Page 125 of Perfect Pairing
“What?” I exploded. “For what?”
Brie turned a quizzical look at me. “For us.”
She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, but to me, it wasn’t. We’d briefly discussed living conditions, knowing we wanted to be together always, but I’d been under the impression we’d start looking in the spring, when more houses started going on the market.
I hadn’t planned on her choosing to build us an entire fucking house.
“I can’t let you do that,” I told her.
Sensing another argument brewing, a number of our party rose from their chairs and peeled off, including Cal, Owen, and Logan. What did surprise me was that Ella also disappeared, and the second she did, Liam, who’d had his eyes glued to her retreating form, awkwardly rose from his chair.
“I’m gonna take a walk,” he said, discomfort obvious in every line of his body. “Go see if Ella needs help.”
When he’d gone, the only people who remained were Brie’s other three sisters and parents.
Fuck. There was a time and place for conversations like these, and honestly? This wasn’t it. But I could see it in the straight, firm line of Brie’s shoulders, ramrod spine, and clenched jaw that we were hashing this out here and now.
“Sweets,” her dad said softly. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
Still sitting on my lap, she turned to face her parents and sisters. “Of course I’m sure.”
“But are you really?” I asked, unable to stop myself from pressing the issue.
This was a huge decision. Building a house, first and foremost, wasn’t going to be cheap. And second, well…I supposed I was having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that this was something she wanted to do withme.Forme, Hansen, and my dad—because we all knew wherever his grandson went, Papa would follow.
“Stop it,” Brie said, rising to her feet. “All of you juststop.”
The six of us stilled at her words, tone more commanding than I’d ever heard from her before.
“I know you all care about me, and that’s why you’re pressing this issue, but I’m not a little girl anymore. I’m twenty-five, and I’ve been making my own decisions for a long time. I get that you want to protect me, but…” She glanced down at me, and everything in her softened. “Being with Ezra is the first thing I’ve done right in a long time.” I squeezed her hand, and she facedher family again. “I’m building our forever home on my land, and we’re building the community garden on it as well. End of story.”
Pride surged within me, and it took everything I had not to go full caveman, throw her over my shoulder, and take her somewhere we could be alone.
But that would undermine her authority here, and I wasn’t about to take this moment away from her just because I couldn’t control myself when she was near.
Her family loved her, and I knew they’d get on board eventually, but those moments where they sat still and silent were some of the longest of my life. Brie practically strangled my hand with how hard she gripped it, clearly willing herself not to react further, not to push for a response.
At last, Delia rose from her chair, rounded the table, and pulled her baby sister in for such a tight hug, I heard Brie’s backcrack.
“I’m so fucking proud of you,” Delia said when she pulled away.
After that, the rest of the Delatou women and Leon followed suit, and I soon found myself engulfed in a tangle of limbs.
When we broke apart, Brie’s family resumed their seats and chattered about nonsense while I pulled Brie to the side.
“Are you sure about this?”
I earned a glare and a defensive stance as she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Do I need to repeat what I told my family?” she asked.
With a grin, I hauled her against me, settling for the first time in over an hour now that I had her wrapped in my arms. “Of course not,” I said into her hair. “I just wish you would’ve talked to me about this before blurting it out in front of your whole family.”
Brie leaned back so I could see her face, and her mouth turned down into a frown. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
I prodded the corner of her lips until she giggled. “But we’re in this together, honey. You can’t go making life altering decisions without me. What were you planning on doing? Building the house and surprising me with it when it was finished?”
“Well…yeah.”
