Page 27 of Family Like This

She laughs at that. “That’s my specialty.”

“I know.”

“I’m hungry,” she mumbles.

I glance at the clock. “You definitely need to eat. Come on.” I try to stand, but she holds me in place.

“Just… a few more minutes.”

I relax against the couch, repositioning so we’re sitting how we were before. “Of course.”

I hold her close and hum a song my mom used to sing when I was little. It’s been popping into my head a lot lately. I graze my fingers up and down her arm, switching from humming to softly singing the song. If it makes her better and heals her hurting heart, I’ll stay here in the corner of this couch for the rest of my life with absolutely no complaints. How could I ever complain when I have this incredible woman wrapped in my arms?

Chapter four

Dangerously Gentle

Miles

“WhatIwanttoknow is if he edited those photos on his phone or if he has an app for that. Because I don’t care what angle or lighting he took them from, there is no situation where he could’ve made that shitty apartment look that good,” Amelia says, shaking her head.

“No shit. I’m sorry. I don’t like that you were even breathing the air in that place.” I start my car, pissed off that I was duped by that listing. I should’ve known something was up when the guy was open to me seeing it any time, like he had nothing better to do. There were dead flies everywhere, and it looked like a nuclear bomb went off in the bathroom. Theonlybathroom. Which was down a flight of stairs and across the apartment from the bedroom despite the fact that the listing said it had two bathrooms, one on the same floor as the bedroom. Which, I guess there was if you consider an empty room with sketchy plumbing but no sink, toilet, or shower installed a bathroom. Lesson learned, never trust an apartment listing on Facebook.

I’ve lived an extremely privileged life. I’ve never had to hunt for an apartment. I lived in the house I grew up in from age six on. I moved into a dorm room with two of my best friends and a relaxed guy on the baseball team. Then I moved into a swanky lake house my friend’s parents owned. Even now, I don’t have to worry about needing to rent an apartment like the one we just saw because I’ll be making a good income right out of college. Sure, I’ve earned this position by working hard in school and as an intern for my boss for years, but other people work hard and still get paid shit.

Great, why not fall into a guilt spiral?

Amelia’s laughter pulls me back to reality, and I’m convinced I could live off that sound. I appreciate seeing the vulnerable pieces of her—that she shares them with me—but it fires me up when I see her sass or happiness break through.

“It was terrible, but at least it’s a fun memory now. We should’ve taken a picture.Our first apartment hunting experience.Seriously, though. Not even close to the worst place I’ve ever been in. My mom and I slept in somesketchyhostels when we were traveling through Europe. Not all of them were, and we didn’t always stay at hostels, but at a couple… let’s just say the dead fly apartment would’ve been a five-star upgrade.”

I look over at her as I stop at a red light. “How much did you and your mom travel?”

“Oh gosh, we went so many places. My dad always wanted to see the world, but he never had the chance, so he made us promise we’d go. He had a really good life insurance policy because he wanted us taken care of, so we took some of that money and spent two years traveling the world. We spent Christmas in Germany and enjoyed the magic of Chinese New Year in Shanghai. We spent weeks in Scotland because we loved it so much we didn’t want to leave. We didn’t really have a plan, just ideas of where we wanted to go. We’d try somewhere new, then go back to somewhere we loved. We went to Portugal four or five times. We met a local couple our first time there, and each time we went back, we stayed with them. I swear we explored every nook and cranny of Porto. It was incredible. We celebrated my twentieth birthday there, then came home and restarted life again.”

“Wow. That sounds amazing.” Amazing is a lame word for it, but I don’t have anything better. We took vacations every year and regularly went to Charleston, but I’ve never explored the world like she has. She’s only a couple of years older than me, but she’s been through so much. Enough to make up another lifetime.

“Do you want to travel?”

“I’d love to. My mom would love to do a trip to South Korea when my sisters graduate from high school. She’s only been there once when she was a kid, so she really wants to go back. I’d love to see it. Personally, I want to go to Australia. I know it’s a long-ass flight, but I’ve always wanted to go.”

“Well, I’m a seasoned traveler. We could go to Hawaii, then meet your family in South Korea, then continue on to Australia and New Zealand. Maybe Singapore. Singapore was one of my favorites. It might take a couple of months, but we could do it.”

I pull into the parking lot of the apartment building we’re looking at next. This one is an upscale complex, so hopefully it’ll be better than the last.

I shut the car off and turn to Amelia. “Do you think we could do it with a kid?”

She shrugs. “It’ll take extra planning, but doing it in chunks will help make the flights doable. Honestly, the earlier you start flying with kids, the easier it is to travel as they get older. I know it might not be possible regularly, but I want to travel with…” She trails off, then clears her throat. “I want to travel with our kids, so they can see the world. It gave everything in my life a new filter. I want them to have that.”

I can’t stop the smile spreading across my face. “Our kids, huh? Already planning for the future?”

She slugs me in the arm. “Let’s see how we manage one.” She flings her door open and climbs out of the car, muttering, “And if we end up together.”

Knife, meet heart.

Logically, I know it’s not wrong for her to think about it like that. We haven’t known each other that long, but I’m certain this girl is it for me. I told myself when it was right, I’d know. And I do. There’s no question that Amelia, with her sass, strength, and guarded heart, is my forever girl. I hope she figures that out sooner rather than later.

“Well, this is very different from the last place,” she says as we walk into the lobby.

---