Melting Hearts (Loving the Soun - Kat Obie Page 0,47

no hangers. There was no dresser. How was he expecting her to put anything away?

She turned to Petey. "Um, I think we need to go to the store now. I can't really put anything away since you have nothing for me to put it in."

As they headed downstairs, he said, "So, I guess I should ask. Do you want to hit Value City Furniture or go to a variety of stores like Arhaus, the Container Store, and others?"

While it might be nice to hit up Arhaus and some other stores, he'd already proven he didn't need fancy furniture. But she did want to get a good organizational system. So that meant going to one of her favorite stores. "Would you hate me if I say both the Container Store and Value City Furniture?"

He pushed her hair behind her ear. "Not hate you. But we won’t be able to do both today. They are in opposite directions. Since you think we got robbed, let's go to the furniture store first."

20

Petey

It was great to have Maddy back again. He wasn’t surprised that she wanted to hit both Value City Furniture and the Container Store. She loved her organization. Hell, that was the reason he wanted to wait for her before getting more furniture.

It was a short drive to the furniture store. It was nice she’d chosen the furniture store that wasn't the most expensive in the city.

As they walked into the store, she asked, "What do you want to look for first?"

He looked around the store. "Umm. I guess we can start with the living room space."

It was in front of their eyes, and they needed a good sectional. He liked to relax on the sofa after practice. There had been a couple of days when he’d gone next door just to have a comfortable sofa to sit on.

Maddy giggled. "I'm sure having it all up front helped with that decision."

She wasn't wrong, but he also had a second excuse. "Well, that and I love a good sofa."

They wandered around the various mock rooms and picked out several pieces. It was refreshing that they were on the same page about the furniture. They had similar taste, so it was easy to pick out some oversized sectionals, a coffee table, a dining room table, and chairs.

By the time they got to the kitchen area, Maddy punched him, "You need to pick out things too, Petey. It's your house."

"What? I was okay with no furniture, and I like what you like thus far."

She paused in the aisle. “Nope. I'm not picking out your entire house decor. You have to pick out the next item with no initial input from me."

Her hands were tucked into her armpits. She refused to move any farther. She looked so damn kissable in that moment, trying to make a point that he should be picking out more things for his own house without her input.

He pulled her towards him. He nuzzled her neck and gave her a nip behind her ear. "I like it when you take a stance, but why must I pick out stuff?"

"'Cause it's your house. You need to like it."

She’d completely missed the point of him waiting to decorate. It was her home too, and he wanted her to live there permanently. One way for that to happen was for her to be in love with the house. "Babe. I like everything so far."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Mads, you got wonderful taste. It's just as much your house as it is mine." He took a deep breath. He needed to deflect what she was bound to say next. "I know that you got school and a life in BC, but I want you to feel like this is your place when you’re here."

She kissed him right behind his ear, making him want to find a quiet corner at the very least but preferably to run home. "You still need to pick out the next item."

Looking at the different kitchen things, he was at a total loss about what they could use. It was quite possibly the worst place to find a piece of furniture, but Maddy had her mind made up.

As he was scanning for anything that seemed practical or at the very least useful, he swore he saw Jared in the background. That seemed crazy. Jared lived in Vancouver, so what the hell was he doing here in Cleveland? Was he following Maddy? He wouldn't put it past the creep, since he’d suspected it