Page 31 of Love Unavoidable
Chapter 8
ethan
Sadie changes into yoga pants and a t-shirt, with a light hoodie before we leave the hospital. The pants make her ass look luscious. My god, she has a great ass. I want to kneel behind her and worship each cheek.
It took a few hours longer than I expected to get her discharged, so by the time I get Sadie to my house, it’s about four hours later in the afternoon than I had wanted it to be. My original intent was to give her time to nap before an early dinner. But she seems fine with the lack of rest. Her energy level is steady, and she hasn’t had another sharp headache since this morning.
“This is where you live?” she asks when we pull up. “It’s stunning.”
I park at the end of the long drive. To the outside observer it looks as though the house is surrounded by a forest of trees and with a front made of glass. Long and one-story with a mix of modern and mid-century architecture.
“Yep.” I can’t stop the pride that sneaks into my voice. I do, however, stop myself from saying,wait until you see the rest, even though I really want to. I’m excited for her to see it. Hoping—for reasons I won’t examine too closely—that she will approve of it.
I got lucky with my house. I was ready to buy when the market was down and secured what I thought was a shitty house on a basic lot with a fantastic view, a couple miles from my favorite surf spot. Turns out, the shitty house had been awkwardly “remodeled” using plywood and sheet rock to create hollow hallways, cover up two fireplaces, and mask a ton of windows.
Once I realized that, and cleared it all away, it left what was a fantastic mid-century view-home on a killer lot. The exterior is mostly windows, so when you first pull up, the house looks as if it’s made entirely of glass.
I added some mature shade trees around the lot, mostly in the front, for privacy and to give it a more “one-with-nature” feel. The back of the lot has a view of a canyon with the city lights in the distance and the ocean just beyond that. The grounds are large and spread out over a quarter of an acre, but once you are inside the house, it really feels secluded, despite the windows.
There was a lap pool already in the right-side yard and I added a hot tub. Plus, a small outdoor kitchen with built-in grill and a separate fire pit area. The front yard is larger than the back or side yards combined, which at first, I wasn’t happy about. But I’ve since realized I like the house set back farther from the road that way. I left the front grassy with trees and green vegetation, so that is what you see when you look out the front windows instead of other houses or the road. The left-side of the house is the carport and storage shed.
There is no garage, which took some getting used to, but now I don’t mind it at all. I bought a smaller shed for my surf boards and wet suits, so I can park my Harley in the big shed which is also where I store all my tools. And then I park my truck under the carport. Works great for me. My driveway is long in case I have visitors or a party. Or want to work on something under the protection of the carport and need to move my truck.
I did most of the work on the house myself. Restoring the original brick fireplaces, refinishing the hardwood floors, retrofitting all the windows, upgrading the kitchen and bathrooms. I hired a company to re-finish the pool and Brad and I did most of the landscaping. He also helped me build the outdoor kitchen/built-in grill and fire-pit. It’s taken me a few years to finish everything I wanted to, but it has been worth it.
I’m proud to show it to Sadie. Even though the house itself is beautiful, I know the furnishings are lacking. I don’t have an eye for design and typically go for cheap and hopefully comfortable over aesthetics. But at least the outdoor spaces are amazing, and the guest room has a queen bed and Jack-n-Jill bath, so she’ll be comfortable and have privacy.
She’s impressed as she takes it all in, especially once we get inside and I give her the tour. It makes me happy that she likes it. I’ve never really cared before if a woman liked my home. I mean, I knew I liked it so that was all that mattered. I show Sadie to the guest room and leave her to get settled while I head in to the kitchen to start on an early dinner for us. My plan is to grill some chicken and veggies, with a garden salad on the side.
I’m ripping the lettuce apart when she comes back into the kitchen. “Can I help?” she asks.
“No, but you can have a seat and let me know how you are feeling.”
“I feel good, right now. Are you going to keep asking me every hour how I feel?” She laughs slightly, but I have a feeling it probably bugs her and I’m being overbearing.
“Sorry,” I say. “Bad habit.” I finish with the lettuce and set it aside to soak any dirt off. “How about this? I won’t ask as long as you promise to tell me if anything is going on. Deal?” I hold out my hand so we can shake on it.
“Deal,” she says, shaking my hand and smiling.
“I’d offer you a drink, but it’s not advisable you drink so soon after a concussion. So you have the option of sparkling water or flat, or ice tea. What’ll it be?”
“Regular water is fine, thank you. I can’t get over how incredible your home is. Did you buy it this way, or turn it into this?”
I tell her about remodeling and what I did, what I hired out, and what Brad helped me with while I prep the chicken. Then we move out to the patio for the sunset while the chicken is marinating. I haven’t had time to enjoy a sunset on my back patio in a while.
I start the grill so it can heat up, then we sit in a double lounger that faces the canyon, and she presses her body against mine, slipping right under my arm with her left hand resting against my chest. She fits, sitting out here with me, and it feels right.
“This is so nice out here, Ethan. I would want to spend all my time out here if I were you. I mean, we have great outdoor spaces in Texas, but not with views like this. Back home it’s all flat, so you can look at a spectacular pasture, but not much else. I am sure you get great views from the high rises in the city, but I have never lived in one. And there is definitely no ocean view or canyon view. You can only really enjoy it a few months out of the year since it’s usually hot and muggy outside and you have to deal with the bugs. This right here is like paradise.” She sighs.
“I’ve never lived outside of San Soloman,” I tell her.
“Bragger,” she says.
“Wouldn’t you brag if you grew up in paradise?”
“Yes, I suppose I would.” She smiles. I lean down and kiss the top of her head, breathing in her scent before I can stop myself. She smells good. Like citrus and honey. I want to bury my nose in her.
What the hell are you doing kissing her head like some kind of chump?
