Page 42 of The Other Princess

Chapter 17

~ Ever ~

For the next two weeks Deck and I were almost inseparable. Aside from the time I was at work, or he was off doing whatever he did for the club we were together. Deck explained to me that he didn’t really have to work a normal job, because he hadn’t spent a dime of the money he made in the military. He had invested every penny. His living expenses were paid for, and apparently Merc and his mom had been sending him money while he was away too. They thought it would help him get a leg up on life once he figured out where he wanted to settle down, in case it meant not coming back here to Charleston, which had almost been the case when he nearly got engaged to a woman who wasn’t from here.

Since Deck didn’t work a normal job, unless the club needed help from him in some capacity, he was available to be around, and more often than not could be found hanging in the studio while I worked. He had mentioned something about helping Zeke with some investments too, which gave him good reason to be there aside from me. It was sweet that he wanted to be close, but Zeke did end up kicking him out a few times after Deck got a little territorial with some clients who attempted to flirt with me without realizing I belonged to someone already. We managed to work through those little bouts of male caveman behavior though, because he saw I handled those guys, and sent them on their way if they were disrespectful or put them in their place if they were nicer about it. Generally speaking once I said I was taken, they would glance around and assume it was one of the large men from the studio anyway, and they kept their mouths shut after that.

Beyond those little hiccups, everything was like living in a dream. I knew the guys in the shop had endless tormenting quips to throw at me about how I was walking on clouds, and had rainbows shooting out of my butt. They weren’t wrong though. It was like living in an extended state of bliss. I hadn’t even slept in my own apartment since the night Deck took my virginity. We’d been crashing at his house every night. Actually, that was kind of brought to my attention when Gretchen asked me if I planned on moving out of the apartment upstairs. She did it while Deck was standing beside me too.

Deck smiled like the cat that ate the canary. “Why would you ask that?”

“Well, you haven’t been staying there, right? I thought if you were moving in with Declan that I could take over the apartment,” her sweet mousy voice took the sting out of the embarrassment for me.

“Um, I don’t live there. I just go over, and…” I could feel my cheeks reddening as both Gretchen and Deck stared at me while I fumbled through my response. Finally, Gretchen clued in, and her hands flew to her mouth as her eyes widened in shock. Then she grabbed hold of my arm and yanked me back to the employee lounge area.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” She shrieked at me. “I didn’t mean to put you guys on the spot, I thought…” She bit into her bottom lip nervously. “I just thought you guys already had that discussion, and that he’d asked you to move in since you were always there.”

“No, we haven’t had that conversation,” I explained to her, still trying to cool my reddening face down by fanning it with my hands.

“That’s not entirely correct,” Deck’s voice behind me caught my attention. “I told Ever that my house was her house the first time I brought her over there, but I don’t think she understood then. So, let me clarify for the both of you. I do intend for Ever to continue staying in our house. If she agrees to that, then I don’t see why the apartment upstairs won’t be free for you.” He didn’t stick around to hear what I had to say to that. Instead, Deck turned and left. He didn’t just leave the room. He left the entire studio.

“I’m so sorry, Ever!” Gretchen whined to me again. “I didn’t mean to make things awkward.”

“It’s okay. At least this way, we know where we stand right?”

“Well, we know where Deck stands, but you didn’t exactly say anything when he extended the invitation. Are you going to move in with him?”

It was my turn to go bug-eyed, because while I had been staying over there, it was entirely different to think about moving in and living with someone. What if everything went wrong, and I had to leave behind the love of my life and my dream home? Life was hard. Sometimes, I wondered if I was really ready to adult on my own. Instead of continuing on with all the self-doubt, I turned to Gretchen and smiled brightly. “I don’t know how to not be with him,” I admitted.

She bounced up and down on her toes while shaking her arms in the air in some weird little bubbly dance. “That means you’re moving in!”

“I guess it does.”

“Ever, aren’t you supposed to be doing that thing this afternoon?” Kane asked as he walked in the lounge giving Gretchen an odd look. He was probably wondering about her pseudo-dance moves like I had been.

“Shit!” His question finally sunk in, and I realized I was due to be at the clubhouse in about 45 minutes.

Kane laughed. “I guess it was a good thing Deck sent me back here to remind you.”

“Did he leave?” I asked the question knowing he had, but wondering why he wouldn’t want to show up with me.

“He did. He said he wanted to make sure,” he tossed some air quotes up. “And I quote, ‘that those morons don’t fuck anything up before she gets there,’” he explained, making me smile.

“Okay, well I better go get ready. Gretchen, I’ll let you know when I get all my stuff out.”

“Thanks, Ever, you’re a life saver.”

“Sure thing, Gretchen.” With that I went upstairs to get changed into a top that would make it easier for me to display the tattoo I had on my back. The top was a silver piece that tied around my neck and draped pretty provocatively in the front, showing more cleavage than I’d normally be comfortable displaying in front of my family and the men of the club. It was, however, the only shirt I had been able to find that was also completely backless, having just a thin strip of material down at my waist that wrapped all the way around holding it to me. Once I had that on I was running a little behind so I just grabbed my cardigan to toss overtop my shirt so as not to ruin the surprise reveal of my own tattoo.

When I got to the clubhouse I nervously sat in my car a few extra minutes just trying to catch my breath, and burn off some of the anxiety that was beginning to cripple me. Apparently, I sat there too long though, because before I could actually get my breathing back under control the door to Zeke’s car – which I had borrowed – was being pulled open and Deck stood there with his hand held out for me to grasp on to. “Ever whose car is this?”

“It’s Zeke’s. It was either use his or call an Uber and wait for them to show up.”

“I thought you had a car of your own?”

“Nope. They let me borrow Lucy’s old one before I moved out,” I shrugged off the somewhat angry look on Deck’s face then, and plastered on a fake smile. “We should go in before I change my mind and head back to the studio.”

I locked Zeke’s car up, pocketed the keys, and started toward the door with Deck’s hand wrapped around my own. Once we moved inside the easy banter I’d heard as the door opened dimmed to a hush, with barely a whisper being heard. “Wow, I guess that’s some kind of a reception. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea,” I whispered in Deck’s ear. He squeezed me reassuringly, and ignored my idea to leave, instead leading us deeper into the building until we were standing in front of the little makeshift stage that housed a stripper pole for the club whores to work their magic on if the mood struck.

---