“Have you told your mom yet?”
“No, I wanted to talk to you first, make sure you still want me here.” I ducked my head, feeling weirdly shy. I’d lived with guys before as roommates, but never like this.
“That’s not even a question, is it?” He tipped my chin up and kissed me.
For a few seconds, I just savored the moment, then the nervous babbling started. “Maybe not. Is this weekend too soon? I’m bringing my bed, the one you built for me, and we can put it in one of the other bedrooms for guests once we finish the floor. But otherwise, I don’t have much furniture. Just clothes and computer stuff.”
“You know, I happen to have a truck. We’ll get you moved, beautiful. Can’t be soon enough for me. I fucking hate sleeping alone.”
“Me, too,” I admitted.
After dinner, I jingled my keys suggestively. “Let’s go for a ride.”
“Where?” Rob was already on the sofa, seeming settled for the night.
“You’ll like this surprise. I hope. Come on, I really want to do this with you.”
That piqued his interest, so he followed me to the car. I drove out to the humane society, hoping this wouldn’t end in an awkward, perplexed silence on his end. I’d already called to make sure they’d be open, so the attendant took us straight back to check out the dogs that were available for adoption. Rob wore an inscrutable expression as she left us to answer the phone.
“Lauren?”
I took a deep breath. “I’ve always wanted a dog, but my mom’s allergic. So I thought...maybe, unless you hate them, we could get one...together.”
If it turned out he loved his hardwood floors too much to risk a dog damaging them, I’d be disappointed, but no big deal, right? Not everyone loved dogs. But they’re just so cute with the big eyes and the furry tummies and the cold noses...come on, Rob. When he was younger, the Conrads had a dog, but after she died of old age, they never replaced her. I seemed to remember him playing with her in the backyard when I was, like, seven. He was quiet, walking along the cages.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Never mind. Moving in together is a big step, and this is too much, it’s a weird idea. Stupid, even. I shouldn’t have—”
“Lauren,” he cut in.
“What?”
“I’m finding the perfect dog for us. You’re very distracting when you act so adorable. So cut it out.”
With a smile so broad it almost hurt, I ran to him, and he hugged me. As we stood there, the beagle mix nearby perked up and set her paw against the door. The card on her cage said she was just over a year old, spayed, vaccinated and fully housebroken. I didn’t care about any of that. Her soulful eyes said, Take me home, and I died when she cocked her head, asking silently why we weren’t adopting her already.
“That’s the one,” I said, just as Rob knelt down.
He nodded. “She’s ours. Now we just have to decide what to name her.”
“Happy,” I said instantly. “Because that’s how I feel when I’m with you.”
When the attendant came back, she had to clear her throat three times to get us to stop kissing long enough to sign the papers and pay the fees.
As I carried Happy out to the car, I thought, This is the start of something beautiful.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Both Happy and I settled in nicely.
Rob built a fence in the backyard, which was enormous, and installed a dog door in the kitchen; we got a fancy one with a radio collar, so stray cats and random raccoons couldn’t come in to ransack the cupboards. Given the woods around the house, the latter seemed more likely. The weekend after I moved in, we finished a second bedroom and set it up as an office, where I could work, though I stashed my twin bed in there, as well.
At first it was a little strange, but I got used to coming home here, just like I had the apartment in Michigan. For the first time in my life, I felt like a functioning adult. No wild drinking, and my anxiety attacks flared less. Routine helped, and life with Rob definitely ran on a pattern. He got home from work later than me, so I usually made dinner. He cleaned up, then we snuggled for a while on the couch.
Around nine, he went to the garage to work on his furniture orders and I went up to my office to write code. Happy usually went with me and curled up on the bed to nap. She was a good dog, not prone to chasing things or barking, though sometimes the squirrels taunted her beyond all bearing. At eleven, Rob met me in the bedroom for sex or sleep, usually the first, then the second. Sometimes I caught myself humming when there was no music, just full of such joy that I couldn’t contain it.
Now that I was living with him, though, I made a point of hanging out with Krista, Avery and Jillian on Friday nights. I couldn’t be one of those girls who turned her boyfriend into her whole world. Krista was generally glad to get away from adorable Naomi for a few hours, giving her mom a chance to spoil her. The rest of us weren’t as enthralled with the endless pictures, but then we instituted another rule for girls’ night—no baby pics or talk about dudes. Once we established that, it was a lot more fun.
In September, my mom got married. It was a small service with dinner for friends and family afterward, much less formal than the engagement party. Stuart’s family flew in for the big event, and I found Randall just as obnoxious the second time. But he wasn’t the best man, so he didn’t get to give a toast. Things wrapped up early because the bride and groom were heading to the airport to catch a late flight, stopover in L.A. and then on for two glorious weeks in Hawaii.
“You look beautiful,” I said, hugging my mom.
“Thanks. You’re doing well with Rob, right? I hope you didn’t move because—”
“Is this really the time to check that?” I teased.
My mom had taken it well when I told her I was moving out. She might deny it, but I suspected she was a little relieved that she could start fresh with Stuart without me around cramping their style. I’d asked her why she was so weird about confessing to the engagement and she was quiet for a while.
Finally, she’d said, “I was afraid you’d be upset. You had so many...challenges when you got home. I was worried Stuart would be another stressor for you.”
Then I’d realized she was talking about my anxiety issues, something we usually tiptoed around. Well, I could understand, though it hadn’t been necessary to walk on eggshells for me. Anyway, I liked Stuart, and it was fine.