Page 112 of Double Dare
“She will. We’ll take her home tonight so it’s a bit quieter.” He hands me a plate and we start loading up on the breakfast Dad left out. “You want to buy a new place?”
“What?”
“A new house. Like a fresh start with the three of us.”
“No. Why?” What a dumb question.
“You keep calling it ours and not yours.” He takes his coffee and plate to the table, so I once again follow him like a goddamn dog.
I sit down. “I don’t pay the bills. You guys bought it together.”
“Okay, so let’s build a new one or buy a new place that’s for all three of us.” He eats, not even looking at me.
“No. That place is fine. The property is unbeatable.”
“Okay, so let’s build on to it or something.”
I drop my fork and look at him. “Why are you bringing this up now?”
“You’ve never once called it home before.”
“You’ve never asked me to move in.”
“I didn't think we had to.”
I shake my head at him. “You think I’m just going to move in without anyone asking? No.”
“It bothers Laken. She wants a place that all three of us consider home.”
Fuck, that feels good, but I don’t want him to know it. “Can’t we talk about this later? Like when she isn’t recovering from a concussion with a home supply store stapled into her head?”
“Don’t be a dick, Kade. I’m just saying we talked about it.”
“Alright, fuck. I’ll think about it, and we can make a decision when her residency shit goes through, yeah?” I grab my coffee and push away my plate; I’ll come back for it after, if someone doesn’t eat it in the meantime. “I’m going to shower and…” yeah, he probably thinks I’m going to jerk off since Laken is out of commission, but honestly, I just need to process all that.
Laken wants to live with me—with both of us. Do I deserve that? I’ve never moved out of my parents’ house before, and to think of having a place that belongs to the three of us is…overwhelming. In a good way. I want it. Fuck, I want it, but I don’t want to add to her stress while she’s still sorting through her residency application.
I need to fix shit with Gar first. Can’t have her best friend hating me.
Chapter 42
Kade ended up having to work longer than me, so I picked Laken up from Mom and Dad’s and we headed home. She’s feeling a lot better, but she’s still tired, so I set her up on the couch with snacks and a movie. She fussed at me for a bit, but when I handed her a chocolate cupcake with Oreo bits on the top, she shut up and watched her movie. I knew the bakery was a good stop.
As I cook, I think about last night. Kade freaked out, and as pathetic as it is, I’m happy about it for two reasons. Makes me feel like less of a twat, and it shows that he loves her enough to feel the pain she was going through. I’ve had longer than him in this relationship and I still ended up bitching to Mom on the porch about how useless and pathetic I feel. At least he ended up out there, too.
Now comes the fun part of Laken as a patient. She’s bored, and she’s sick of being doted on. She’s not the type of person to sit and do nothing, so she’s itching to get outside, go boarding, visit Gar, or just be somewhere other than at home or on the couch. She even begged for sex, and as much as I wanted to give it to her, it didn’t come from any real place of desire—just boredom. We’ll have to find something fun to do with her so she doesn’t go stir-crazy and kill us.
I see Kade’s headlights pull in, and then he’s walking in the front door of the cabin. He drops his bag, hangs his coat, and kicks his boots off within seconds, heading toward Laken. “How is she?” he asks me.
“Bored.”
He gives her a kiss on the forehead, which is actually pretty fucking sweet for him, and then joins me in the kitchen to leave her napping. “Genny said yes.”
I raise a brow. “Yes? Already?”
Kade nods, grinning.
The doctor at the hospital told Laken she wasn’t allowed to do anything strenuous, so we asked Gen if sex was a part of that list or if we were allowed. “What’d she say?”