Page 55 of Finding the Forward: Part Two
Every word out of his mouth made me more in love with him.
“If this is my room, what does Ver’s look like? I’m guessing she’s downstairs with you?” Mercy put her bag on the desk.
We walked downstairs, and he gave us a quick tour. I already knew where some things were, like the laundry room and the guest bathroom.
“This is the den where we play video games, or where you can watch something if the living room TV is in use.” AJ showed us a cozy, windowless room with a big couch, some beanbags, and a big TV.
“There’s Jonas and Dean’s rooms, of course.” AJ pointed to their doors. Dean’s was all the way open, giving me a good view of his art corner.
“Okay, if a door is closed,knock,especially if it, um, sounds occupied. If it’s cracked open, you still might want to knock because we don’t always wear clothes,” AJ added. “Though generally, a cracked open door means it’s okay to enter.”
“I think I’ll be fine upstairs.” Mercy laughed.
“Game room.” He showed us another room with a pool table, bar cart, shelves, and shelves of puzzles and board games, and several arcade games.
“Grif’s room.” He indicated the door next to Dean’s. “My room.” He pointed to the door at the very end of the hall, then stopped at the door in between. “When I first moved in here after graduating from business school, it was just me. I picked the best room for myself and used the room next to it as my office because going upstairs felt weird. I hardly ever used it. So, um, I cleared it out…” His eyes met mine. “For you. I, um, hope you like it.”
My hand went to my heart. “Thank you.”
Aww. It was the little things he did, like making sure I had the right shoes and taking my dress to his family’s tailor, which got me. Also, having a room where I didn’t have to go up and down the stairs made things so much easier for me.
AJ pushed open the door. As we entered, I exhaled sharply. Cream, peach, pink, and gold dominated the room. Recessed lighting illuminated the textured walls, which featured wood paneling, cream wallpaper, and a plush headboard quilted in giant diamond shapes and accented with gold.
Above the bed hung achandelier.
“Wow,” Mercy breathed.
“I know you’re more of a seafoam and sky-blue girl, but Dean chose these colors for you,” he told me.
“I love it.” It was so delicate, yet warm and inviting.
My eyes immediately went to the window seat, which was filled with cushions that looked like flowers and curtains that hung on theoutsideof the seat so you could close yourself off from the room and enjoy the view of the city.
Next to it stood a table, with a little rose plant, and an overstuffed chair, with a lamp and a bookcase behind it. A study nook had a built-in desk.
“This entire room is all Dean, with a little help from Grif. My office didn’t look like this,” he told me.
“You picked this room for your office because of the chandelier, didn’t you?” I teased. A chandelier in a bedroom felt a little weird.
The bed wasroundand up on a dais, which made it look almost couch-like. Unmade, oodles of pillows and bags from the home store covered it.
“This is extraordinary.” I eyed the giant bed and all the things I could do in it.
“Dean chose the chandelier. Though it was Grif who thought you needed an enormous bed in case you demanded we all sleep together. We don’t have a pack bedroom.” His look went guilty. “We’ve never been a puppy pile sort of pack. Also, we go to the cabin for Dean’s heats, because well, this is a high rise and New York City has laws. But we could see that you might want us all together if someone has a bad day or something.”
Me, too, and not all those ideas were for sleeping. Oh, no. I’d like us all together for other things, too.
“Oh, there arelawsabout heats in high-rises? I mean, it makes sense. But what if you can’t afford a second home?” I ran my hands over the bookcase, my heart breaking for all my ruined books.
“Most upscale hotels have heat suites. There are heat hotels, both full-service and self-catering, many of which take insurance. The Omega Centers also have free heat suites which were supposed to be quite nice, but they book fast,” AJ explained.
“The closet is huge.” Mercy came out of the closet, eyed the wall with a beautiful landscape painting of a garden, and walked back into the closet.
“That feather comforter and flannel sheets you wanted are on there somewhere. Jonas washed some of the things, too,” AJ told me, pointing to the bed. The carpet looked soft and plush, though there were a few patterned rugs that all matched.
Oh. Jonas hadn’t gotten them for my place, he’d gotten them forhere.
“They redid your bathroom completely in the world’s fastest remodel.” AJ led me inside the giant marble bathroom with a big tub that was partially sunken, a gorgeous double sink and vanity area with lots of lights, good mirrors, tons of storage, and a glass shower with a bench in it.
