I waited until he finally relaxed, his massive legs barely taking up any more space in the enormous tub as they wrapped around mine.
My head dropped back onto his chest. “How was practice?”
“It was okay.” He picked up my arm, examining it. The purple bruises had started to morph into one, making it look much worse than it was. “But I wasn’t very focused.”
His fingertips stroked along the length of my arm, up and down, running through mine, entwining them together. I watched as he silently sandwiched my palm between his before folding his arms around me, squeezing tightly.
His lips rested against my temple. “Luck, I want you to move in with me.”
Come again?
I spun around in the bath, water splashing in my face, and I needed to blink several times in order to clear my vision. He chuckled, wiping my eyes.
“What did you say?”
His kissed my nose. “Move in with me.”
I stared at him, unable to tell if he was being serious. Although if he wasn’t, it was kind of a weird joke and one I didn’t understand.
“Emerson, I want you to move in with me.”
“Why? Because of this morning?”
“Well…”
Okay, well, that wasn’t a reason to move in together. Not to mention four on the romance scale.
“No.”
His whole face widened, his eyebrows shooting into his hairline in shock. “No?”
I sighed. “I mean, no, I’m not letting Richard scare us into doing this too early. We do it when it’s right.”
He brushed a few wet strands of hair away from my forehead, tucking them behind my ear. “Sweetheart, it’s rightnow. I’m not asking you to move in with me because of that dick, which we are going to talk about by the way, but in regard to this,” he waved his finger between his chest and mine, “no, it’s not totallybecause of him. He’s maybe three percent of the reason. I’ve been waiting to do this since the first time I walked you to your place after I found you in the club.”
“What’s the other ninety seven percent?”
His lips touched mine. “Because you’re my girlfriend, and I love you.”
“What?”
He took a deep breath and started speaking slowly, over-enunciating every word, just in case I didn’t understand what he was saying. “You are my girlfriend, and I love you.”
He was looking at me closely, waiting for a reaction.
The romance scale started sliding upwards, like the fairground game with the bell on the top, and he was the muscle man wielding his hammer.
“We’ve never said that before.”
“Well, I’m saying it now.” He tipped my chin up so my lips could meet his. “Emerson, I love you, and I want you to move in with me.”
I tilted my head. “And you’re definitely not just asking me because of what happened this morning?”
“No, I told you. This morning scared the shit out of me because I wasn’t there to protect you. It makes me rage that you didn’t feel safe, that you were hurt, that this,” he lifted my arm up to me, “happened, and that piece of shit was even within your vicinity, let alone close enough to lay his hands on you. And I swear to God, if I ever see him, he won’t make it out in one piece. But no, I’m asking you because I love you, and I’ve loved you since I first laid eyes on you. We spend every night together anyway, so really it’s just a case of you doing all your laundry here instead of some of it, packing up all your stuff and bringing it here, so it’s here all at the same time. You can even do it a box at a time if scares you, but make no mistake, I love you, and Iwant you to live here or anywhere you want. I don’t care. You’re my person, Emerson. My future.”
Drew smashed that hammer down, the bell at the top ringing loudly.
I mentally checked myself, scanning my body for reactions, an internal inventory for how I was feeling.
