Catching Him(How to Catch an Alpha #1) - Aurora Rose Reynolds Page 0,79

through it.

“Relax.” Tyler chuckles, and I turn my head to glare at him.

“Don’t tell me to relax when I’m about to sit through a fancy dinner with your family and mine,” I huff, flipping down the visor and swiping on lip gloss.

The night before last, his parents arrived close to midnight. They were exhausted from the drive, so we helped them get settled at his house and told them we’d see them in the morning, but only for a bit. Both Tyler and I still had to work. We had breakfast with them on Thursday morning, and while we were eating, Tyler suggested that our families get together Friday. Then he proceeded to call my mom to ask her to make reservations for all of us. Of course my mom was happy to set things up; I just wasn’t as happy as she was. I wanted the first meeting of our parents to be much more casual and personal. Lord only knows what my grams might say or even what one of my brothers might do.

“It’s just dinner, baby.” He shrugs, and I narrow my eyes on his profile.

“I know, but I . . . I just wanted our parents to meet alone. We could’ve had my parents over, or—”

He cuts me off. “You still don’t have a couch. And I don’t have a dining room table. I figured dinner out would be the easiest for everyone.”

“You need to buy a dining room table,” I say with a sigh while adjusting the top of my dress. A little black dress I bought to wear to dinner with him. I just never expected our parents, my siblings, their spouses, and my niece and nephews to be with us when we went out to said dinner.

“I’ll get right on that after I finish paying off our new alarm systems and the fence they’re currently putting in my backyard.”

Wait . . . what?

“My dad said he was going to pay for my alarm system,” I say quietly.

“Yeah, and then I told him he wouldn’t be.”

“I have some money. Just let me—”

“No.” He shakes his head in denial, the fricking stubborn caveman.

“Tyler,” I hiss.

“No, Leah, I’m good, and if you think I need a table in my dining room that we never fucking use, then we’ll go out and buy one tomorrow when I get off work. But.” He glances over at me. “Before that happens, I think we need to figure out which of our houses we’re keeping. Mine is more updated, but you’ve got an unfinished basement that would add to the square footage if I finished it out and added a bathroom down there.”

“What?” I breathe, my mind trying to play catch-up with the weight of our conversation. “Are you saying we should move in together?”

“Baby, we basically live together now. It makes no sense for us to be paying two mortgages each month. We could be saving that money.”

“Holy cow.”

I feel him look at me. “Did you really expect us to be neighbors for the rest of our lives and not move in together one day?” He laughs.

Did I? I’m not sure. I’ve been living in the moment with him and taking each day as it comes. I know I love him and that he loves me, but until right now, I’ve never considered what our future might look like. He wants us to live together, and that means eventually we might get married and have babies. I know he said that to his mom, but I didn’t really think much about it at the time, because it seemed like something that wouldn’t be happening for years to come. Apparently that’s not the case.

“Holy cow,” I repeat, and he laughs even louder as he pulls into the parking lot for the restaurant and parks his truck in an empty spot.

When he shuts down the engine, he turns to face me, then reaches over, picks up my hand, and pulls me closer. “I think we should move into your place since you have more square footage, and with a little work, it would be worth more money in the long run.” His eyes search mine. “I’ll fix up the kitchen, remodel the master bathroom, and finish off the basement. When we have a baby, you have a room down the hall that we can turn into a nursery.”

A baby. Oh my God. I think I might start hyperventilating.

“We don’t have to sell my house right away,” he says, searching my eyes.