realized the dragging of his feet had to stop. He needed to set down some more permanent roots, ones that didn’t include a hotel room.
While Eli still slept, Jack got out of bed. He grabbed his pants pocket from where it had fallen and pulled out his phone, then got back into bed next to Eli. Jack sent Bryan a quick message to see if the house was still available.
Then he pulled up Bryan’s company website and scrolled through making mental notes of the ones he may like to see. Eli shifted beside him and he dropped the phone and turned to him. He squirmed and stretched and yawned, before opening his eyes and looking up at Jack.
"Good morning," Jack said.
"Morning!" Eli smiled at him, then suddenly he sat up. "Hold on what time is it?"
"Just after eight," Jack said.
Eli nodded and yawned. He stretched out, then opened his eyes again. "What are you doing?"
"Well, I was thinking it just might be time for me to set down some roots. Figure out my living situation since I’ll be in town permanently. I have more than a couple of reasons to stay now."
Eli smiled and sat up in bed. "Well…there’s your new job, your family…"
"I think you missed one," Jack whispered, leaning forward and kissing his way down Eli’s neck.
"Me." Eli’s voice was breathy. But he didn’t miss the surprise there.
Jack leaned back and nodded. "Definitely you."
Jack moved in and kissed Eli, pouring all the feelings rolling inside him into it.
"Definitely you," he said, now nibbling on Eli’s lips. Jack hesitated for a second before deciding fuck it. "You can help me if you want. My realtor will probably thank you."
Eli seemed to search Jack’s gaze, and he wasn’t sure what the omega was looking for, but finally Eli spoke. "I’d love to."
Jack nodded then leaned back against the headboard and patted the space next to him. He picked up his phone again and showed Eli the houses he’d marked. They went through a couple until Jack was stopped when he heard,"Oooh…what about this one? I always wanted a house that looked like that." Eli looked up at him, his cheeks pink. "I mean… it would be great for you."
Jack smiled and clicked on the link. It was one of the houses he’d liked that was a Cape Cod style, which he loved. For some reason, in his head he saw that as the quintessential family home. There was a part of him that imagined his alpha father coming back and whisking him and his papa to a house like that.
It was very similar to the one he’d seen earlier.
"I like this one, too," Jack said. "Four bedrooms and three and a half baths. Office, study, deck for barbecues." Jack could see it now. Eli there. His brothers, nephews, and nieces. It was a bit smaller than the one he’d seen first, but apart from that, they were almost the same design.
The drive to work was about a half-hour, it was only a mile from Aiden’s, and not too far from Colt, either. Definitely a possibility. Jack reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the pad of paper and pen. He jotted down the address for when he called Bryan. "I’ll look into that one," he said. They noted a few more, and he took down all the information.
A little more of that cloud that had been hanging over him dissipated. Just a little more.
Bryan didn’t get back to him till Monday morning about the houses.
"Jack, I saw the house you sent. It’s been sold already, but we do have the house you viewed the other day that’s still available. And they are very very similar."
They were but Eli hadn’t seen the other one. "Can you fit me in for another viewing today?" He wasn’t really sure what to call Eli, but “friend” would have to do for now. But it was definitely not going to be their final label.
"Mr. Vaughn, did you hear me?"
Jack frowned. "Sorry please repeat that."
"I have another couple that wants to look at it this morning. I hoped to hear back from you, of course, but you’ve been hard to reach."
"Get me the link now." Jack thanked him and hung up the call. He didn’t want to waste time and lose the house that just might be the perfect home for him. As he sat at his computer, he reached out and dialed Eli’s number. He didn’t know if he would answer being at work, but