Indestructible: Reinforced

Chapter 84

Chapter Eighty-Four

     November 2012

     Present Day

     “So,” I asked as Drake and I sat on the steps of the back porch. It was almost three AM, and all the chairs and tables were gone. The backyard was empty and calm again. “what did you want to see me for?”

     He didn’t answer right away. He held my hand and played with my fingers, and traced patterns on my palm. I looked at his face and he seemed contemplative. Then he took a deep breath and looked at me. “We need to get a house of our own.” He said calmly then looked behind him at the towering mansion and shrugged. “Nothing quite so extravagant, but still decent.”

     “Whoa.” What was happening? What was going on? “You want us to move in together?”

     “Don’t act like it’s too soon.” He chuckled. “We have a kid together, and we were planning on doing that anyways.”

     “When we were seventeen.” I replied. “And back then we didn’t think we were going to be living together as a couple.”

     “Well, now we’re going to live together as a family.” He shrugged and I smiled. The way he’d phrased it, the emotion behind his words, even though he was being forceful and in control, was sweet and sexy at the same time. “And it’s not like we can barely stand each other, and we did mention it before, maybe in passing but it wasn’t such a far off idea. Last I checked we were in love, right?”

     “Yeah.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “But living together…Drake, that could cause a lot of problems for us.”

     He sighed exasperatedly and frowned. “Such as?” He sighed again and his frown deepened. “What now? What objections do you have now? Are your hormones acting up again? Post-natal depression? What’s it this time?”

     He was taking it so seriously I couldn’t help but giggle. “Your aiming is horrible, sometimes.” I shuddered. “I feel like I’m going to vomit whenever I use your bathroom. Most of the times, anyway. And you leave food wrappers and beer cans all over the place, and sometimes they’re not completely empty, and the crumbs stick to the spilled beer and it looks disgusting.”

     His face smoothed and he looked at me as if I were an idiot. “You don’t want to move in with me because I’m a pig when it comes to house hygiene?” He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Seriously, Avy?”

     “I don’t know if I’m ready!” I squirmed. “I mean, that means I have to look perfect all the freaking time! And this is exhausting!”

     “Did you have to look perfect for Jake all the time?”

     “I had to look comfortable yet sexy.” I scowled. “Expensive lingerie underneath holey sweats and an old t-shirt. Do you have any idea how tiring it is to pull off that look?”

     “You can forgo the expensive lingerie when we’re just lounging about the house.” He grinned mischievously at me and I blushed, knowing what was coming. “You can forgo the holey sweats and the old-shirt as well, if you want.”

     “You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” I shook my head at him. “That’s not going to happen, Drake, forget it.”

     “Why not?” He put his hand on his chest. “I like to sit around in my boxers, and since not a lot of people are going to be around this time, then I can do that more often.”

     “Your point?”

     “If I’m in my underwear, then you should be in yours.” He shrugged. “Equality and all.”