There Are Worse Things I Could Do (18+)

46. Liam

Ana was in complete awe, going back in forth between, "This house is fucking insane!" Or "Holy shit, are there heated floors in the bathroom??" To "You guys just bought an entire fucking house in Santa Monica without telling me, and neither of you thinks that's weird? What if I hated it?"

"Do you hate it?" Theo asked rhetorically. It was obvious she absolutely loved it.

"Well no," Ana whispered, still sounding a little dazed as her eyes roamed around the giant master bathroom in disbelief. "But a little heads up would've been nice..." she trailed off, inspecting the walk-in shower that was big enough to hold an entire family. If you had the kind of family that enjoyed showering together.

"How are we going to split the mortgage payments?" She asked, turning around suddenly with an accusatory tone. "Is my name going to be on the mortgage? Can I even afford this? This is—don't get me wrong, I love the house—but buying a home? Owning a home together? After a month of dating. It's a huge deal." I could see her beginning to spiral, overthinking things as usual.

"It is a huge deal, you're right," I said soothingly, rubbing my hands up and down her arms, my eyes glued to her pushed-up cleavage. I had no idea why she chose the skimpiest fucking, lacy, dainty-looking outfit tonight, but it was maddening. I didn't even trust myself to hug her too long at this point. Rubbing her arms was like the safest way to make contact with her body without it turning sexual.

"But the monthly payments? If we break up—"

"That's not going to happen," Theo said firmly.

"It's not," I agreed. "But even if we did, the house is fully paid off. We could move out, and you could live here. We can add your name to the deed at any point. But if you'd rather not have it on there, that's fine too. Please don't overthink this." Theo nodded in agreement, reaching for Ana's hand.

"Let's just enjoy our night and talk about that shit later. Come see what the chef is making." Theo pulled her out of the shower, leading her towards the bathroom door.

"And you still haven't seen the backyard! There's direct access to the private beach!" I told her excitedly, picturing myself laying her down on a beach towel, both of us as naked as the day we were born, her panting beneath me—

"And a huge outdoor shower," Theo added, glancing at me quickly with a smirk. Outdoor shower sex would be nice, too. I could see her pressed up against the shower wall, billows of steam encasing us in our own little world, my fingers wedged up inside her tight—

"And a hot tub," I said, somewhat breathlessly. I mean, the hot tub would be a bit of a cliche, but hot tub sex—

"This is fucking insane," Ana whispered again, allowing herself to be led down the stairs and out to the backyard, where we could see the chef in the distance, already beginning to set the table. We'd hired an event planner to set up market string lights above the table and to adorn the tabletop and surroundings with fancy girly shit we figured she'd appreciate. Flowers and nice placemats and fancy drinkware and whatnot.

Theo pulled her chair out for her, and then we all sat down to enjoy the mole poblano, ceviche, enchiladas suizas, tacos de cochinita pibil, and mango margaritas. We ate a lot of Mexican food, because I knew it was Ana's favorite cuisine, so I'd asked the chef to make something a little different—and more authentic—than the usual tacos, burritos and quesadillas we got from food trucks.

Ana was unusually quiet as we ate, like she was in shock that the house we were eating at was where she'd be living soon. Every now and then, she'd make little comments about the decor, how she loved the chandelier in the dining room and the crown molding, how the table was big enough to host her family someday, or how the walls needed more color. Theo and I would either nod or reassure her that she could change anything she wanted, depending on the comment.