Chapter 189: Chapter 189

Kyra POV

Tor ~ age seventeen

Aiden ~ age seventeen

Aiden and I are in his father’s private home studio jamming when Ash drops this huge bomb on me.

"We're getting married two weeks after we graduate."

My hand freezes on my guitar and I stare at him sitting on a stool in front of the mic with a big grin on his face.

"Married?" I repeat.

"Yeah. We don't want to wait. And we're going to get a small apartment in town. I already put a deposit down on it. We don't want to live with my parents anymore."

I blink at him like he's insane. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to live here for their entire life. His parents’ house is monstrous, with an indoor and an outdoor pool, sauna, freakin' music studio, and bathroom for every day of the week. Not to mention a refrigerator that's always stocked with food.

"Ash, you guys are living in a small mansion here. You have your own suite of rooms. You don't even pay rent. Why would you want to move out?"

"Because my parents are always hovering."

"They're hardly ever here."

"We still want our own place. It's not fair for Elara to have to live here with my parents and my brothers and my sister. She needs her own place so she feels like we have our own home. I want you to be my best man, too."

"Well, fuck yeah."

"And we want you to live with us."

Whoa. He's throwing way too much at me and making my head spin.

"Um, come again?"

"Live. With us."

"Are you bent? Why would you want me to live with you?"

"Don't you want to get out of your parents’ house?"

"Yeah, but aren't you getting your own place so you can be alone? Me being there kind of defeats the purpose."

"We want you to live with us. We can write more songs and practice more if we're all together. And we'll need some help with the baby. Kyra loves you. You're the only one who can get her to stop crying."

I knew there had to be a catch.

"So you want me to be like a live-in babysitter?"

He laughs. "I guess. Like a manny. You can pay the cable bill and buy groceries and I'll pay for everything else. C'mon, it'll be fun."

I make a few hundred dollars a month working for my father at his bike shop. The plan is for me to work there full time after I graduate, at least until the band takes off and we're living on the road. I can feel it in my gut — we're going to make it big soon.

Aiden does landscaping after school and on weekends plus he gets an allowance from his parents just for existing. I think it’s ridiculous, but I don't know what it's like to come from a wealthy family so I keep my mouth shut about it. So, I guess we could afford an apartment. My mom will probably have a shit fit that her oldest baby is moving out, but she'll still have my brothers and sister living there so she won't be dealing with empty nest syndrome yet.

"Do I get my own room?" I ask. "Because I'm not sleeping on the couch every night. I don't want my face where your ass has been sitting."

"Of course you get a room. I'll take you over there tomorrow so you can see it. There's actually a loft upstairs, so you'll be on your own floor with lots of privacy. You know, in case you ever actually date someone." He hints, punching my arm.

"Worry about your own dick. Mine is fine."

That's a bunch of crap, though. My best friend is getting married and has a baby who is almost two years old and I haven't even gotten laid yet. Even though meeting Elara totally accelerated Aiden's life plan, from where I'm sitting, he's got everything.

\---

Kyra

Being back home is bittersweet, and I feel this way every time I come home from visiting Maine. When I'm there, I miss everyone here, but then when I come back home, I miss Aunt Katherine and the peacefulness of the Inn.

Before I left, she had a long talk with me and asked me to come live with her and work at the Inn. The thought is very tempting. I just don't know if I'm ready to leave my father, or be that far away from Tor.

My bedroom feels empty without Snuggles in her spot by the window that she spent twelve years inhabiting. I'm grateful my father cleaned her cage and put it in the basement so I wouldn't have to see it, so barren without her, as soon as I got home.

There was a tiny black organza bag on my nightstand when I got home, and inside it was a small tuft of her fur. Underneath it I found a handwritten note:

I thought you might want to have this to Elara her.

Love forever & longer,

Tor

Today I read the note again, my heart bursting with even more love for him over the incredibly thoughtful and sweet things he always does for me. I don't even think that Tor tries to be this way; it just comes naturally for him.

I can't help but wonder if he did things like this for Sydni. Or Lisa. Or are these gestures and sentiments only for me due to our long history? As selfish as it seems, I want this side of him to be only for me. Reserved for me alone and no one else.

I didn't text Tor last night when I got home because I spent hours sitting with my father on the patio talking about everything we missed in each other’s lives over the past two months. At one point, he went inside to get a cold drink and came back with three gift-wrapped boxes for me, all in pink paper with silver bows.

"Dad, you didn't have to get me gifts."

"Don't be crazy," he leans down and kisses the top of my head before taking his seat across from me. "I can't believe you're eighteen. That blows my mind, baby. It feels like just yesterday we brought you home and had no idea what to do with you."