Page 89 of Never Say Never

3 months later

“That’s the last of it.” Holden wipes his hands on the front of his jeans after loading the last box into the moving truck. “I’m going to order pizza if you want to eat before you head to the new house.”

“Yes, please,” Daisy says. “As long as there’s no—“

“Pineapple,” Holden says, cutting her off. “I’ve got you, Dais. I know what you like.”

“I feel like I’m intruding on a private moment between you two,” I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest and looking from my best friend to my girlfriend. “Is there something I should know?”

Holden tips his head back and laughs. “She’s all yours, bro. You won’t have to worry about the third wheel anymore.”

“Never, Holden,” Daisy says. “We have loved living with you. We’re going to miss you, you know.” Daisy wraps an arm around Holden, hugging him from the side. “Who else am I going to watch reruns ofGilmore Girlswith?”

“Hopefully not this guy.” Holden gestures at me. “He wouldn’t appreciate Stars Hollow. He definitely wouldn’t get Lorelai’s quirky charm.”

I look at him like he’s speaking a foreign language. “Damn straight. I’ll be changing the channel fast.”

Holden scoffs. “Daisy is the boss. We all know who wears the pants in your relationship.”

“Daisy isnotthe boss of me.” I put my hand on her shoulder, and she knocks it off just as fast. I can practically feel her rolling her eyes at me. “Okay, fine, maybe she is,” I add. The truth is whatever she wants to watch is fine by me. All I care about is that Daisy and I are going to be living together. Officially. And I’m determined not to fuck up the good thing we having going on.

“Don’t worry, Holden. I’ll only watch it with you.” Daisy smiles at him. “We should make it a weekly thing.”

“It’s a date, Daisy,” he says, winking at me. The guy just loves getting under my skin.

“In that case, I’m coming,” I say.

Holden’s eyes snap to mine, and he presses his lips together. “Take it easy, man, it’s not that kind of show.”

Daisy cracks up beside me, elbowing me in my side. I shake my head at the pair of them. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Dais.”

She snorts. “Sorry, can’t help it. But don’t worry, the only person I will come for…” she kisses my cheek. “Is you.”

“Yeah, definitely not going to missthis,” Holden deadpans.

Daisy and I had been house hunting in Reed Point for a few weeks when we found an older two-storey home not far from RPU. We’d spent the last three months bouncing back and forth between her condo and my house on Haven Harbor. It worked for us for a while. We were just happy to be together after spending three months apart while Daisy was in Italy—well, I guess technically it wasn’t quite that long, but it felt like afucking eternity. But eventually we decided that we wanted some privacy.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect since the lease on Daisy and Briar’s condo was up and Briar was planning a temporary relocation to Vancouver to spend some time with her mom. As for Holden, he was more than happy to have our place to himself.

Daisy and I didn’t have to look for long. We put an offer on the first house our realtor took us too. Daisy took one look at the colonial revival with shutter windows and a large front porch and fell in love. The home is just shy of 2,000 square feet and is in need of a facelift, but Daisy has a Pinterest board of ideas. And here’s the thing about how much I love Daisy: I want to make every one of those dreams come true. Our plan is to slowly renovate every room, inch by square inch, until it feels like us.

Us.

I like the sound of that.

My god, I sound like a cheesy fuck. When I look at my life these days, I almost don’t recognize it. A lot has changed, but the one constant now is my love for Daisy, and the deep desire I feel to make her happy.

I’ve got an eagle eye at a thrift store now, and I’m starting to know my way around a discount travel website. And Daisy has free tickets to any Outlaws game she wants, and I know I’ll find her in the stands when football season starts up again next month. Until then, I plan on getting my fill of her in our new home.

Holden, Daisy and I head back into the Haven Harbor house for a beer. We’re still sitting around the kitchen table when Jake, Everly, Birdie and baby West stop by a little while later. Grayson and Sierra show up next with baby Sadie and before we know it, the kitchen is full of our friends who have all come over to see us off.

“Haven Harbor won’t be the same without you guys,” Grayson says, holding his beer bottle up into the air. “It’s going to be a lot fucking quieter with this guy gone. Nobody telling stupid jokes or bragging about what a big shot coach he is.”

“Uh-huh, and don’t forget about my incredible good looks. It’s a shame you won’t get to see them on the reg anymore.”

“Oh my god,” Daisy groans. “I apologize for my boyfriend’s insane ego.” Then she leans over and kisses me, because she knows it’s all true.

“He’s all yours now, Daisy. You sure you know what you’re doing?” Grayson asks.

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