Page 110 of Ruck Me

“I’m not going to change my mind. What’s so hard to understand aboutthat?”

He pushed forward and rested his palms on his thighs. “What’s so hard to understand about wanting my pregnant girlfriend to move in withme?”

“You still live with Tadgh, Donal, and Ferg!” I exclaimed, louder than I’d intended. Dropping my voice back down, I added, “I’m not moving in with four boys, plus this one.” I pointed to my rapidly expanding belly.

“I told you, we could get our own place.”

“But I have my own place,” I reminded him. “Not only is it beautiful, but it’s free. And right now, free is good. Once this baby comes, that’s going to matter.”

“It’s not your place. It’s in your brother’s house. And besides, I have plenty of money.”

I didn’t want to give up the apartment Declan had carved out for the baby and me, and Eoin didn’t want to live in Declan’s house. Add to that, I didn’t want to be a drain on Eoin’s finances. Things were going well enough now, but we needed to be brutally honest with one another: we’d broken up twice in less than a year of dating. Yes, we were having a kid together, but there was always this niggling fear that we weren’t going to go the distance. I’d no doubt we’d be permanent fixtures in each other’s’ lives, but that didn’t mean we were always going to be a couple. And since that was something I could never say, I reverted to the easier argument.

“Technically, the apartment’s below my brother’s house.”

“Same difference,” he answered churlishly. “I’d still have to see him every day. I can’t live with your brother, Aoife.”

The ripple of sexy arm muscle popping out of his shirt sleeves as he’d crossed his arms distracted me for a moment as I imagined licking my way up and down the ropey veins on display. Shaking myself from my lust-filled stupor, I pointed out the obvious. “You sleep in my room almost every night. You practically live there already.”

“He tolerates my presence. There’s a big difference.”

“Has he said something to you?” I asked, my temper flaring. And here I’d thought they’d been getting along so welltoo.

Eoin turned his eyes to me. “No, but he doesn’t have to. It’s his house Aoife, and I’m not welcome.”

“It’s my house too and I say youare.”

He sighed and pushed off the cushions. Giving me his hand, he hoisted me up. “Come on, let’s finish here. We’re not even halfway through the store.”

“This isn’t over, Eoin,” I chided, taking one last look around the space. I really wanted to get one of those shallow shoe rack thingies they’d attached to the wall in the “foyer.” It’d look great right inside my front door and save a ton of space.

Eoin gave me a pointed look. “You’re right. It’snot.”

But it was for today, at least.

We spent the next several hours grabbing everything I could ever possibly need and then drove back to Sandymount in silence, each lost in our own thoughts.

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