“A little bit ago. She didn’t seem happy that I was moving in here,” Candace responds as I slip my arm around her.
“I think she just feels left out of everything. All of us have been through a lot, and she wasn’t around. And let’s face it, she has a skewed perception of Ryan, and she barely even knows Mark. And now Mark and I are about to move in together, and you and Ryan are too. She’s just kinda out of the loop.”
“You’re moving in with Mark?” I ask, having had no clue, and both Candace and Jase give me a look as if I should already know this. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I thought you knew,” Jase says.
“How would I have known if you didn’t tell me?”
“Sorry, I guess with everything going on, I just never brought it up,” he says.
“That’s great, man. I just didn’t know, that’s all.”
Candace gives me a smile and then turns back to Jase and says, “Anyways, I’m just not really sure where we stand.”
“I suggested that maybe we should all get together so Kimber can get to know me. You and Mark should be there too, though,” I tell him.
“That’s probably the best thing to do at this point,” Jase says as he looks to Candace.
“Okay, then. I’ll call her later and see when she’s free.”
Jase leans back in the chair and lets out a long breath, saying, “I’m relieved, girl.”
She lets out a giggle when she asks, “Why?”
“Because I hated the thought of not having you here. I’ve been a mess, and Mark has been stuck dealing with me.”
“Mark isn’t stuck. He loves you.”
“Still. I’m just glad that you’re staying and that you’re happy.”
Candace looks over to me and then back to Jase, saying, “Me too.”
After picking up her car and getting her luggage at the airport, we stopped by the storage unit Candace had rented to keep all the stuff that she wouldn’t have had room for in her apartment in New York. She doesn’t need much since I have everything she could possibly want already at my place, but we picked up a couple of boxes, and now we are shifting things in my room so that all of her belongings have a place.
She’s in the closet, hanging up her clothes, when I hear, “Ryan!”
Rushing in, I see her sitting on the floor, pulling out the canvas from behind the clothes where I had been hiding it.
When she looks up at me, she says, “I thought someone bought this.”
I lean against the doorframe and tell her, “It was me. I bought it.”
As she shakes her head, I say, “Did you really think I would let that hang in anyone’s house but my own?”
“But why is it shoved back here?”
Walking over, I sit down next to her and look at the picture that I haven’t seen in a long time and say, “Because it hurt too much to look at. It only reminded me of everything I lost.” I look at her and slide the picture back against the wall before I kiss her, leaning into her as she lowers herself to the floor.
Grabbing on to my face, she pushes me back slightly when she says, “I can’t believe you bought it.”
I press my lips into hers, dipping my tongue in to caress hers as she fists my hair in her hands. Our lips move slowly together, as she pulls my weight wholly on top of her. She keeps me close, running her hands underneath my shirt and up my back. We move slowly as we lie on the floor of the closet, her clothes strewn everywhere in the midst of combining our belongings. Making this place ours.
We spend the rest of the evening situating her things, but before it gets too late, I tell Candace, “I’m gonna give my mom a call.”
She acknowledges me as she continues to move things around, and I take a seat in the chair by the window while I call.
“Hey, Mom.”
“How are you?”
“Actually, I’m really good,” I tell her, and when I turn, I catch Candace grabbing her pajamas as she mouths to me, ‘I’m gonna take a shower.’
I give her a nod as my mom says, “Well, that’s good to hear.”
“I have some news I think you’ll like,” I goad and she falls into it, saying, “Don’t keep me in the dark. Tell me.”
“Candace is back. She’s moving in with me.”
“What? How did that happen?” she asks in total shock.
“She showed up here yesterday, and we talked everything out.”
“And she’s moving in?”
“She is moved in,” I clarify as I look at all of her things scattered around the room.
“That was quick.”
“It feels like it took forever,” I joke.
“You know what I mean,” she says. “How is she?”
“Good. I think we’re just both so worn out, but I was calling to see what your plans were for the Fourth.”
“No plans really. Why?”
“Candace and I want to come down for a few days. I know she misses you.”
“Of course,” she exclaims. “I miss her too. Is she around for me to talk to?”
“She’s in the shower, but I’ll have her give you a call tomorrow.”
“So . . . how are you feeling about all of this?” she asks in a more serious tone.
“Like this was how it was always supposed to be. Having her here with me. I felt completely lost without her, and now it just feels right again.”