Page 40 of Perfect Blend

At the same moment, I blurted, “I want to move to Oregon.”

Dave chuckled and shook his head. His dimples were deeper than I’d ever seen them. His beard was growing back. “Show me your place? Sounds like we have a lot to talk about.”

He asked me breezy questions about the neighborhood while we ascended the stairs to the third floor. I bit my lip as I unlocked the door. My place was too small and lacked the space to display all the things I wanted to have out since I needed every inch of extra space for my home office. No space to show my personality. Nearly all my special things were locked up in storage.

“You need space for your LEGOs,” he said after kicking off his shoes and getting a look around.There wasn’t much for him to take in. An open space with a bed on one end, a loveseat and coffee table on the other, and a desk between.

I reached out and grabbed his hand. “I do.”

“Moving to Oregon, huh?” Dave paused at the bookcase and smiled at a picture of me on one of my LEGOLAND vacations.

“Seattle doesn’t feel like home anymore.” I watched him run his fingers along the spines of my small collection of thrillers.

“What about your job?”

That was the question of the day, wasn’t it? I’d officially expressed interest in the position to my boss first thing Monday morning and told her my story would be in by this next Monday. With thoughts of cuddling with Dave while watchingSchitt’s Creektogether in our future, I worked up the nerve to email her today and ask how firm the relocation to Chicago was.

I hadn’t received a response yet, but I knew if remote was a deal-breaker for her, relocation was a deal-breaker for me. I absolutely loved the publication and everything it stood for, and I wanted to take on a larger role there. But there was more to life than work, and I wanted to give things with Dave a real chance.

“I don’t want to move to an even bigger city than Seattle. I don’t belong in crowded places like this. This probably sounds ridiculous, but I want room to breathe. I sure as hell want the promotion, and if my editor offers it to me, I’ll make working remote a condition of my acceptance. If she doesn’t go for it, I’ll turn it down.”

Dave sat on my compact couch, and I squeezed in next to him, draping my legs across his. I gave myself a moment to appreciate how comfortable we were together, despite only being romantically and physically together in person for less than a day.

“As long as you’re happy. That’s what I care about.” He gripped my chin and pulled me in for a quick kiss. “They’d be silly to not offer you the job with how incredibly talented you are. The story is perfect.”

“Yeah?” I kind of hated the neediness in my voice. I wanted him to respect my work and see the real me behind it.

“Mikey, the way you put Dahlia Springs on the page…” Dave’s eyes grew glassy. “How you saw the town and the people in it and how much everyone cares. How you put that into words in a way I could never dream of? It was incredible. You managed to capture everything I love about that place.”

I swallowed past a lump in my throat.

“But, Mikey, hear this, okay? You know how much I love Dahlia Springs, but I care about what’s happening between us, and I’ll do whatever it takes to give us a chance. If that means hiring more help so I can visit you in Chicago regularly, I’ll do it. I won’t give up now that I have you.”

I would never ask him to make changes, but it meant the world knowing he was willing to put in the work too. That was the thing with Dave—he could be a true partner if I let him.

“We’ll figure it out.” I leaned into him. “I was thinking of asking my boss if I could make the small-town Pride thing a series. Maybe visit different small-town Pride celebrations next year.”

Dave hooked his hand under my knee. “Maybe I could join you.”

Loosely daydreaming of plans a year from now? God, a year ago, I couldn’t even wrap my head around wanting to go on a date. But Dave had slowly and thoughtfully worked his way through all my defenses since he’d joined that Discord, and now I couldn’t imagine life without him.

“Where in Oregon do you think you’d move?” He had a warm, pleasant smile on his face.

We tossed around a few options as we cuddled on the couch. I kept thinking that we should’ve been doing this all along. All those nights we talked on Discord, we could have been curled up on his couch instead.

Portland was an obvious option. It wasn’t as big as Seattle, but still bigger than I wanted. Hillsboro could work, but maybe McMinnville would be better. Or an even smaller town.

We talked about options and what he knew about the different places. Easy, comfortable. Snuggling closer on the couch until the air could barely get between us.

My gut said moving to Oregon was the right move, but none of the places we talked about hit right. It wasn’t like there were a ton of places to move to. Dahlia Springs was where I really wanted to be, but it was bananas to consider moving to Dave’s town so quickly. Would it be too close? I should keep some distance, just in case.

Dave cleared his throat. “There’s a little apartment for rent near the coffee shop. One bedroom, one bath. Bigger than this place and definitely cheaper.”

I studied Dave’s face as he talked and couldn’t detect any hint of him mentioning it out of some forced politeness. I couldn’t sense any expectation either.He was giving me an option.

“As long as it comes with unlimited coffee.”

“Consider it unlimited coffee and scones.” He gave me a gentle kiss, and it revved me up as much as our steamy one earlier.

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