Chapter 20

CHAPTER

TWENTY

Merrick

It's been three weeks since Chloe's wedding, and life has been incredible. There hasn't been a single night since then that Courtney hasn't slept in my arms. Not one, and I'm fucking addicted. I want her here all the time. She's been leaving more of her stuff here, and it's time she brings it all. She's renting her place, and she's on a month-to-month contract, so there is nothing stopping her.

Asking her to live with me, to make this her permanent home is all I've been able to think about. It's a rainy Sunday afternoon, and we've been cuddled up on the couch all day, watching movies, and eating junk food. There's a chill in the air that came in with the storm, which is unusual for this time of year, so I made a pot of my mom's chili. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. And there's enough that we're having it for lunch and for dinner.

"I love days like this," Courtney says. She's lying in front of me on the couch with a blanket pulled over us and is using my arm as a pillow as we watch TV. I've got my other arm around her, holding her close.

"Me too." I don't just love it. I crave it. I'm now a homebody choosing quiet nights and days in with her than any other option. We do hang out with our families. When Chloe and Rodney came back from their honeymoon, we all had dinner at their parents' place while they told us all about it.

It was the first time we'd been together around them since we said this was real between us. She was fucking radiant. With the stress of our story locked tight behind us, she was laughing and cutting up. So much so her father pulled me to the side to thank me for bringing his daughter to life.

She's the one who has brought me to life, and I told him so.

We've gone to the last two Sunday dinners at Kincaid Central, but today, the twins are teething, Beckham has a stomach bug, and Brooks is working, so it's canceled. Don't get me wrong, I love my family fiercely. However, when I got the call, I was sad that my nieces and nephews weren't well, but I was stoked to get all day with Courtney, just hanging around the house. She deemed it a jammies day, much to my dismay, but her smile when she said it was worth us having to cover up when we climbed out of bed for breakfast.

"I need to swap the laundry," she says, making no move to get up. "We left towels in the washer."

Call me crazy, but I love this. Talking about mundane things in life with her, like laundry. I want all of her minutes in each and every day. Laundry, groceries, cleaning, kids' schedules, we'll get to that last one, I'm sure of it.

"Merrick?"

"Yeah?"

"Where did you go?"

"What?" I shake out of my thoughts, giving her all of my attention.

"You were so lost in thought, I'm not even sure you heard me." There's concern in her voice, and I love that too. She loves me, she knows me, even the slightest change and she notices. We are so in tune with one another.

"I was listening, baby. You said you needed to swap out the laundry because there are towels in the washer." I was distracted, but I still heard every word.

"So he is awake." She chuckles.

"I was just thinking about something really important."

"Oh, yeah? You want to talk about it?"

"I do, actually."

She turns in my arms to face me and rests her hand on my cheek. "I'm all ears. What's got you so distracted?"

"You do." I smile because I immediately see the confusion crossing her features.

"Me?"

"Yes. You. I love this, Court. I love us being here together like this. I love that we cook together and clean together. I love that I left a load of towels in the washer that I forgot to flip over and you remembered."

"You feeling all right?" she teases.

"I've never felt better. I've never been happier."

Her eyes soften. "Me too. I never could have known that telling you how much I love you would have led to this."

"We're just getting started, gorgeous."

"We are," she agrees.

"That's why I think you should move in with me." I drop the words like a bomb. We've not talked about her moving in up to this point, but I've thought about it nonstop. We're ready for this. I know we are. There isn't anyone else in this lifetime for me.

Courtney's my one.

"Say that again."

"Move in with me. This is already our home. We picked out everything together, and when you're not here, it feels like something is missing. Let's make it official and move in with me." I'm mentally going over all of my reasons. Saving money on her rent and utilities. Her life would be more organized with all of her stuff in one place. We never have to ask if you are coming over or staying ever again. The list keeps growing as my girl processes what I've just asked her.

I'm gearing up to launch into my unlimited list of reasons when she replies.

"Okay."

I shake with laughter. "That word. Good fucking things happen to me when you say okay, baby. You're really doing it? You're moving in?"

"Yes."

"I love you so much, baby. When?"

She shrugs. "Whenever. I can start going to my place after work and bringing a few more bags and boxes each night."

"What can I do? I can call my brothers, and we can load up your furniture, bring whatever you want. I don't care as long as this is where you get your mail."

"All of my furniture is secondhand, to be honest. My bedroom suite is nice, but it's a queen, so we can put that in one of the spare bedrooms, but we can donate the rest."

"Actually, why don't we put it in the basement?"

Her eyes light up. "That's a good idea. We can store it in the garage until the basement is ready."

My phone vibrates with a message. Reaching above me, I check it to make sure it's not something important.

Maverick: You good, brother?

I grin. The crazy twin sense is playing again today.

Me: Never better.

Tossing my phone back on the table, I give my attention back to Courtney.

It's a project I've been meaning to get to, to finish the basement, but I haven't had time. But when it gets colder, and I get laid off, that's my plan to knock it out. A few cases of beer and some pizzas and my brothers and I can have it done in no time at all.

"Do you want to go to your place right now?" I ask her. I'm ready to go, to move her in now. Today. Right this minute. I remember thinking my brothers had lost their minds when they asked their wives to move in and wanted it that second, but I get it. When you love someone, you want all of their time.

Work hard. Love harder. I plan to do exactly that as we build our life together.

She giggles. "No. This is our lazy Sunday, and I'm soaking it up. I have everything I need for work tomorrow."

My lips find hers in a slow, sensual kiss. I take my time because this is our day. One thing leads to the next and somehow, I've managed to strip us both naked. I flip us so that Courtney is straddling my hips, with the blanket pulled around her shoulders.

"I love you," she says as she reaches between us and guides my cock inside her.

I need to kiss her. I need that connection.

Sitting up, I move with her on my lap, impaled on my cock, and plant my feet on the floor. My hand slides behind her neck as I guide her lips to mine. She rocks slowly as our tongues glide against one another. We're not in a hurry, which is how we spend the afternoon making love on our living room couch.

Courtney is at work, and I'm sitting at home alone. I got rained out today, which means that Maverick and Archer probably did too. I start to call them separately but decide to just put it in the group chat in case Brooks is off today. His schedule as an ER nurse is rotating days on and off, and I can never keep up.

Me: Rained out.

Archer: Me too.

Maverick: Me three.

Ryder: Me too, if you can believe it, but I'm on call for outages.

Brooks: I'm off today.

Orrin: Must be nice.

Me: You own your own business. Take the day off.

Declan: It's not always that easy.

Rushton: I'm working and it's hot as balls.

Sterling: I think I get to be the one to complain about the heat. Have you tried welding when it's 98 degrees outside? Hot as Satan's balls.

Deacon: My office is nice and cool.

I laugh at Deacon's message. He's the only one of us outside of Brooks that works in a controlled climate.

Me: Courtney's moving in with me.

I drop the news because I'm so damn excited. They all reply back with their form of congratulations.

Archer: You need help?

Brooks: I can come once Palmer gets home.

Ryder: I'm in.

Maverick: Me too.

Me: We're going to need some help with the furniture, but we're going to go through the rest of the things first. Most of her clothes are already here. I'll let you know when we get to that point.

Sterling: It might seem like most of her clothes are there, but trust me, brother, they are not.

Me: I don't care. I'll build a bigger closet if I have to.

Orrin: Welcome to the club, little brother.

Each of them gives me a similar reply as Orrin. I know it sounds odd, but as the last brother to find his forever, I feel like I share something with them that I was missing out on. I understood that they loved their wives; of course I did. I understood it even more when Maverick fell in love with Stella, but experiencing it yourself is something else entirely different.

Tossing my phone aside, I get to work cleaning the house. I have more laundry to do, and the floors need to be mopped and swept. Once that's finished, I decide to make moves in the bedroom. I've already given Courtney a drawer, and she has clothes in my closet, but she needs more. I clean out one side of the dresser. It's mostly old jeans and shirts I never wear, and stuff them into a bag for donation. I tackle the closet next. It's massive, but my stuff is hanging in all random places. I go through those clothes as well, something I should have done when I moved into this place, but I'd put it off until now. Once I have the donation bags full, I move all my clothes into an orderly fashion on one side, leaving the few items that Courtney has here on her side.

Moving to the bathroom, I make sure her side under the sink and in the drawers are full of just her stuff. It's not much, but I hope it makes her feel more at home. That she has truly dedicated space here as well.

There are little touches of her all over our home. Her blanket tossed over the back of the couch. The throw pillows she convinced me I needed when we went shopping. Without even realizing it, we've made this our home, and I'm stoked to start our forever together.

I hear the garage door, and I grin. She's home. I love that we've made it official, and this is now her home.

Grabbing the bags for donation from the bedroom floor, I toss one over each shoulder and make my way toward the kitchen, which will lead me to the laundry room and the garage to toss them into my truck.

The garage door into the laundry room opens just as I step inside.

Courtney freezes, and a beautiful smile crosses her face. "Hey, handsome. What are you up to?"

"Cleaned out some old clothes. Making use of my rain day."

She nods. "Yeah, I'm going to do a lot of that as well as I pack. I have so many clothes I don't even wear anymore."

I can't help but chuckle when I think about Sterling's comment earlier. "Bring it all with you. This is your home, baby."

She rises up on her toes and pecks my cheek. "I love you."

"Love you. Let me put these in my truck, and I'll be right back and we can start dinner."

"Oh, I picked up dinner." She lifts a bag of takeout from a local Mexican place we both love. "I also stopped by my place and grabbed a few more things."

"Perfect. We'll eat, and I'll help you unpack. I'll bring in a load on my way back in." I kiss her quickly and move around her to enter the garage. Tossing the bags in the back seat of my truck, I go to her car and open the trunk, grab two tote bags and a suitcase, and carry them into the house. "I'll just put these in the bedroom."

"Sounds good," she says. She stops pulling our takeout from the bag and follows me. "I don't know what I'm going to do with all my stuff. I might have to take over the spare bedroom closet."

"Then where will the kids' clothes go?" I ask. She doesn't reply so I turn to see her with her hand over her mouth, and her eyes are sparkling and misting with tears. "We are having babies, right?" I ask with a grin.

She nods. "Yes," she finally squeaks out her reply.

"I'll just put these in the closet."

She follows me in and gasps. "Where is all of your stuff?"

"It's still here, just a little more organized. I had gaps between things that didn't need to be there. You now have the entire right side all to yourself. Top and bottom, and the shelves in the middle right are all yours as well."

"This is really happening."

"You bet your fine ass it is." I pull her into my arms and kiss her. "Now, let's eat, and I'll help you unpack."

"I can't wait to live this life with you, Merrick Kincaid."

"Right back at you, gorgeous."