Page 129 of Keep Me

“No. Of course not. UnlessChally Sportspay their interns better than their broadcasters, I think it’ll be a few years before I can afford a house like this.”

I pushed her hair to the side and kissed up and down her neck, tasting remnants of the salty sea air.

“Is that your way of telling me you got the job?”

She rolled her head back so it laid on my shoulder, and the faintest of smiles played on her lips. I raised my hand from her hip up to her ribs until my thumb grazed the underside of her breast.

“They asked for me to book a call in with someone in HR, but that’s just to discuss a potential internship at one of their lower-level affiliate teams.”

I swiped my thumb against her breast again, eliciting a moan as I crinkled the fabric of the dress, ready to tear it off her. “And you’re acting like that’s not something to celebrate. My wife might be landing the role of her dreams, and yet, she still acts like it’s not a big deal.”

Her hips pushed against me, rolling against my crotch, and I was certain she could feel my erection at this point. One I’d been harboring since she arrived. “I don’t want to celebrate it until I know what they’re offering.”

“Makes sense. Then can we celebrate something else tonight? Like this beautiful view, perhaps?”

She turned in my arms, wrapping her own around my neck, and gave me a long, lingering kiss. “I like the view in this direction better,” she teased, using my compliment against me.

“Well, shit. Maybe I should have bought something else.”

She stiffened and her eyes searched mine. “Bought? What are you talking about? I thought you were renting it for the night.”

“I might have lied.”

Her eyes grew wide, and she backed away to take me in. “So it’s not for sale?”

“It was for sale, that wasn’t a lie. It’s just, we might be the new owners.”

“W-what?”

“Well, my father and I agreed to sell the house. It’s not like I was going to move back to Darwin Falls after I graduate, anyway. I needed somewhere else to live. I love it here in California. You’re from here, and this is only a ten-minute drive from campus. I felt like it was the perfect place for us to start the rest of our lives together.”

She shook her head, looking around the house but never once attempted to come out of my hold.

“Whoa, wait. You want me to move in here too?”

I nodded. “Only if you want to. I’d like you to.”

“But how the hell could you afford a place like this? Aren’t you also a broke college student like me, or did you use the money from your parents’ house sale?” Her eyes widened.

“No. All that money is going into an account which I plan on using to help my father get better. It should hopefully be enough for him to buy an apartment when he’s ready for it.”

Britt’s palm rested on my cheek as she pushed up on her tiptoes to give me a little kiss. “I’m proud of you, Matty,” she said before dropping back down. “I’m proud that you’re starting to work things through with your dad. Frankly, he doesn’t deserve a son like you.”

I shrugged, doing my best to mask my emotions. “Well, after that terrible dinner, I did some reflecting. He might not have been the best father to me, but I wasn’t helping the situation either, stubbornly keeping him in that house. Letting him rot to death.”

“It’s because you wanted to help him.”

“Yes, but maybe I should have looked at it from his perspective. He loved my mom, and I can’t imagine how hard it would be living there. Drowning in her memory every day. I couldn’t leave him there like that. Not after everything he said. I did make him agree to get help before I signed off on the sale, though. He’s getting grief and addiction counseling. Something I’m more than willing to pay for because I want to save what little family I have left.”

“Oh, Matty. Is that why you weren’t around the last couple of weeks?”

“Yeah, I needed to do that. Not just for me, but for you.”

She looked at me with surprise. “I hope you didn’t do that because you thought I wanted you to?”

“No. Nothing like that, but I wanted to be taken seriouslybyyou, and in order for that to happen, I needed to act like an adult and show you how willing I am to create a life with you. That’s why I bought this house.”

“Buying a beachfront property in Covey Cove definitely makes me take you seriously. How did you afford it, though?”

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