Page 40 of Confusing Hearts

“Great, I’m texting you the first address now.”

I got up and took a quick shower, shaved, and dressed in record time. I grabbed my coat and was out the door before anyone else in the house even stirred. It didn’t take long to drive over to the address she sent.

“This better be good, Collette, for you to drag me out this early on a weekend,” I grumped as I opened my car door to find her already waiting.

“We can go right up,” she said, handing me a cup of coffee. I took a deep sip, surprised to find it exactly the way I liked it.

It had been two weeks since I had gotten the brilliant idea to buy my own place off campus. I hadn’t told Jenna, and it was getting exceedingly difficult to keep it to myself. My thoughts were that if we had our own place, we could finally get some time alone.

When I had confided my plan to Kyle, he had laughed. “That’s pretty extreme for a little booty action,” he had said, and I growled and threatened to come through the phone and rip his throat out. It was a good thing he was my brother and only laughed harder. As my Alpha, if I had been anyone else making such threats, I’d be lucky to still be alive. We had ended that call with a reminder: “Mom never said there was anything sane about a mating male.”

It was true. Kyle, Patrick, and Liam had all had their fair amount of insanity during their mating periods, and they didn’t have half the battles Jenna and I were facing.

Collette led me up to the fourth floor of a high-rise apartment building. It was small and tight inside, and my wolf was uncomfortable. Still, it had all the basics and it was literally the first place available in weeks. I had no doubt, if I waited until May to buy I’d have my pick of anything, but I didn’t want to wait that long. Archibald Reynolds wasn’t the only college in the area, so housing was limited.

“No,” I said sadly. “It makes me feel claustrophobic in here.”

Collette smiled. “I knew you’d say that, but I’m not sure another rental will come available before May.”

I groaned in frustration.

“But—”

She got my attention, I liked ‘but’ in this case.

“—how do you feel about buying?”

I hadn’t really considered that as an option.

“Now,” she continued, “just hear me out. There’s a hunting cabin nearby. It’s only five minutes from the campus’ main gate. It’s secluded, with an open floor plan and five bedrooms. I realize that’s way more than you need, but your mortgage would still be in the range we discussed. First floor has everything you’re looking for, just with an added second level.”

“Okay. I hadn’t really thought about buying, but I like the sound of the place. Let’s take a look.”

She led the way back downstairs to the cars, and I followed her the short distance to the next place. When she turned off the main road onto a hidden driveway, my interest increased tenfold. We drove another quarter of a mile before it opened to a clearing where a log cabin sat. I felt an overwhelming sense of calm and knew this was going to be my first home. I didn’t even care how much it would cost me. There was a swing on the front porch where I could already see myself with a cup of hot coffee, a blanket, and my mate tucked into my side.

“It’s perfect,” I said.

Collette laughed. “Would you like to at least look inside first?”

“Yeah, okay. How many acres does it come with?”

“Three acres for just the house, then there’s another parcel of thirty acres they’re selling off the back, but you’ll have about half an acre buffer from the back of the house to the property line,” she explained.

“How much for all of it?”

Her eyes rounded in curiosity. “Two hundred and fifty thousand. Just the cabin is only one hundred forty-seven thousand, which is a steal. Owner died, and his grandkids just want money fast.”

“Great, offer them two twenty-five, cash, for both lots,” I said.

“Cash? And sight unseen? You don’t want to even see the inside?” she asked.

“Oh yeah, well, we can look, but I’m going to have this place,” I assured her.

Inside was even better than I imagined. It was a little musty smelling, like it had been closed up for a long time, but it had a big open floor plan, a loft that would make the perfect study area, and two bedrooms on each side. Another large master bedroom was on the main level. I knew Jenna was going to love the master bath with the large soaking tub. The kitchen had a nice island I could see us eating breakfast at, and everything we would need conveyed, even a washer and dryer. It was perfect.

“Make the offer,” I told Collette.

She whipped out her phone and got down to business before I could change my mind. It might have seemed like an impulse buy to her, and maybe it was, but I knew I wouldn’t regret it and couldn’t wait to surprise Jenna.

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