Learning to Live

Chapter 41

Over the following week, I spent more nights in Hunter's place than I did in mine. At this point, half of my stuff was at his place. When I opened his closet one morning, I found my bag empty and all my stuff neatly stacked in one half of the closet. My half of the closet.

Moving in with him should've freaked me out maybe. But I just couldn't muster the emotion. It felt too comfortable, too right.

After a long day at work, all I wanted to do was to come home to Stevie and Brownie and Tux and snuggle up with Hunter. And I didn't deprive myself of that.

When I came home, to Hunter's, that following Friday, I found a line of cars in our driveway.

Right. He'd mentioned his team coming over to discuss preparing for the upcoming fight. His comeback in two years.

I spotted Ava's car and growled under my breath. Ugh. No. Stop it. Be an adult. Yes, I was an adult.

I opened the door with the key Hunter had given me and was immediately embraced by canine love. I crouched down and petted the two dogs. Their tails were a blur, and Stevie's head kept poking at my bag.

When I glanced up, Six people were looking at me. Hunter, Ava, Antonio, two other men and one woman I didn't recognize. They were all huddled around the coffee table, filling the L-shaped couch.

"Good evening," I said with a polite smile. Hunter stood up and made his way towards me. He wrapped me in a hug and kissed my head. Taking my bag, he grinned, "another bag?"

"I think I might end up moving here before the end of the month," I mumbled, taking my bag back. "Go finish your business, I'll go take a shower."

He winked and whispered, "How about I join you?"

I punched his stomach. "Behave!"

I left them to it and headed upstairs. Dumping my bag in the closet, I went straight to the shower. My feet throbbed, and the hot water washed down the long week's exhaustion.

I put on one of Hunter's cozy hoodies and a pair of leggings, dried my hair and ventured out to the bedroom. Hunter's laptop was open on the bed. We'd been looking at fire pits yesterday. We needed one for the terrace.

I plopped down on the bed and moved my finger on the touchpad. The screen lit up, and I froze.

Right there, on the screen, was not the collection of fire pits we'd been looking through, but a diamond ring.

My heart thumped wildly. I scrolled down. He was looking at wedding ring styles. I touched the pale blue scrunchie around my wrist, butterflies wrecking havoc in my stomach.

I put the laptop back to sleep and stood up. Maybe he was just looking for... what? A gift for Thalia? Those were clearly wedding rings.

Was I freaking out? Why was I freaking out? Did I want to marry Hunter?

Yes. Yes, I did. He was it for me. My heart was beating wildly. But it wasn't anxiety. It was... excitement. Thrill. I realized I had a giant grin on my face.

I slapped my cheek. "Okay, stop! He didn't even propose yet."

My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn't had anything since lunch.

Okay, food first. Then we could freak out about the ring. Though why should I be freaking out? It wasn't as if a lot would change. We would live together, which we were practically doing anyway. I would be officially a pet mom, and... yeah, that was about it.

I smiled to myself as I headed downstairs. There really was no reason to freak out. Hunter and I were practically married.

Downstairs, they were still deep in discussion. Before going into the kitchen, I went to Tux's bathroom. The cat now slept on the couch and spent most of his time in the living room or the bathroom, sometimes in the kitchen if we were in the living room.