Page 67 of Praise You

"That's good, 'cause I'm really good, too." Nate quips and we all start laughing.

One of the best things Ronan and I did was get our friends together. They hit it off immediately and I'm forever grateful. Nate has been such an amazing friend to me this past year, and I love that he gets along with Ronan's friends.

Sitting on the couch, I watch as Noah, Nate, and West sit on the floor playing the game. They're lost in their own little world, talking shit to each other about who's going to kick whose ass. I watch in awe at their smack talk, snickering when they start getting louder.

Ronan sits down next to me on the couch, a glint in his eyes as he watches them.

"Oh god. We've introduced them and created monsters," he jokes, putting his hand on my knee.

"What're everyone's plans for summer?" I ask them.

"West and I are planning to head home for the weekend in a couple weeks, but other than that, nothing really." Carter tells us, reaching forward and ruffling West's hair.

"Nate got us some tickets to the baseball game next week if you all want to come?" I say, knowing Nate was the one who brought it up earlier, letting me know he wanted to invite everyone.

"Hell yeah, man. That sounds like a blast. How did you get so many tickets, though?" West inquires, his fingers never leaving the controller.

"My uh-brother plays for the team, so he's able to give me tickets. Usually it's whenever I want, but they're doing some type of theme night, so he was able to get me more than usual," Nate tells us all, his eyes barely leaving the screen. I glance at their game and see that he and Noah are neck and neck, both of their hands pressing hard onto the controller, the want of winning in both their eyes.

"Damn man, that's pretty cool. Let's do it." Carter stands up, grabbing West's phone off the couch. "Food’s here. Let's eat everyone."

I help Carter gather the food from the delivery man, then we set it all out on top of their boxes since most everything is still all boxed up. We stuff our faces with pizza and wings, laughing and joking the entire time. I take a sip of my water, turning my head to look at Ronan. Seeing a streak of sauce on the side of his mouth, I chuckle, using my finger to wipe it off and lick my finger. Ronan's pupils dilate and I laugh.

Leaning forward, I give him a soft kiss, my cheeks burning when he whispers, ‘you taste so fucking delicious’ as he pulls away. Resting my forehead on his, I breathe him in for a second before remembering where we are. Looking around at all the men before me, the men who really aren't paying us much attention, I'm grateful for where I’m at in life. Moving across the country all by myself and starting over from scratch was hard. But ending up here, with all these amazing people surrounding me, was worth it. I've grown so much, from not knowing who I was to becoming who I was meant to be. And I'm damn proud of who I've become.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ronan

One Year Later

Standing in the kitchen, Ember runs in between my legs, purring incessantly because I'm not feeding her fast enough.

"Oh my god girl, I'm going. Give me a second," I tell her, rolling my eyes when she meows at me and trots over to her bowl. Her paw pushes the bowl across the floor and I groan loudly. "I know, I know. I'm late getting you food."

Going into the pantry, I grab the cat food, filling up her bowl with food and the one next to it with water. Once I step away, Ember races over to the bowl, inhaling her food as though she hasn't eaten in days.

"You're so dramatic."

"Who's dramatic?" Oliver says, walking into the kitchen, shirtless. My eyes devour his body, his naked chest on display for me. There's a droplet of water that runs in between his pecs that I greedily follow as it finds its way into the waistband of his shorts. He clears his throat, my eyes instantly snapping up to his.

"Ember. She's acting as though she hasn't eaten in days."

"Well, I fed her this morning, but then we got so busy moving everything in I forgot to feed her again."

Today was move-in day again, but this time it was Oliver and me moving into a place of our own. Living with Noah and Asher the past year had been amazing, but once our lease was up, we decided it was time. Since Noah had recently graduated, he and Asher wanted to have a place of their own. And I wanted to find a place with Oliver. The past few months, I'd barely been home anyway, so it made the most sense.

I watch as Oliver picks Ember up and takes her into the other room where she has a whole little setup, with a scratching post and tons of toys. He comes back into the kitchen, stopping right in front of me. Walking around the island, I put my finger into his shorts, pulling his body closer to me. Licking up the slide of his neck, I smile and nip at his throat as his body trembles against me. "You hungry?" I ask, stepping back.

"Fuck, Ronan. I am so hungry," he says, adjusting his shorts and leveling me with a heated look.

Smirking, I shake my head, eyeing the growing bulge in his pants. "Not that type of hungry. Save that for later."

"Fine," he huffs, walking around me and sitting down on the stool. "What did you order?"

"Thai," I tell him, sitting on the seat beside him.

We dig into our food, discussing how we want to decorate the apartment and the different colors we want. I want dark colors—blacks and blues—but Oliver wants brighter colors. When I finally relent, telling him he can pick whatever colors he wants, a gorgeous smile crosses his face.

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