soon, right?” His eyebrows raised.
“If all goes well, I’m hoping to ask her tonight.”
“Hell yeah. It’s about time.” Why did both him and Emma say that? Serenity and I hadn’t been together that long. But we had moved at a snail’s pace, so it seemed like we had beentogether longer than we had. I guess it has been almost a year since we met in the waiting room.
The rest of the workday flew by in a blur, especially since I hadn’t heard from Serenity all day.
I was nervous to ask her to move in, and maybe that’s why it seemed like I’d been putting it off. I wanted her to feel as safe and comfortable as possible. She could do anything to the house to make it her own sanctuary; she deserved it.
As Serenity explained her plan for her bookstore after work, I couldn’t help the overwhelming sense of pride that came over me. The woman I loved would make her dreams come true and I’d do anything to help her along the way.
When I came back into the room after my shower, she was perched up on her bed, reading a book, and snuggling with the giant cow I won for her at the fair. I crawled into bed and cuddled up next to her.
“How was your shower?” she asked.
“Would’ve been a lot better with some company.” She placed her book on the side of the bed and put her arms around me.
“There’s plenty of time for that.” She anxiously played with her ring on her finger. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
I sat up, staring into her eyes. “I love you so much, do you know that?”
“Of course I do,” she said, tilting her head to the side.
“I want you to move in with me,” I spat out.
She looked taken aback in surprise. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life. I don’t like being away from you because then I’m counting down the minutes until I can be with you again. I want to wake up next to you every morning and fall asleep next to you every night. I want your belongings to crowd our house and for you to have the office of your dreams. You looked so determined today at your computer, so I want you to make a room in our house completely yours to dream in. I want to be by your side for every moment—good or bad. What do you say?” I didn’t take my eyes off her. I watched her thoughts race a mile a minute.
“I’d have to talk to Emma; I don’t want her to feel abandoned. I know all too well how that feels.” She shifted to stand up.
“Don’t be mad, but I already talked to her...”
She looked back at me with a puzzling expression. “What do you mean? How? When?”
“This morning, actually,” I admitted. “We met for coffee because I knew you would want to make sure she would be okay. She told me it was about time I asked you. She’s been talking to Gio about when we’d take the plunge.”
