Page 40 of Cookie

“Babe? What’s going on?” I asked, because there was definitely more going on.

“We’ll talk when we’re done here,” he said and refused to meet my eyes.

“Did something happen?” I asked, because I had zero patience right now, and I didn’t want Ryan to be upset and not tell me.

“No, it’s just—” he started before huffing off down the aisle.

“Ryan, talk to me,” I said as I rushed to where he now stood and held his arms making him face me. “Did I upset you?”

He took a deep breath and finally met my eyes. “I want you to move in with me, and I want to move in with you. And I wanted to ask you in a really special way. But I can’t keep it secret until then, and it’s driving me crazy.” He tugged at his hair in frustration before I loosened his fingers and smoothed down his hair.

“Please don’t hurt my boyfriend,” I said, making him smile. “I’d love to move in with you. I mean, we’re together nearly every night already. What do you want to change?” I loved the nights we spent together, but I didn’t want him to feel pressured to spend all his time with me. This was all still new, and I wasn’t sure what was too much or what wasn’t enough.

“I want to see your things mixed with mine at the apartment, and I want us to go stay at the cabin when we want time away from everything. But I want both places to feel like they’reours. Does that make sense?”

“I’ve been holding back so much,” I finally admitted. “From that first night, I wanted to stay with you every night, but I didn’t want to scare you off. You’d just moved here, completely changed your life, and started a new business.”

“And found the love of my life,” he whispered.

“I love you, and I want to spend any moment I can with you. If that means we move in together, then I love it. I’m not gonna lie, it’s been nice walking across the street to work,” I said, and my cheeks hurt with my wide grin. “You really want me to move in?”

“Yes, and I wanted to make sure you have everything you love while you’re there. I don’t want you to need an overnight bag to stay. It’s your home too, and I want it to feel that way,” Ryan whispered.

“I want you to move in too,” I said, because the idea of seeing Ryan’s things at the cabin gave me a warm feeling in my chest. “What do we need to do?”

“I want to get some hangers for your section of the closet, and I’m going to clear out some of my stuff so you can bring your things over. Not just your clothes, but things you like to have around. Like your whirligigs,” Ryan said. “We could put one out front of the store. They’re all very cute.” After he’d given me the lumberjack whirligig, I’d added a few more and wouldn’t mind even more.

“I bet they’d give us one for free if we put the name of the store on it,” I said before shaking my head to bring me back to our original conversation. “So, we’re going to live in sin?”

He laughed before melting into my arms. “Nothing about living with you is a sin. I love you so much, Charlie, and I want everyone to know it. Oh, and I ordered recliners.”

“You did? Wow, you are serious,” I said. Ryan loved his cozy little apartment, but so far, he hadn’t added much to it except a few photos from his old place.

“Yes, I am. Now come on. Show me what else you need at the apartment.” We went down nearly every aisle choosing my favorite snacks, drinks, and everything I kept at the cabin.

“You do the same. If we’re doing this, it goes both ways, just like I said.” He chose what items he always brought with him when we stayed at the cabin, and a few extra things we both wanted. By the time we were done, the cart was full. “Are you sure we need all this?”

“Yes, since we have two households now,” he said with the biggest smile.

“What else do we need?” I asked, because now I was as excited as he had been when he’d dragged me here.

“Why don’t we go to the big hardware store and see what they have for storage,” Ryan said.

“Whatever you want, babe.”

After a stop at the hardware store, we went back to the apartment. Avery had already left and locked up and even though I’d been here hundreds of times, I was excited we had it all to ourselves. “Maybe we went a little overboard,” Ryan said as we both made one more trip to carry everything in.

“Nope, we just won’t need to shop for a while,” I said and followed him upstairs.

Ryan hurried around, finding places to put everything we’d bought. “Should we get new bedding? I mean, I want everything to be ours.”

“No, I love your bed. It’s just as comfortable as mine,” I said, and sat down on his small sofa to watch him. “Did you want some help?”

“No, when we take everything to the cabin, then I’ll sit and watch you,” he said and once again smiled at me.

“Come here.” I patted my leg and didn’t have to ask twice for him to be in my arms and on my lap. “So, does this mean at some point we’ll make it official?”

“You mean like get married?”

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