used to this. It’s not a bad way to end the day.”
“Move in with me.”
My eyes fly open, meeting his.
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this. It makes sense for you to move in here. You have to go to your place every few days for clean clothes, or to do your laundry. It just makes sense to have one place.”
I frown. “You want me to move in because it’s convenient?”
“Yes.” I pull my feet out of his lap. “No. Not just because of that. Of course I’d like to have you here every day. I hate sleeping without you.”
“No.”
He cocks a brow. “No?”
“No, thank you,” I repeat. “I truly appreciate the offer, but I like having my place. It’s not that big of a deal to get clothes and stuff.”
Okay, it is a pain in the ass, but I’ll be damned if I’ll move in here because it’s convenient. I got married for the same reason, and look where that got me.
“I’m not trying to hurt your feelings,” I say and climb into his lap, straddling him. “Honest. I’m just not ready for that kind of a big change yet. I like things the way they are for now.”
“Okay.” He grips my hips and smiles up at me just as the doorbell rings. “We’re assuming this position again after dinner.”
“I look forward to it.”
Chapter Fourteen
~Carter~
“I said no.”
I can feel it coming on. The headache from hell is settling in nicely right behind my left eye socket. She’s also sitting in the back seat of my car while I drive the three of us to Maggie’s house for Sunday family dinner.
“I don’t understand why you’re so mean,” Gabby says. The girl’s been jumping on my last nerve for days. She’s pouty, surly, stubborn, and impossible.
If this is what the rest of her teen years are going to look like, I’m shipping her off to boarding school.
Okay, so I’d miss her within ten minutes, but this is ridiculous.
“I’m mean because I’m your parent, and it’s my job to protect you, not be your best friend,” I explain for the fifth time today. “You don’t need an Instagram account, and that’s the end of it.”
“All my friends have one,” she argues. “Like, every single one of them. I’m the only one who doesn’t.”
“Well, then I guess you’re the only one in the whole universe with a father who doesn’t think it’s appropriate for a twelve-year-old to have an Instagram account. You’ve already stretched your phone privileges. Do you want to go back to the old way of doing things, where you don’t have your phone at all unless you’re away from home without me?”
Gabby sighs heavily. “No.”
“I didn’t think so.”
I pull into Maggie’s driveway, and Gabby launches herself out of the car, slamming the door and hurrying inside before I can even cut the engine.
“You’re leaving town tomorrow,” Nora reminds us both. She turns to me and purses her lips. “It’s gonna be fun. Yay, me.”
“I can have Maggie or one of the brothers keep her,” I offer, but Nora’s already shaking her head.
“No, it’s fine. I’ve kept her plenty of times. I just don’t understand the sudden regression to the attitude she had last year. Maybe it’s me. Maybe she’s having an issue with us being together.”
“It could be a number of things,” I reply and reach over to squeeze her hand in encouragement. “I’ll see if I can get her back in with her therapist this week. Maybe she’ll talk to a professional because she sure won’t talk to me.”
“I hope so,” Nora says as we step out of the car and walk inside. Quinn and Finn are both in the kitchen with their mother, helping her put the finishing touches on dinner. Sienna and London are sitting at the island, sipping wine, and Gabby is sulking in the living room, her nose in her phone, watching YouTube.
“What’s wrong with her?” Finn asks, gesturing to my daughter.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” I reply and open the fridge, praying Maggie stocked up on some beer for today.
Of course she did.
“Just one,” I say to Nora with a wink. “I could use it.”
“I can always drive home.” She kisses my shoulder as she walks over to greet Maggie with a hug. “How can I help?”
“The boys help cook,” Maggie says with a smile. “So you just pour a glass of wine and relax with my girls.”
“If you’re sure,” Nora says with surprise and joins Sienna and London