This could go south. Really fucking fast.

Teegan knocks on my door and Cooper runs to it, his nails scratching on the hardwood as he tries to gain purchase. When he gets close he tries to slow himself down, but smacks right into the wall.

“Hey, bud, she’s not leaving us anytime soon, calm down.” I pat his head and open the door.

“Hey,” she says and crouches down, letting Cooper kiss her hello. She lets him sniff her neck and lick her cheek now, but everything else is off limits. Somehow, he knows his boundaries with her.

She stands up.

“What about me?” I ask.

She kisses my lips, not nearly long enough to satisfy me. “I never forget you.” She steps in and stops. “Did someone rob you and only take half your things?” Her gaze takes in the condo and she spins back around to face me.

“No.” I grab the strap of her computer bag, dragging it down her arm and then placing the bag on the breakfast stool.

“Leo, what is going on?” There’s panic in her voice.

Ah, my little control freak comes out to play.

“Relax, everything is fine.”

She inhales a deep breath and waits for me to explain what the hell is happening.

“I love the fact you’re open to sleeping naked because you have no pajamas here. I don’t mind you using my toothbrush on the occasions you forget yours. I definitely don’t mind you wearing my sweatshirts to lounge around because the fact is you look fucking hot like that. I love the fact you clean my kitchen, do my laundry, and dust my furniture.”

She smiles. “Once a clean freak, always a clean freak.”

“Yes, but want to know what I can’t stand anymore?”

“What?” Her eyes crinkle and she scans the immediate area for some sign as to what it could be.

“The fact I have to get off my ass to answer the door for you.”

Her lips take a quick upturn. “What’s going to fix that?”

I swing a key in front of her face, hanging from a keychain that says, ‘I love dogs.’

“Taken.” She raises to her tiptoes, planting a kiss to my lips and pulling me down to her.

“That was easy.”

She steps back, kicking off her heels. “Are you suggesting that I’m easy, Mr. Vaughn?” Her fingers hover over the buttons on her blouse, popping one and then two open.

“Before we get to that…” My gaze slowly moves up and down her body and her breathing hitches from my stare.

“You’re denying me?” Another button gone and the black bra I made for her is revealed.

“No, but I need you to put your shoes away. I don’t want to trip and break an ankle.”

She narrows her eyes at me.

“Come with me.” I grab her heels from the floor. “You’re orderly, right? Everything has its place?”

“I’m working on my issues, okay?” she says in her singsong ‘leave my shit alone’ tone, but she knows I’m razzing her. “Leo, are you giving me a drawer?” She laughs.

“Half the closet, too.”

“You’re so sweet.”

“Half the fridge, half the bathroom. I’m all about equality, so fifty percent of everything in here is yours.”

She looks around the condo, noticing the missing furniture I removed to make room for her favorite items. “What are you asking me, Leo?”

I blow out a long breath. “Will you move in with me?”

She stays still, staring at me for a long moment, unblinking. My heart thumps in my chest and it’s all I can hear in the silence.

“Yes.” She nods. “Yes. I’ll move in with you.”

“Really? Holy shit.” I pick her up and swing her over my shoulder.

“You sound surprised?”

“Not at all.” I smack her ass as I walk down the hall to the bedroom. “I knew you couldn’t say no to me.” I drop her on my bed and climb on top of her, straddling her. I undo the rest of the buttons on her blouse and separate the fabric. “Now let me get you familiar with your side of the bed.”

She giggles, grabs the hem of my t-shirt. “I thought I knew it pretty well already.”

“You know it as a visitor, let’s see how it feels with you living here.” My lips meet hers and we spend the entire night making love and christening every one of the rooms in our condo.

* * *

“Where the hell are you putting all this shit?” Jagger heaves for a breath, staring down at Teegan’s still half-full apartment.

“Storage.”

“I’m breaking my back for storage?” He sits down on her sofa, propping his foot up on the coffee table.

“You’re breaking your back for a friend. Stop being a pussy. We both know you work out twice a day. This should be a breeze.”

“I swim in a pool, I don’t fucking do the stair climber.”

Teegan walks in the room, her hair thrown up in a messy bun, her shorts showing off her long, lean legs. Flashes of my face buried between her thighs last night stir my dick to life. She nuzzles herself into my outstretched arms. “How’s it going?” she whispers, staring up at me with her chin resting on my chest.

“As expected. Jagger’s being a whiner.”

He flips me off and I laugh.

The door opens behind us. “Thanks, assholes. I had to wait for someone to let me in,” Vance says.

“Sorry, my mind is still stuck on last night.” Jagger leans his head back. “Visions of blondes, brunettes, and redheads keep swirling through my mind.” His head lifts. “I had a platinum last night. Man, I’m in the land of plenty since most of you assholes have crossed over into monogamy.” The corners of his lips turn up.

We all know it’s his idea of razzing us, but truth is, Jagger doesn’t like being the odd man out. I’m not sure he’ll ever find his forever woman, but part of me wonders from his chatter at the airport if he found her before we ever met him. It would be just like Jagger to let her go.

Vance claps his hands. “I got shit to do, let’s go.”

Jagger’s head falls back again. “I just need five minutes.”

“I got pizza and beer!” Sophie runs in, a case in one hand, holding a pizza up in the air with the other like she’s our waitress.

“I’m starving.” Jagger leans forward, apparently completely recovered now.

“Yeah, yeah, we know—from all that pussy last night.” Sophie rolls her eyes, tired of the jokes just like the rest of us.

“You only wish you could have me.” Jagger twists open the bottle of beer, pouring half of it down his throat.

Sophie guffaws. “No… I don’t.”

The rooms roars with laughter.

Teegan tugs on the hem of my shirt. “Can I talk to you a second?”

“Sure.”

She nods to the second bedroom and I follow her in. She shuts the door behind us.

“What’s up?” I cringe at the room full of more furniture. “Other than the fact that Jagger might have a coronary.”

She giggles and sits on the bed. “I don’t know what to do. It’s been two months and I’ve received a few text messages from my mom. There’s no sign of her coming back, but there never is.”

The closet doors are open with a few items hung on the hangers and I can tell they aren’t Teegan’s. I imagine the dressers are also filled with her mom’s stuff. “Let’s take it all with us. We can set it up in the spare room.”

Teegan’s eyes widen and she runs to me, her arms tight around me.

“Whoa,” I murmur. “Did you think I was an asshole? I knew when I asked you to move in that—”

“I just… she’s a lot.”

“It’s okay.”

“I have no idea how long she’ll stay.”

“We’ll figure it out—together.” I nudge her away so she can see how serious I am. “Tee, with you comes your mom. We don’t even know if she’ll return, but if she does and she feels comfortable staying with us, she’s welcome to. It’s not my condo anymore, it’s ours.”

Her gaze stays glued to mine, her nose crinkling a second later. And the tears come, a few slow trickles down her cheeks. She swipes them away quickly, but we both know the drill. I’m to ignore her newfound emotions since she started therapy and she’ll keep showing them.

“Now, let’s pack this up and get it in the truck.”

Her smile never leaves her lips and she busies herself in the closet, taking the clothes off the hangers.

I’m about to sneak out to grab a slice of pizza, since I’ve already worked off the kale smoothie and egg sandwich this morning, when Teegan says, “Hey, Leo.” I stop at the door, turning back toward her. “If it’s my condo too, we can use a pink flowery comforter, right?” The smirk on her face says she’s not serious.

I walk toward her and pull her in my arms again. “I figured I’d lose control at some point. Good thing I believe in gender equality.”

She swats at my stomach. “Will you ever let that go?”

I scoop her up bride-style. “Not until we’re one hundred and ten holding hands in a nursing home taking our final breaths.”

Her hand runs down the side of my cheek. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”