Chapter 22

It took us two days to drive the packed U-Haul from Sacramento to Coral Pointe. Enzo left his car with Vito for the time being. Over the summer, he'd figure out what to do with it. Everything in Coral Pointe was within walking distance, but he had plenty of options if he needed to borrow someone's car in the meantime. Tempting as it was to take the opportunity to go sightseeing on our cross-country trip, we didn't want to leave the truck with all of Enzo's belongings sitting somewhere too long. The second we passed the sign for Coral Pointe, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"You wanna text your friends and let them know we're back and to meet us at the ice cream shop?" He glanced at me, laughing as he caught me staring at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I don't think I truly let myself believe you're here to stay until we drove past that sign." I couldn't contain the smile that spread on my face.

Enzo reached for my hand and I let the warmth of his palm sink into mine. "There are a lot of things that happened over the last few days that are pretty hard to believe."

"Understatement of the century."

Before we'd left for California, Enzo had been struggling with how to approach his mom with the news that he was leaving. Even though he'd been caught off guard, the way it had all played out was exactly what Enzo had needed. He'd stood in the place his mother had first ambushed him with Rick, but this time, he'd been surrounded by people who love and support him, including the man in love with him. It had been truly epic, but I wasn't naive enough to believe Enzo wasn't hurting. He would hurt for a while, and I would be by his side every step of the way.

Enzo snorted as he looked out the windshield then squeezed my hand. "Apparently, you don't need to text your friends."

I looked out the window and laughed at the group talking in front of Beaches 'n' Cream. "I texted when we were twenty minutes away. Guess they timed it well."

Although half of the Coral Pointe group wasn't getting home until tomorrow—Ford, Abe, Sage, and Levi were still in Vegas, and Burke and Jared spent an extra two days with Burke's family—there were still six people standing on the sidewalk. I knew Topher, Lucas, and Stacey would show up to help, but seeing Cole, Noah, and Joel there made my heart so happy. Granted, Joel had to be there seeing as Enzo was renting the apartment sandwiched between the ice cream shop and Joel's penthouse suite—otherwise known as the top and only floor above Enzo. But all three of them were here for Enzo because he mattered, and damned if my man didn't need a little reassurance. Especially with Burke still out of town.

Enzo pulled the truck around back, just fitting in the small parking lot, so we could unload his things. He leaned in and gave me a kiss before we both got out of the truck. Immediately, we were swarmed by our friends who were ready to help unload.

"You're back!" Topher hopped up and down and then rushed me for a hug.

Laughing, I hugged the goofball back. "I was only gone for a few days."

Topher continued his chokehold on me. "Don't care. You've never gone away without us before."

Stacey pulled on his arm and wiggled her way between us, saying to him, "It's my turn, you hug hogger." She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tight.

Topher pushed his black-framed glasses up on his nose. "I needed an Evian hug. I've been stuck with Lucas all day." He rolled his eyes then took a few stumbling steps to the side when Lucas shoved his shoulder.

"You mean I've been stuck watching you try to pick up Joel." Lucas hiked a thumb Topher's way and said to me, "I tried to tell him only the ice cream was to go, not the ice cream man. He doesn't listen to me."

"Because advice from you doesn't lead to orgasms for me." Topher punctuated the sentence with a bump of his hip against Lucas's, making them both laugh.

"I clearly entered this convo at the wrong time." Enzo shook his head and laughed. His eyes met mine, and although he was incredibly happy, I could tell he was also overwhelmed.

Sensing the change in mood, my friends wandered off—Topher hopped in the back of the truck with Joel, hopefully to bring boxes forward—leaving me alone with Enzo. "You okay?" I stepped close to him and rubbed his arms, softly kissing his jaw.

"What I am is incredibly lucky, but a part of me is still trying to figure out how I got here. I think it might take a bit to believe this is my new reality after years of settling for less."

"Well, when you need reminding, let me know. Because your new reality is stitched to mine and that thread is uncuttable, my friend." I paused for a second in confusion. "Is that even a word? It sounds weird to me."

"I don't know, but I think I like shining knight in armor over friend."

I snorted and smacked his chest lightly. "You shot past that level weeks ago."

"Yeah, I did," he whispered and gave me a quick kiss.

"The sooner we get all this stuff inside the apartment, the sooner you two can get a room!" Lucas shouted from the doorway to the building.

Enzo's mouth curved up in the most adorable, sheepish smile. "Right. I suppose I should, I don't know, get my butt in gear and help bring my own stuff inside." He kissed the tip of my nose, making butterflies dance in my belly. I watched him walk away and the view from where I was standing was spectacular. "Stop looking at my ass and grab a box."

A laugh bubbled up when he shook said ass right before he entered the building and bounded up the steps.

"Ev, come get this box," Topher said as he jumped down from the truck.

He picked up his own and I followed him inside and up the steps, passing Enzo on the stairs as he made his way back down. The second we entered the apartment, Topher looked around and said, "Hey, Joel, it's exactly like your apart…ment." Apparently, he'd realized mid-word that he'd let the yet-to-be-shared-with-us cat out of the bag as Lucas, Stacey, and I gaped at him. "I mean…I assume…because why wouldn't it be? That's how apartments are made, right?" He sighed and shook his head. "Just rows and rows…or floors…of cookie-cutter designs… Not that this place isn't great! Who wouldn't want to live so close to ice cream, amirite? People we don't trust, that's who." The cherry on top of this big scoop of Excuse me, what? was when Joel tripped over absolutely nothing, looked back at us with wide eyes, and then proceeded to walk straight out the door.

"Um…say what now?" I asked at the same time Stacey said, "Oh my god," and Lucas said, "Well, shit. Maybe you can take the ice cream man to go…right up those stairs, huh, Toph?"

Topher groaned and hung his head back. "Noooo… Did you hear that?"

I stared at him incredulously. "Did we hear what? Did we hear the clickety-clack of your rollercoaster of lies as it rolled off your tongue?" I elbowed Lucas and gave him a campy grin. "That was a good one."

Lucas smiled back, nodding his head at me. "That was pretty good."

"Or did we hear the word vomit that followed?" Stacey tacked on, still staring at Topher with wide eyes.

Then, as if those words reminded Lucas he was supposed to be annoyed, he crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes, facing Topher again. "Yeah. We heard all that, assface."

"I meant did you hear the sound of any chance I had for a second-night stand fly right out of my mouth and straight out that window?" He swung his arm in front of him and motioned to the open window, his brows pulled together in distress.

"Rollercoaster of lies," Lucas, Stacey, and I said in unison while nodding our heads.

"Also, I think you need to look up the meaning of one-night stand," I added.

Lucas winced and pointed behind Topher in the direction Joel just fled. "And I'm pretty sure your chance flew right out that door, not the window."

Topher made a sound that was a cross between a groan and a whine. "Fuck my life."

"What the hell happened up here?" Enzo asked as he set a box labeled "kitchen" down on the counter. "Joel barreled down the stairs and said he had some ice cream emergency. What the hell kind of emergency can you have with ice cream?"

"Ran out of mint chip," Lucas blurted.

"Sprinkle catastrophe," I added.

"Brain freeze," Topher quickly chimed in. The four of us looked at Topher in confusion at the same time. "What? That shit hurts."

Thinking it over a second, Enzo, Lucas, and I shrugged, mumbling and nodding our agreement.

Stacey rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm going down to the shop to get some bottles of water. I'll check on the ice cream emergency while I'm there." Then she pinned Topher with a look that warned him he'd be telling us the rest later.

"What am I missing?" Enzo asked as he set his box down.

"Just another classic Topher slip of the tongue." It was obvious that, for whatever reason, Joel wanted the fact that he hooked up with Topher to stay between them. Maybe the cat was accidentally let out of the bag for Lucas, Stacey, and me, but the friendship between Enzo and Joel was new. So, that little furball was going back in the bag. It was up to Joel to decide if he wanted to tell Enzo.

Enzo

I was still missing something,but I had too much on my mind to give it anymore thought.

"Hey, Enzo, where do you want me to put your laundry detergent?" Noah asked.

I snorted a laugh. "I should just leave it at Burke and Jared's since that's where I'll be doing my laundry. But seeing as Burke doesn't know that yet, you can put it in the corner by the couch."

Noah laughed and walked across the room, setting the stuff down where I told him to.

"Feel like a Pointer yet?" Cole asked. "Because, if not, I know some fierce, fanny-pack-wearing women who have a knack for meddling in your love life and then dropping a trail of those little breadcrumbs of gossip as they speed walk through town."

"If that doesn't make you feel like a Pointer, I don't know what will," Noah added with a laugh.

I glanced at Evian—the reason I had a love life in the first place—and my heart skipped a beat as his eyes met mine. "As tempting as that sounds, Irma already gave me a nickname, so I'm pretty sure my initiation is complete." I started to walk away then turned back around and pointed at Cole and then Noah. "But if you happen to come across a crumb or two about a guy named Fineapple, give me a head's up, wouldya?"

I could hear them both laughing as I made yet another trip down the stairs.

It took a few hours to get everything moved in and, most importantly, my bed set up. Evian and I had thoroughly said goodbye—on every surface we could think of—to that apartment in Sacramento. It only seemed right to make sure this place was broken in.

When Joel told me his family had an apartment I could rent, right below his, I wasn't sure it was such a great idea. Was he going to hear me and Evian having sex? Thankfully, because the apartments were above the shop and to help maintain a good temperature in the building overall, they'd made sure to insulate the hell out of it, including between the floors. I didn't give a shit if he knew I fucked my boyfriend's brains out every chance I got, but knowing he heard us and then facing him the next day? Nope.

I glanced out the window and saw Evian pull into a parking space. His friends had dropped him off at his place so he could pack something for the night and get his car. Since neither one of us had the energy to cook anything for dinner, he swung by Murphy's on his way back and picked up some food.

"You're all moved in." Noah stopped beside me and looked out the window just as Evian got out of the car. His big hand landed on my shoulder and he smiled. "Still need me to hang on to that hope for you?"

I huffed a laugh then smirked, flicking a quick glance at Noah and then back to look at Evian. "Nah. I'm gonna embrace the hell outta him the second we're alone."

Noah squeezed my shoulder, then patted it a couple of times. "Atta boy."

"What are you both looking at?" Cole said, walking up behind us so he could look out the window.

"We're looking at our cue to get the hell outta here and let Enzo truly settle in." Noah shot me a wicked grin and winked. "I promised my men I'd bring home some ice cream, or I ceam"—he put air quotes around those last two words—"as my little guy calls it." The pride in his expression when he talked about his family lit up his whole face.

"Well, I didn't promise Aiden any ‘I ceam', but he's guaranteed to get a little sugar when he gets home from work." Cole wiggled his eyebrows while Noah and I both groaned and laughed.

"What's up?" Evian asked as he came in with his bag and our food.

"Nothing," I responded. "These two jokesters are heading out." I'd come a long way from feeling like an outsider to becoming a Pointer, joking around with them easily now. "Seriously, though, thanks so much for your help. It made this go so much faster."

"No problem," Cole said before both he and Noah said their goodbyes to us and left.

After the long drive and moving shit all day, Evian and I were too tired and hungry to do anything but shower, put on our PJs, and sit down on the floor at the coffee table so we could tear into our wings and ribs. I looked around the place I now called home, blown away by how easy it was to shift gears from Sacramento to here.

I glanced at the gorgeous man beside me and realized he was the main reason why. From the second I stepped into his family's store needing a suit, he affected me in a way no other person ever had. If anyone had told me then that I'd be sitting where I was right now, I'd have laughed in their face, cried, and then eaten my weight in fast food, just to feel something, even if that something was nausea.

Instead of swollen eyes and a fried-food hangover, I was sitting next to a man I was fucking crazy about. A man who loved chocolate chip pecan cookies, barbeque ribs, and hopefully…me.

"I love you." The words came so easily, they trampled any notion I had that it needed to be the perfect romantic moment to tell him.

Evian slowly turned his head my way, licking his messy lips and holding up one pink-polished hand covered in sauce and the other holding a half-eaten rib.

"Did you just tell me you love me when I'm carnivoring the shit out of these ribs and covered in barbeque sauce?" If it weren't for the smile slowly spreading on his face, I'd have thought I fucked that all up.

I barked out a laugh, trying not to freak out because he still hadn't said it back. "Okay, I know for sure that carnivoring is not a word."

"I can think of a few choice words for you right now." He held onto his food while shuffling on his knees closer to me until he lifted one leg and straddled my lap.

"Oh, yeah? And what would those words be?"

"You make my heart go into a frenzy, Enzy."

I hung my head back on the couch and groaned. "That was so bad, even for Mr. Flirty Pants."

"Then how about, I love you, too."

I whipped my head up and stared wide-eyed at him. "More than bacon?" I teased, barely refraining from tossing him on the floor, messy hands and all, and testing out the insulation in this place.

"More than anything," he whispered back, sealing his declaration with a sticky, delicious kiss.