No breakup songs necessary. No arguments. Just her and him and some understanding.
“Sometimes I eat them with bacon,” he said, because everybody loved bacon. He couldn’t wait to introduce Tiny Badass to bacon.
She gagged. Actually gagged. Full-on, not-a-joke gagged.
How could a guy go wrong when he talked about bacon?
“Now I can never move in here.” More than a little greenish pale, she started for the door.
“What did I say?” He followed her out into the mountain air of the Denver suburbs, catching up to her quickly—because, really, she wasn’t moving quickly.
“Don’t say the “bacon” word around me. The whole sizzling. Fat. Pork. And…” She turned a lot more green at that. “Bax? Your baby does not like bacon talk.”
“Noted.” He rubbed her back while she heaved big lungfuls of air, and also made some gagging noises that weren’t adorable but seemed necessary given her shade of golf-course green. “Tofu talk only.”
Her body seemed to lean into his touch. Hell, he’d take it. Savored it, even.
“Do you want to come inside?” he asked.
She nodded.
“I’ll show you what could be your very own room.” He’d picked it out, right across the hall from him.
“Does it have a mini-fridge for cherry seltzer?” She leaned into him as they moved toward the back door.
“It will after today.” He inhaled the scent of her—coconut and the scent of sexy showers.
“Can I steal my mattress from Linx’s house? It’s a really great mattress.” She glanced up at him then.
“I will personally carry it.”
“I could get used to this.” She didn’t look so pale and green anymore.
“Used to what?”
“You being nice to me.”
“I could get used to it too,” he said. Because it was a helluva lot better than writing breakup songs in the arguing pirate ship.
With Courtney at his side, he showed her into the house. Into the future that he hoped could be theirs.
Chapter Sixteen
Courtney
Deep breaths,Courtney. Deep breaths.
“Please. Hear me out.” Bax stopped and turned toward her, his eyebrows furrowing deeper.
The problem with his words was that they were overprotective, ridiculous words. “I’m listening to every word you’re saying.”
She could see the war happening inside him—they could not slip into argument territory. It violated their cardinal rule. But the pendulum was swinging, and he wanted to take a stand. She could feel it.
While she usually appreciated a good row with him, she was kinda tired and didn’t really have the stamina for it.
Also, their arguing ship was clear across the house and yard.
She really would’ve preferred to lie on the sofa and eat some of the chickpea chip things she’d found in the junk food section of the health food store. They had one. It was epic.
