Page 18 of Pucks, Lies, and Sticktape

The words hit him like a slow-moving impact—soft, but unshakable in their truth.

Matthieu swallowed hard.

She was right. It was easy to forget, to lose himself in this moment, to slip into the illusion of familiarity that shouldn’t have existed between them. In reality, they had met today—mere hours ago—and yet here they were, picking a house, aligning their lives, setting the foundation for something neither of them fully understood yet.

It was reckless. It was terrifying. And yet…

He exhaled, choosing his words carefully. “No,” he admitted. “You’re right. We’re not married, and that’s not changing anytime soon.” He hesitated, then continued, voice steady. “But while I’m buying a house, I want your input. As a friend—since we’ll be living together.”

She said nothing, just listened.

“You aren’t my wife on paper,” he continued, leveling her with a steady gaze, “but for this to work—to not slip up—you might as well start referring to yourself as my wife.”

Jeannie nodded slightly. “I’ll be careful.”

“I know.”

Silence stretched between them. Then, finally?—

“Jeannie,” his voice was lower now, his words careful, weighted with meaning. “Do you like this house? Yes or no?”

A pause. And then?—

“It’s breathtaking,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s perfect.”

Matthieu exhaled slowly, his grip tightening slightly on the laptop.

Yes. It was.

“Then that’s the one,” he agreed, fighting the urge to jump for joy. For him to make this transition, Fallon had taken the lead in finding a few places with quick move-in possibilities, and she’d just need to work her magic on this place, too. He clicked on the button to notify the realtor of his interest, took a screenshot, and sent it to his agent with an email.

Fallon – I want this one.

Make it happen - Cash offer.

I need it empty and ready to go when the announcement for the Wolverines hits the news. I’ll be flying out from Seattle the next day to rendezvous with the team. If you need anything, call me or my wife, Jeannie.

Thanks!

Matthieu

Clicking send, he looked at Jeannie.

She looked completely befuddled, watching everything he’d just done, and a myriad of emotions crossed her face.

“So… just like that?”

“Yup.”

“You tell her what to do… and she’ll just do it?”

“We run in different circles now,” he said gently. “I meant it when I said that I would take care of us, and there would be no more worries.”

“B-But…”

“Jeannie,” he chuckled softly, smiling at her. “I’m a pretty selfish guy, and I like nice things – but make no mistake – we’ll have a very nice time existing together during this whole thing. If you see something you need, just ask or better yet? Get it – and know that I’m good with it.”

She just sat there, blinking in shock, and hesitated before laughing nervously and waving her hand beside her head.

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