Another

“Fair warning, my kitchen is a little lacking.”

“I’ll make do.”

Those were my famous last words. I opened empty cupboard after empty cupboard, coming up with a single pot and a couple cooking utensils.

“Oh, my god, Ian. This is horrible.”

He’d set Audrey in her rocker and leaned against the back of the couch. “I tried to warn you.”

My shoulders shrugged over a heavy sigh, and I dug through his pantry and fridge to come up with something. “I’ll figure something out.”

“Okay. While you’re doing that, I’ll unpack this box that says vibrators and sex toys.”

I whipped around. “What?”

Ian almost doubled over at my reaction. “I was joking, but the fear there makes me think maybe I wasn’t too far off the mark.”

“I do not have sex toys.” At least, I hadn’t packed them all up and brought them over…yet.

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes, turning my back on his devious smile. “Incorrigible.”

“Well, I did find a box of your CDs. Who keeps CDs anymore?”

“I know. I should get rid of them.”

“Yes, you should. But first, we should listen.” He began digging through my collection and whistled. “You’ve got a hell of a collection here. Cranberries. Blink-182. Backstreet Boys. Green Day. Digital Underground. Damn, woman.”

“I like all kinds of music.”

“What should we play first?”

“How about Digital Underground?”

“Coming right up.”

Ian got the music going, and I fell into a rhythm I hadn’t had in a little over a year. I swayed my hips and sang The Humpty Dance as I cut veggies and created my one-pot concoction.

I wasn’t sure if Ian noticed me bouncing to the beat, but he never said anything as he worked on unpacking boxes. I wasn’t sure I cared either. I loved listening to music and cooking. I used to do it all the time for Jake, but when we broke up, I buried myself and lived on take-out.

I had to admit; it was nice to loosen up and laugh as I mumbled through the words.

“I’m glad you’re here, dancing queen.”

I turned to meet his smiling gray eyes across the island and another crack fissured along my wall, letting honesty slip out.

“Me too.”

19 Carina

Surprisingly the move went well. The week since I’d agreed had been great. Almost too great. So great I felt like I was holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like Ian said, it made sense, and when moments of doubt lingered, I reminded myself of the practicality.

“Hey,” Ian said from where he was packing up after the meeting in Erik’s office. “Do you want to grab a box of your pots and pans on our way home. You’ve got better stuff than I do.”

“Because I actually have stuff, Mr. One-pot-one-pan.”

“It was all I needed for my Mac and cheese and bacon,” he defended, laughing.

“Yeah, we can do that. That way I can maybe make dinner some nights.”

The conversation was surreal. If you had asked me two months ago if Ian and I would be talking about going home together to cook meals after a meeting, I would have laughed until I cried.

“God, yes,” Ian moaned, his eyes rolling back in his head. “You can make me dinner any night you want. Who knew you were the best cook ever?”

“Wait…” Alex said from where she sat, breaking her conversation with Hanna. Her eyes bounced between us.

“You guys moved in together?” Hanna’s voice rose to a pitch that put me on the defensive. Like she would have been less surprised if I said I was actually a man.

“Yeah,” Ian answered slowly, a smile tipping his lips like he found their shock hilarious.

Maybe Alex’s shock was fun because it quickly shifted to excitement. But Hanna’s remained fully in horror.

“We’re slowly moving all of her in. Her lease is up in a couple of months, so we figured there’s no rush to move it all at once.”

“B-but,” Hanna stuttered, her eyes blinking as she tried to process. “You don’t take anyone there. Hell, I’ve only been there a handful of times.”

Ian shrugged, turning soft eyes to me. “Yeah, I save it for family.”

Home. Family. Us. Ours.

These were words I wasn’t sure I’d ever associate with him, but they soaked into my lonely soul and filled a gap that had been broken by Jake.

“Are you guys together?” Hanna asked, trying to mask her initial reaction.

“No.”

Ian narrowed his eyes at my quick denial but didn’t seem overly bothered. He knew me well enough that my answer didn’t surprise him. “We’re partners raising our baby. Now just in a place that can hold all of us and not risk my life with each step I take.”

“Oh,” Hanna finally said after a too-long silence.

“Well, I think it’s amazing,” Alex chimed in.

“Yeah…Amazing.” Hanna said the words, but her eyes didn’t match.

“What’s amazing?” Erik asked, walking back in from talking to Laura, who was currently watching Audrey.