Page 132 of Seven Year Itch
“You would actually move off the mountain for me?” I ask, entirely stunned by this unexpected development.
He eyes me seriously, his head shaking back and forth. “When are you going to get it through your head, Ace? I’d move mountains for you. Hell yes, I’d move off the mountain for you. I love you.”
Tears fall down my face because this is supposed to be my grand gesture, my big moment to make him happy. But he just continues flipping the script and changing my plans in the best way possible.
I sniff loudly and refocus. “But what would you say if I wanted to move into your place?”
Calder’s face drops, lips apart and eyes wide, and I think he even stops breathing for a second. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, would you not like that?”
He moves in closer to me, his entire body tense as he holds my face and hits me with so much earnest excitement, it’s like he’s a kid in a candy shop. “I just always assumed with your business and the house, you wouldn’t ever be able to move out of Boulder.”
“It’s not like you live hours away. It’s like a forty-minute drive.” I shrug dismissively. “And I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. If I sell my place, I can pay my settlement to Randal all at once and be done with him for good. Plus, I love your place and so does Milkshake. She’s not as happy here.”
Calder’s eyes are red around the edges as they swim with emotion and a tender look sweeps across his face. “This is one thing I will not fight you over, baby. I would love to have you move onto Fletcher Mountain with me. Hell yes.”
He eliminates the space between us and kisses me, healing something in me that I didn’t even know needed healing.
I’ve been so stressed about having this perfect home and perfect marriage and perfect life, but nothing is perfect. Not me, not Calder, not even his mountain. And it’s the imperfections, the messiness, the unconventional grit of it all that make it a real, full life. Living happily... that’s it. Feeling safe... that’s it. Feeling good in my skin... this is the ultimate end goal, and everything else will fall into place.
Calder
I am one smug motherfucker as I make my way through the busy Denver traffic, on our way to the furniture boutique to finally see my work on display. I’ve been a nervous wreck about this big life change for me. It will mean more hours spent in my workshop, potentially doing custom orders, working more with customers and not just for myself.
But suddenly, I feel cool as a cucumber. None of that stresses me out as much as it did twelve hours ago.
Because Dakota is moving in with me.
I didn’t realize having her on the mountain was even a remote possibility, and to know that it was her idea and not mine... Like I said.Smug.No one is wiping this smile off my face today.
We pull into the parking lot of the store located in a swanky part of town. There are luxury stores all over, and I feel like a total fish out of water clomping around on the sidewalk in my boots and jeans.
“I wish they’d let me haul it all here,” I grumble, holding Dakota’s hand as we make our way toward the building. “What if they damaged some of them?”
“You have to chill out,” she says, wrapping her other hand around my arm. “You watched the guys load everything up. They were very careful. They don’t want to ruin your stuff either. They’re pricing this stuff way too high to be careless!”
I exhale heavily. She’s right. Maybe I am a little nervous still. I just need to remember that I signed a deal with these guys for one year, and if we don’t sell anything, I can get out and go back into the family business. No harm, no foul.
But I’d be pissed if this didn’t work out after all the work we’ve done. I had to create an LLC and put up a website and have professional photos taken of my shit and start an Instagram page. It’s weird. I’m not managing any of it either. Everly is, and the little shit is making all sorts of viral videos already. She’s been home for the summer only two weeks, and she’s going full steam ahead on my new business endeavor.
Milkshake Designs is a real original name for a furniture line too, let me tell you. I’m pretty sure the Denver store wanted to back out when I finally told them what I settled on for a name. But it was at least better than Fuzz’s Furniture which got Ethan’s enthusiastic vote. We considered naming the line something after my dad, but I don’t want the work I do to feel like a memorial to him forever. It feels more fitting to keep him as my silent inspiration.
Dakota helped me hire a logo designer, and now we even brand an emblem of Milkshake’s face on every piece that leaves my workshop. Who would have ever thought I’d know a thing about marketing and branding? Not me.
But Dakota sure as hell did.
All I know is, I get to sit in my shop several days a week and make stuff with my hands. Stuff I’m proud of and that would even impress my father if he was still around. And now my woman will be right there on the mountain with me. Smug motherfucker.
Dakota presses a firm kiss to my lips before we walk into the glossy store covered in fancy marble flooring and sleek modern lighting. We hang a left and walk toward the corner of the store where they are displaying my stuff, and my chest contracts when I see my mother, Luke, Wyatt, Trista, Max, Cozy, Ethan, and Stevie all huddled over there.
“What the hell?” I ask, my eyes drifting from their faces to their shirts as we approach. It’s images of my cat. But not just my cat, it’s Milkshake andme. I’d noticed Dakota taking photos of me and Milkshake the past couple of months... particularly ones where I’m holding her with my shirt off. I figured it was just her kink and my woman wanted some content for her spank bank. No shame in that kind of game.
But no... no, no, no. My woman is a demon. She plays with dark magic and delights in the misery of others.
Wyatt steps forward, stopping me in my tracks with his grumpy, zero-humor face. My eyes move down his chest, and it’s a photo of me in my underwear with Milkshake snaked around my neck as I sleep, her butthole dangerously close to my lips.
I feel violated.
