Hannah sat back and enjoyed the way Matt had morphed back into the laid-back surfer guy she’d met that first summer they were together. A more mature version, sure, but this guy was so much more fun than the stressed-out guy who’d been worried they’d be seen together anytime they were in public from the last few months. Once he’d turned in his notice at Eco Utilities he’d started to relax more and more.
The first surfing trip that he’d done in Westport as a trial run with Lance, Chris, and, surprisingly, Daniel Carter had completed the transformation. It had happened right after the end of the semester, so she’d gone on the trip too, along with Abby, Megan, and Elena. Hannah had been worried about it being awkward having Daniel with them, but he’d been just as cool about everything on the trip as he had when she’d explained that she couldn’t date him because she was still in love with Matt that night at Megan’s show. And Daniel and Elena seemed to spend a lot of time together. When she’d asked Elena about it, she’d brushed it aside, saying that it was impossible for them not to pair off together since everyone else was a couple. But her protests seemed a little more emphatic than necessary.
After drinks with her coworkers, she and Matt headed back to the house he still shared with Chris and Megan. They’d all been gone off and on since Chris had graduated and gotten drafted by the Washington Mountain Lions. Megan and Chris had taken a trip to celebrate, just the two of them, then they’d all been in Westport, and everyone had started to look for new places to live. Chris needed a place in Seattle soon, since preseason training for the rookies started in July, and they were also looking for a place for Megan to live for the next year.
“What do you think about you and Elena moving into the house with me?”
Hannah turned to look at Matt, a little startled by the question. He’d been quiet since they’d gotten in the car after leaving the restaurant, and it struck her as funny that his thoughts had been so closely aligned with hers.
“You want Elena and me to move in with you?”
He shrugged, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye and navigating a turn before answering. “You and I could take the master bedroom once Chris and Megan move out next month, and Elena could have our room. It’s a good house, and my name’s already primary on the lease, so it would be easy to just switch Chris and Megan off for you and Elena when we renew it.”
She was silent for a moment. “I thought you couldn’t wait to move out on your own.”
He shrugged again. “That was before.”
A smile tugged at her lips, but she suppressed it, curious to see what else he would say. “Before what?”
He glanced at her again, a smirk on his lips, like he knew what she was doing. “Before you. Before I decided to go crazy and start my own company—and I’m still scared shitless that it’ll fail and I’ll be left with nothing, by the way.” He paused, but she didn’t fill the silence. “So, what do you think? Do you want to talk it over with Elena?”
She waited, staring at him while he drove, making the last turn onto his street, which might soon be their street, and pulled into the driveway. He parked his truck, killed the engine, and turned to look at her, his face both wary and hopeful.
“Matt. Do you realize that you haven’t actually asked me to move in with you? Like, I mean, yeah, you kinda just did. But that was all about practicality and stuff and you asked my roommate and I to move in with you, assuming I’d just share your bedroom. What if I want my own room?”
He opened his mouth, his eyes wide and horrified. “What? But you already spend almost every ni—”
She shook her head, cutting him off. “It doesn’t matter, Matt. No girl wants her boyfriend to ask her to move in like that and just assume everything. Ask me properly and you might get a better answer.”
At least he had the grace to look a little sheepish. He took a deep breath and reached for her hand, looking into her eyes, an earnest expression on his face. “Hannah. I love you. Can we find a place to live together? I don’t care if it’s here,” he gestured toward the house, “or somewhere else. I want you in my bed every night, and when I’m away on a trip, I want to know that you’ll be there when I come home. I hate the nights when you stay at your apartment because you have to get up early or you feel guilty leaving Elena alone all the time—which I don’t think she minds all that much, by the way. Say you’ll move in with me, and we’ll figure out the other details later.”
She fought it for as long as she could to make him squirm a little longer, but her grin spread across her face. “Of course I want to live with you. Let’s figure out where to live together.”
He growled at her smile, pulling her close and kissing her. “That’s not nice, Hannah.”
She laughed. “Oh, come on. You love it when I bust your balls like that.” She kissed him and pulled back, pitching her voice low. “Besides, it always gives you an excuse to spank me afterward, and we both know that’s your favorite thing.”
His eyes flashed, his pupils dilating with arousal, and his eyebrows went up. “Oh, it’s my favorite thing, is it?”
She nodded, shivering at the rasp of his words in her ear.
“From the way your body reacts, I’m pretty sure it’s your
