Page 55 of Love, Academically
One year later
Lila
“No, Lila. I’m not having that there.”
“But Rhys,” she whined. “I really like it there. It’s the best memory ever.”
“Can’t you put it in your craft room or something?”
“No, because I want to remember this for the rest of my life. So, unless you want an unhappy girlfriend in this sparkly new house, then it goes here.”
“Fine,” Rhys said, rolling his eyes and adjusting the frame.
Of course she’d cut a still from James’s video of his infamous karaoke night, framed it, and of course she was hanging it above the mantel in the front room. And of course Rhys had pouted as soon as he’d walked in, but she didn’t care.
“Can you taste this?” she asked, holding out the wooden spoon.
Rhys headed into to the kitchen area and put the white wine he’d bought in the fridge. He slurped the tomato-y sauce off the spoon. “Mmm, perfect,” he said, kissing her hard on the lips.
“Rhys Aubrey,” she murmured against his lips. “If you don’t stop kissing me, no one will have any food tonight.”
“I don’t care,” he said, taking the spoon from her and placing it on the side. “I really don’t.”
Lila smiled against his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck.
After a few moments of his tongue massaging hers gently, Rhys pulled back.
“Thank you,” he said, suddenly looking very serious.
“What for?”
“For letting me into your life, for letting me live here with you, in what will be a cosy, messy, beautiful house.”
“It’s ours, Rhys,” she said. “Our house.”
“Our house,” he agreed. “But you decorate it.”
“Oh God, yes. I’m not living in a grey box with an uncomfortable sofa. But I did let you have all your dusty books, and a filing cabinet.”
“But you’ve decorated the filing cabinet.”
“I have Lila-fied it.”
“And I love it,” he said, kissing her again.
They were interrupted by the doorbell.
“That’ll be Jas and Dan. Maddy and Ruby are going to be late. Unless it’s Elin and James?”
“No, they won’t be early either,” he said. “I don’t care who it is. They can wait.”
He kissed her again.