I scrunched up my nose in disgust.

I hated unpacking. I would rather pack than unpack any day.

I was terrible at assigning things places and organizing.

“You want some help with that?” Tori asked. “I can hang around a little longer.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Shay offered.

I gave them both a smile.

I did want help, absolutely, but I also wanted some alone time with Brian in our new home. We hadn’t had any yet and I was starting to get the shakes.

“That’s okay,” I told them. “It’s not that much. I’ll get to it later.” I looked between Cole and Jamie and gestured at the pizza boxes. “You guys want any more? We have plenty.”

They both declined, shaking their heads.

“I’m gonna get going,” Cole announced, stepping forward and setting his plate on the counter. “Wanna beat the rain and get out on the water a bit.”

“Same.” Jamie turned his head. “You want a hand mounting the TV before I head out?” He directed this at Brian.

“I got it,” Brian replied, setting the screwdriver on the table behind him, then moving in my direction. “Appreciate the help today.”

“Yep,” Jamie said.

“Anytime,” Cole assured.

I grabbed the last slice of supreme, slid it onto a paper plate, and held it out as Brian came to stand beside me.

He smirked, threw his arm over my shoulder, and tugged me close like he was always doing, kissed the top of my head, then used his other hand to take the plate I was offering and placed it on the counter in front of him. He picked up the slice and lifted it to his mouth.

Kali entered the kitchen just as I was getting ready to combine the remaining slices into one box.

“I don’t know where my head is today but I didn’t bring it with me,” she announced, bouncing Cameron on her hip and looking frazzled. “I forgot the Cheerios and the wipes, and this one is both starving and in need of a change. I’m gonna need to get going.” She turned her eyes on me. “I’m sorry, Syd. I thought for sure I had extras in my car but I just spent the last ten minutes searching and the only thing I found was a bag of Goldfish that were so stale I wouldn’t even risk feeding them to Sir.”

Responding to his name being said, Sir barked at my feet.

“Da-de-da!” Cameron squealed, waving his arms excitedly and whipping his head around looking all over for the puppy.

“Don’t worry about it. Everyone’s heading out now anyway,” I told her, watching the regret keeping weight. She wasn’t letting go of it.

Kali shook her head and slid her hand up higher on Cameron’s back, keeping him steady.

“No, I told you I’d help today and I didn’t even get to really do that. I’m so irritated with myself right now.”

“Taking care of your kid takes precedence over carrying boxes,” Cole put in, trying to make her feel better and, in doing so, earning high merits from me. “Just saying. And it’s not like we didn’t manage. Everything’s done.”

“What he said,” Brian mumbled around his bite of pizza.

“Plus, you kept Sir occupied for me while we were in and out of the house,” I added, bending down and picking him up when he started pawing at my leg. “You and Cam were a help today. Big ones.”

Kali gave me a soft smile, finally accepting my appreciation.

“Okay,” she said, turning Cam and allowing his roaming eyes to spot the puppy in my arms now.

He reached out with both hands.

“Da!”

I carried Sir over to Kali and let the two new friends say their good-byes, which consisted of Sir licking all over Cameron’s face and Cam giggling sweetly and bopping Sir on the head a couple times, caught up in the excitement of puppy kisses and unable to contain it.

I fully understood the struggle. I got caught up myself at least once a day.

Everyone left at the same time after that, giving farewells to one another. All except for Tori and Jamie.

Jamie gave his. Tori ignored it and made a point to single out the rest of us.

I rolled my eyes at my best friend and waved when she got to her car, then after making sure Sir was on the correct side of it, closed the front door and collapsed backward into Brian’s waiting arms.

He kissed the top of my head.

It was four in the afternoon, and the only thing I wanted to do was curl up on our mattress surrounded by my boy’s limbs and scent and the dirty words he’d whisper to me when I was nearly asleep. Nothing else would do.

“Wanna unpack now or wait a bit?” he asked, tightening his hold.

On the list of things that wouldn’t do, unpacking was at the very top.

“Is never an option? ’Cause if I’m being honest, that seems the most appealing.”

I felt Brian’s warm breath tickle the top of my skull.

“Not an option if you want to live here with me,” he murmured. “You still feeling that?”

Underneath his palms, my stomach muscles tensed.

I spun around, wrapped my hands around his neck, gave him a calming smile, and whispered, “I’m still feeling that.”

“Good.” He tugged me closer, moved his hands down to my ass, and squeezed. “You wanna feel me now?”

My belly dipped.

That calming smile I was wearing turned into something that could light up a large city. I was sure of it.

“Absolutely.” I went up on my toes for a kiss. “That’s my favorite option.”