Lost Loving Souls (Connor x Reader)

Chapter 172

Cass' POV

I yawned as I woke up on the couch. I was about to get up to get something to eat, but a pair of arms tightened around my waist. I sighed with a smile, knowing who it was. 

"Jay. Jay, you gotta get up. We've got work to do yet today." I heard a yawn and then I felt him kiss the back of my shoulder.

"Mhp...do we have to? I like cuddling with you..." I giggled.

"Tell you what, if we get a lot of stuff done early enough today, we can go out together later. Deal?" I could just picture his smile. 

"Deal, Cassie." I liked it when he called me that. It was a nickname that I had missed. After everything that happened in my family, I had told people to call me Cass because it was more professional and mature. Jay was the only one that could call me that now. 

Anyway, I got up and Jay sighed heavily, pulling the blanket back over himself and curling up into a ball. He liked soft things. I had a theory that he loved to cuddle since he hated being alone. It was why it was so hard for him in his old apartment. He'd honestly hated his job and he hated that place. It was always so empty. That's why he'd clung to my sister. He wanted somebody to fill that space, but my sister hadn't been the right person. Now, he was different. He was happy and he wasn't going to be alone again. Not if I could help it.

I made breakfast for myself before going back over to him and finally getting him to get up. He whined about how comfy he'd been, but I reminded of our deal. I knew that he was going to help no matter what, but he loved trying to pull my strings. Honestly, I liked it when he did that. He was open with me and he wasn't shy to speak how he felt. We had a good means of communication.

What we were doing was converting the two bedrooms into one room. We liked living at Jericho, so we had plans to stay. I had asked Markus if it was okay to renovate our room and once we'd talked over how everything would work, he'd agreed. Our friends had offered to help too when they had time. 

That day was the day we were going to finish renovating the room itself. We'd already knocked down the separating wall and replastered/covered everything that needed to be replaced. We were going to be finishing up with the painting portion today. Our friends were going to bring in the furniture later in the night.

I had a ton of fun painting with Jaylin. He always knew how to make me laugh and make it enjoyable. We also loved singing songs together as we worked. The day went by pretty fast thanks to our light-hearted playfulness.

I had never thought that I was going to find someone after everything that had happened and everything that had been put on my shoulders. Some things were still my responsibility. It was something I knew I'd never escape, but sharing my life with someone like Jay made it easier. I hadn't been looking for love, but my sister had thrown us together and now...I had to thank her for it. A partner was exactly what I needed, even if I never thought I would.

Once we were finished painting, we got cleaned up and then we got ready for the rest of the day. True to my word, I started to think of things we could go out and do together. As I washed my hair in the shower, I got an idea. It was something I had always wanted to do, but I'd never had the chance to. I knew that most people wouldn't consider it the most romantic, but...I had a feeling Jaylin would mind the idea.

I got out of the shower and got dressed. I hurried out to talk to Jay, a smile on my face. I nearly ran into him as I turned the corner. 

"Whoa! Slow down, Cass! What's got you into such an energetic mood?" I blushed.

"Sorry, Jay. I, um, I just had an idea of what we could do." He smiled.

"Sweet! What is it?" 

"I kinda wanted to go to a petting zoo?" I said unsurely with a nervous smile. His smile widened and I knew that he liked the idea.