Page 49

Nina

I 'm officially out of time.

Trevor looks ready to wrap me in my blanket and force me to stay until I get all my feelings out. Ridge hasn't stopped fidgeting with a butter knife like a weirdo. Henry's been so stuck in his phone since the other day that it's making me even more paranoid about their intentions.

And Kai? Well, bless him. He looks patient and relaxed. Until he isn’t, I guess. "Nina, what is it?"

I barely hold in my groan of frustration.

After everything I've been through, why am I so darn scared to plan the future?

Actually, that would probably make a lot of sense to a therapist. Mine will likely have a field day with my new fears.

First I need to schedule my next session though.

I've canceled my last few appointments since my dad killed him last week.

Gosh , has it really only been a week? I feel like we've been living in my parent's basement for months. The boxes Mom and the guys packed from the old house before we left that day taunt me.

"Flora."

I jump, not used to hearing Kai's voice so stern. The nickname takes some of the sting away at least. "What? Oh, sorry." They're all looking at me expectantly. Still .

"It's okay. You seem to have a lot on your mind. Can you please tell us?" Kai requests gently. "Before Trevor breaks a tooth and Ridge accidentally stabs himself in the eye."

Huffing, my annoyance rises when he leaves Henry out of his teasing. "Well, hopefully Henry's eyes aren't officially crossed by the time I tell you what's on my mind, huh?"

Kai frowns at the same time Henry's head pops up with wide eyes. "Nina..." Henry starts, but I wave him off as his phone buzzes

"Forget I said anything. You clearly have something important going on in your phone." Why am I being so sassy? My eyes fill with tears not a second later.

If I thought Henry's eyes were wide before, they definitely are now as he tosses his phone onto the cushions and crashes to his knees in front of me. "Shit, Neen. I'm so sorry. Please don't cry."

Trevor grumbles something, probably about me needing a good cry, but I ignore him. Just as I try to ignore Henry by squeezing my eyes shut. Pressing my palms into my eyelids to ward off the burn of emotion, I take a shuddering breath.

"Pretty girl..."

"No," I shake my head, open my eyes and bypass looking at the handsome man on his knees and look up at the ceiling. "Please forget I said anything."

Cool fingers tickle my cheek when a tear slips free. "I'll do no such thing. I'm so sorry, Nina. Please look at me."

Inwardly, I sigh because I should control my attitude a bit better. I blink, blink again, and wipe my eyes one more time before finally giving my man the attention he requests.

"There she is," Henry coos. His smile is tinged with guilt and worry making my lip tremble. "Now, are you ready to tell them about our new house?"

"What?" I gasp, rearing back a little. How does he know about that?

Henry smirks and Kai pushes his fiancé a little. "Alright, time to explain," Kai demands.

Ridge waves his knife in the air to get out attention. "Yeah, what new house? Are we moving?"

"I…" I hesitate, worry clawing at my insides. "Will you? Do you want to move in with me? There are enough rooms. I just thought?—"

"Baby," Trevor rumbles, moving across the basement living room to sit beside me. "I think I see where this is going. We absolutely want to move in with you."

"Well, obviously," Kai sounds exasperated, and when I look over at him on my other side, he winks. "But where ?"

"You really want to move into our own home? Continue this relationship? Even after everything?" It's definitely going to take some reassurance to help me feel better.

"And what exactly is everything ?" Ridge looks ready to throw his knife down and challenge me.

"You know," I whisper. "I'm not normal." Trevor stiffens so I grab his thick thigh. "But I want to be. At least a new normal for me . I just have so much work to do on myself to get there and I'm not—I wasn't sure if you would want to stick around for that."

Sheesh, they all look a little mad. Ridge especially.

"Of fucking course I want to move in with the woman I love and help her overcome all the horrible shit she's survived.

You're a survivor, Nina. Your fucking aura , energy , whatever you want to call it, is empowering.

You're literally the greatest damn person I have ever met, and I am so in love with you.

I dare you to try to push me away again. "

Shaking my head adamantly, I feel my desperation to be understood rise. "I won't push you away. I swear."

"No swearing," Trev scolds with a slight tease in his tone.

"For you," I squeeze his thigh harder, "I'll swear to keep you every day. I just don't want you to feel trapped."

"Nope. Not trapped," Trevor explains like a caveman. "In love. Just like my cousin said. We're moving in with you. We're settling our family down and figuring out the future one step at a time."

Goodness . My tears flow again. I think I could crumble into a gooey pile of love and excitement. "Okay. Yes please." I really think I can feel their love and acceptance surround me in the silence that follows our agreement of a future together.

Then Kai nudges Henry again. "What house?"

"Oh!" Henry cheers and gently slaps his hand on my parted thighs in excitement.

"It's fucking gorgeous. I've been making sure it's furnished.

Working out the details to make sure all of our other house shit gets delivered on move in day was a bit tricky because the other house is selling and we have that storage unit from our old house too. But it will all get there."

Excitement bursts like a real life firework in my chest. I lunge forward and grip Henry's shirt. "WHAT?! WE GOT IT?! WE GOT THE HOUSE?!"

He nods happily. "Yeah, pretty girl. They accepted your dad's offer this morning."

"NO WAY!" I screech, bouncing on my bottom. "Wait, how did you know about this?"

Henry glances at Trevor for some reason. "Will told me."

"When? And why not tell the rest of us?" Ridge wonders, sounding suspicious.

Henry gives me an apologetic look. "Ah, well. I was watching over Nina while she sat on the curb the other night. Will was there and told me what she's been up to when she's not sleeping."

Trevor couldn't get more tense if he tried. "You were WHERE ?!"

Henry cringes at the same time I do. So that's why he glanced at Trev .

The safety lecture begins and I express my reasoning about finally being free, which makes the four of them soften enough that I can focus on my sheer excitement about the house.

Life is really going to move forward!