Music, Ink, and Love (17 page)

“What about the other houses?” She asked, curious.

“Well, there is another one. It’s bigger and cheaper, but it’s outside of downtown. It’s more in the outskirts of Seattle.”

“I’m not sure about that. I think I prefer to stay around here. Everything we have or do is around here. Traveling in rush hour could be a total pain.”

“I agree. Would you like to schedule a showing to the first one?” I sounded like a businessman. It showed how serious I was about this.

“Yes, but I'm not sure I'm financially ready to take on such a big loan.”

“Don’t worry about this, Nix. I told you before, we’re okay. This house could be perfect. Enough room for kids to grow up and play, a yard for them and I think for us now, it reflects everything we need.”

She took control of my computer, went over the picture a second time and read the description of the property. “A Cape Cod style. I like the exterior too. It’s pretty and it looks clean.”

“Alright, now, come to bed with me. I’m exhausted.”

“I won’t be able to sleep now that you’ve talked to me about getting our own house. It is a very exciting project.” Her smile was so wide, it could almost reach her ears.

“I know something we could do that would tire you.”

“What is it? I think you need to show me.” She teased.

Her baby-blue eyes stared at me. Holding a laugh, she tried to give me a seductive look. The attempt had failed, but she still looked damn cute, I couldn’t ignore that.

Still wearing her cropped t-shirt from the Black Shakers, she stepped closer to me, but I wanted to see her, her curves. I pulled Nix’s top over her head and wrapped my arms around her, holding on to her, feeling her skin against my arms.

“Rock star.” I murmured to her ear. “Bedroom, now.”

She giggled and we hurried to our bedroom.

“Levi, you and I, in a big house.” She said, still not believing that we had that option.

“Yes, I told you. I’m serious about my future with you. We’re getting married. I’m looking forward to taking the next step with you. The house seems like a good idea now that we’re alone in the apartment. I’ll contact the landlord and take care of this.”

“I really want to visit the house soon, like tomorrow, but right now, you’re the one I want.”

She pushed me on the bed and straddled me. Her ass on my groin, the pressure added to my pleasure. My hands ran up and down her thighs while she caressed my abs.

“Take off your shirt, Angel.” She ordered me. I pulled it over head leaving my hair in disarray.

“I want more ink.” She said, locking our eyes in a gaze. Nix knew what it meant to me. How much I loved it.

“Anytime, Rock Star. You know that.” I got even harder just with the thought of marking her again.

She hovered until our lips met, her full body covered mine.

Could I kiss her only or not? Definitely not, I rolled us on the mattress so I lay on top of her. I pulled up her skirt, and ripped her tiny underwear out of the way. “I need this, Nix.”

“So do I.” Her small hands took control of my clothes. We never got fully undressed; our hunger for each other never let us.

We were not making love, this was way too fucking rough to be called that. Nix held onto my arms strongly enough to leave me bruised while I pounded into her, deeper than ever before. She didn’t stop me and I had no will to stop myself. Fuck! Within minutes, I came undone. My body hurt and felt good at the same time. Nix’s hold on me hurt, but the sounds coming out of her mouth were my undoing.

Fuck, she was my life.

I
used my charm to get a last minute showing to the house, the real estate agent managing to schedule us between two appointments. It turned out that the house was already empty from its owner. Nix tried to keep her excitement in check, but she could barely contain herself. The house only had a couch sitting in the living room, everything else appeared to be gone. Nix held my hand through the guided tour of the house and as we kept walking around the property her hold on my hand became tighter and tighter. My fingers numbed from her strength.

“What do you think?” I asked her when we were standing in the middle of the master bedroom. The sun’s rays entered the room through the wide windows. There was also a door to a small balcony giving a view of the yard. 

She squealed and jumped into my arms. “I seriously love it. I can totally see us living here.”

Her lips swept over mine. “It's close to the shop. We have a parking space, it’s clean and every room is a good size.”

“We should visit more houses, though.”

“Maybe, but I really like this one.”

The real estate agent waited for us in the kitchen area while we took additional time to go through each room. Nix went through all the closets and bathrooms. She looked outside each window.

“I love it, Levi.” She said one last time before meeting the agent again.

“It’s a lovely house.” I said.

“It is, indeed. The price is sitting low too because the owners are hoping for a quick sale.”

“Are there any more houses for sale around here?”

She nodded. “There are but the prices are higher. If you’re looking for something around this same price, there are a few condos.”

“No, I'm looking for a house.”

My pulse started to rise. What the hell should I do now? I knew I had to think fast because there was no way I would let this one go. “Do you have more showings scheduled here?”

“I do. They should be here in fifteen minutes.”

Damn. Nix looked at me, nervous and scared for the same reasons I was on the verge of having a panic attack. All the other houses were located further from downtown. This house had been on the market for only a couple of days. I had to put an offer on it. I couldn’t let this house go. This house could really be ours and I believed we needed this. Our little nest where we could build our future together.

“I would like to put an offer on the house. Now, please.” I said confidently while Nix probably stopped breathing for two seconds.

“Levi?”

“We can't let this opportunity go, Nix. It's the perfect house for us.”

“I'll get the papers from my car, if you don't mind waiting.”

“Of course, not.”

Nix jumped into my arms, her legs wrapped around my waist. “This is it, Levi. It could really be our house.”

“I'll make an offer they can't refuse, babe. We have to take this step together before the wedding.” I looked around the house one last time. 

Every room was renovated and in mint condition. The low price made it hard for me to believe that this could really be happening. I kissed her hard. This day kicked some major asses. It was perfect.  

I made an offer, signed all the papers with Nix and when we were done, she cried and I wanted to run a marathon. I had so much energy, it was a strange feeling. I held Nix in my arms.

“What do you want to do now?” I asked her.

“I have no idea. I'm so anxious and happy at the same time. I can't wait to find out if they accept our offer. I want to buy some new furniture. I feel like planning our first dinner with your father or our friends. This is crazy, Levi.”

“I know, it is absolutely crazy. She should call me today or tomorrow with the answer. We'll have more details too if they accept.”

We spent the rest of the day trying to think about something else. We went to a restaurant, but our stomachs were tied in knots and we could hardly eat anything. Both of us ordered a soup and a small salad before we both stared at his phone, impatient.

Nix took a few bite of her salad with her shaky hands.

“You know what, Levi?” She asked me. I shook my head no. “I win, Levi. Life can throw anything at me, I still win. I’ve got this. My parents are both out of my mind, for different reasons. I faced rehab a second time, but it only made me stronger. It’s not easy to face life when I never know what’s going to hit me head-on but I have you, Levi. We have us and right now, it’s everything I could wish for. I’m sorry I can’t share family dinners with you and I’m sorry our kids won’t have grandparents on my side. I’m all by myself...”

“Phoenix.” I cut her off. “You are beautiful, strong and I don’t care about family dinners. We have Colleen and Austin when we need a dose.” I chuckled. “And, you’re not by yourself, you’ll never be. That ring on your finger represents me. Never forget that. I’m always there, you can always reach me.”

“We’ve got this, babe.” She said with a small tear escaping her eyes.

“We do and now, if that real estate agent could fucking call us back, that would be fucking amazing.” I tried to make the ambiance less dramatic. I knew that Nix needed to speak her mind, to let me know how she felt and I agreed, but that fact that she did this at this specific time told me that the possibility of buying a house without the support of her family scared her, and maybe made her feel a little bit more uncertain. She got her life under control, she lived happily, but she never had that parental tap on the shoulder to say that whatever she was doing was going to be alright.

When I decided to leave my law career, my relationship with my father became more difficult and strained, but it only lasted a couple of months. In those couple of months, I had insecurities while trying to adjust to my new life and new career. Some nights, I couldn’t sleep. I was young, but I knew I was smart and that I could do this. The only thing that made everything harder at the time was that I couldn’t rely on my father to comfort me. I had turned my back on the life he had for so long dreamed about. I built my career, my shop with K and later, after everything had settled down, I met with my dad and we talked things through.

I couldn’t imagine Nix and her mother doing the same thing, but everything that happened to her would only make her a stronger woman. That fucking turned me on.

We left the restaurant with our food half-eaten and the phone still hadn’t rung. It had been just over an hour and already, the wait was driving me insane.

“What should we do now?” She asked, sitting in my car.

“Would you mind coming with me to Dad’s office?”

She turned to look at me, surprised. “Sure.”

“I want to tell him about the house and I’ll need to ask him a few details for the financial part of the project.”

She nodded, agreeing.

We got to the tower where his office was located. I held hands with Nix and guided her through the entrance. The receptionist called my dad to notify him of our presence. We got into the elevator alone. I knew about the camera but I didn’t care one bit. I took her face between both of my hands and I kissed the hell out of her. For some reason, I became hungry for her and couldn’t wait any longer. I pulled her into my arms, wrapped her tightly against my chest with her lips connected to mine. The tension came out strong and then,
ding!
The door of the elevator opened before we were able to untangle our arms and tongues.

“Levi, Phoenix.”

Shit. “Hi Dad.” I said with Nix lip gloss all around my mouth. I must have looked like a clown.

Nix’s face turned crimson, and probably mine too. This feeling was worth at least twenty cold showers.

“Austin.” She mumbled in a low voice behind me.

“You... hmm... You wanted to see me? Or do you guys need a place to make out?” He had that smirk on his face. He probably thought catching us was funny, but it embarrassed me more than anything.

“No, I wanted to talk to you.” I wiped my lips with the back of my hand to remove the lip gloss while trying to ignore the fact that we had been caught making out in the elevator.

“Okay, come with me.” He turned around and headed to his office. “It's good to see you, Nix.” Her face flushed beet-red. She couldn’t catch a break.

Colleen greeted us as we walked by her desk. She smiled and looked great. Was Dad the reason behind that smile? Did I really want to know? No...

“Sit.” Dad pointed at the chairs before his large desk. “What brings you here, son?” I could hear the curiosity behind the serious tone he used.

“We put an offer on a house.”

“Oh! Congratulations to both of you.” He really seemed happy for us. ”When will you find out if the offer is accepted?”

“Soon, we hope.” I peaked at Nix by my side and took her hand into mine. “It’s a beautiful small house in the University district.”

“Such a great project, I'm happy for you both.”

“If we get the house, I'm going to need to have access to my funds. Will that be a problem?”

“Absolutely not. I will arrange that.”

I hadn’t told Nix anything about this. I turned to look at her so I could explain briefly. “Austin’s in charge of my personal finances. He is really good with numbers and since Mom’s passing, he took care of my inheritance and the profit I made when I sold my condo.”

She nodded. “It makes sense.”

“I hope you’ll visit if it works out.”

“Who’s the real estate agent?”

“Jules Hassell.”

He wrote her name down. “Okay.” His eyes lift to meet mine again. “Anything that needs to be changed or repaired at the house?”

I shook my head no. “The house was well taken care of. It’s in very good shape. They renovated most of the house and it’s freshly painted.” I told him with joy emerging from my words. “It’s really a good deal, Dad.”