"Oh, don’t bother, you can stay at Erika’s place," I comment, and Erika just looks at me with her mouth hanging open.
"Oh, is she going away?" my father asks, and then my mother comes into the screen to see my face.
"What are you doing?" I hear Erika whisper at me.
"Ripping it off like a Band-Aid," I explain and then look at my parents. "We’re moving in with each other."
"Oh my god," my mother and Erika say at the same time.
"Is that so?" my father says, smirking.
"Yeah, we were just discussing this," I reveal and look at Erika, who just shakes her head.
"We were not discussing anything," she finally says, taking the phone from me. "But you can stay at my house any time you want. I will be staying there as well." She glares at me and I take the phone.
"No, she won’t," I tell them.
"Oh my," is the only thing my mother says.
"Send me the details," I tell my father, who just smiles.
"Proud of you," he praises, and my mother glares at him. "What?" he asks her.
"Matthew Grant," she scolds. "Did you not hear what Erika said? They were not discussing it."
"They weren’t discussing it because it was already decided she’s moving in with him,” my father states, and I look at Erika, who just looks at me with huge beautiful eyes.
"I can’t argue with that logic," I agree, laughing, and I grab her chair and pull her to me. "Give me a kiss," I say, and my parents stop talking to watch the screen. I bend and rub her nose with mine. "Love you," I whisper right before I kiss her softly.
"See,” I hear my father speak. "She’s moving in with him.”
Chapter 38
Erika
"Hey." I answer the phone as soon as I see it’s him. A smile comes to my face even though I don’t want it to.
"Hi," he says softly. "Where are you?" I can tell he’s getting into the SUV after hearing the door slam.
"I’m at my house," I reply, looking around the closet. "Where are you?"
"Just left the rink. I was dragging my ass out there," he shares, and I laugh.
"Why would you book a training session on a Sunday?" I ask him. This morning when his alarm went off, the only thing I could open was one eye. He spent all night trying to get me to agree to move in. And I mean all night. "It’s Sunday, rest day," I remind him.
"In my defense," he says, laughing, "I didn’t think I would be up all night trying to convince you to move in with me."
"You definitely worked really hard," I say, folding my stuff. I got up about forty minutes after he left and came here to think.
"Where in your house are you?" he asks, and I hear a car door slamming.
"I’m sure you can find me," I tease. Tossing the phone beside me on the floor, I look around at the pile of clothes surrounding me. I hear the front door close, and then I can hear him coming up the steps.
"Erika." He says my name, and then I see him standing in the doorway to the closet. He is wearing gym shorts and a Dallas shirt. His hair is wet at his neck but a baseball cap is on his head.
"Did you shower?" I ask before he takes a step into the closet and shakes his head. "You do not step one foot closer to me until you shower." I point at him, and he kicks off his shoes and gets naked in front of me.
"Do you want to join me?" He smirks at me, and I shake my head.
"As much as I’d love to," I say, "I can smell you from here." He laughs, walking to the bathroom.
My stomach is in knots as I look around and make piles. It takes him ten minutes, and he comes out with a towel around his hips. He comes to me and bends to kiss my lips. "Better?" he asks, and I smile.
"It would be better if you brought me a coffee," I say, looking at my watch and seeing that it’s just after ten.
"Do you want me to go make coffee?" he asks, getting dressed in front of me. He looks around and sees the piles of clothes all around me. "What are you doing?"
"I came home after you left to think," I explain, folding another one of my silk shirts. I don’t even know what I’m folding or why. I was just keeping my mind busy while I worked through things in my head.
He sits behind me, putting his arms around my waist and kissing my neck. "What are you thinking about?" he asks softly, resting his chin on my shoulder.
"I’m thinking about this whole moving in," I reply, my hand going up to his face.