Reaching the backseat, I grabbed my handbag and the goodie bag I’d dumped together when I felt the cool rush of air on my legs from the open door.
Getting out of the car, I shut my door gently behind me.
“When did you get your car?” I asked as he unlocked the front door.
“Earlier this year,” He let me go in first and placed my suitcase inside before picking up the cardboard. “Why?”
I shrugged, and he watched me for a minute before walking down to where the big bins were.
Turning around, my eyes were instantly searching for my cats, andthatthought had me turning back to face Oliver, who walked in the same second with a mirrored expression that told me he was going to ask me something, too.
“You first,” He said, picking up his jacket that I had laid on top of my suitcase before he grabbed the handle.
“It’s more of a what happens,” I replied as I felt Lilli by my feet.
“Okay.”
“What happens when I travel for cricket? Hazel already told me I’d be flying over for the Ashes, and that’s 5 weeks—can I travel with my cats?”
“I would imagine so, but it depends if you get accommodation with the main squad or get one for yourself.”
I nodded, making a mental note to drop her a note to confirm beforehand. “Now, you.”
“Has Vedant not said anything to you yet?”
Oh. “Nope.”
Another thing I’d thought about on my flight, and I think he’s upset about something else, but I can’t pinpoint what that is.
My shoulders dropped further. It was like my body was registering that I was home…home.
I couldn’t deny it, and this place had started to feel like home.
“What did you just think of?” He took a step closer to me, his voice low. “I want to know what that expression means.”
I tugged on my lip as I met his eyes.
“It feels like home,” I sighed.
His eyes glimmered at my words before his gaze settled on my lips. Running a thumb over my lip, he leaned down and placed the softest kiss that I felt the effect of everywhere.
“Come on, sleepy head. I want to show you something,” He whispered against my lips before taking a step back.
Leaving my bags by the stairs, I followed him up the stairs to my room.
“Close your eyes,” He whispered.
I frowned out of habit but closed them nonetheless. I felt him open the door and take my hand as he guided me further into the room.
“Okay, you can open them.”
I peeked one eye open first, the lights making me instantly squint but it was what hung above my bed that took my breath away.
It was the same painting from the gallery. The very one that he made me dream of having on that stupid and entirely perfect wall he had built up in my head. The one that I had visited in my dreams so often that I had rung up the gallery a week later to get it, just so I could scratch that itch in my brain, but they’d told me that it was already sold.
That’s when the realisation came in.
And as he watched my reaction with a grin, I finally let the voice in my head speak. The one that I had been ignoring ever since the flight. The very one I had spoken over to decide I wasgoingto give him a chance.