Page 31 of Only Ever Yours

Three months later

“Do you want me to do an accent wall here?” I lifted my hands to form a frame and pointed them in the direction of the wall surrounding the fireplace.

Hollis straightened up from where she’d been unpacking boxes in the kitchen area of our new, open-plan apartment. She frowned. “Where did that idea come from?”

I cocked a brow at her. “You know, like the one you wanted in your bedroom back at the old house.”

Confusion clouded her gorgeous features until the lightbulb moment. “How on earth do you remember something like that?”

“I remember anything to do with your bedroom.” I smirked.

She balled up a piece of the newspaper that the mugs had been wrapped in and threw it at me. Deftly, I caught it and threw it back to her, hitting her square in the forehead.

“Ow! Do that again and I’ll have to tell Finn you’re bullying me.” The pout that formed on her lips twitched, and I knew she was joking. “And anyway, I’m not sure the landlord will want us to decorate. ”

“Thank fuck for that because I’m still shit at wallpapering.” I moved across the living room towards Hollis. “Now, what else can we unpack?”

“Um, not a huge amount. We have some serious shopping to do.”

The modest stack of boxes we had brought with us barely held anything to fill the small, recently renovated apartment in a block of flats not far from the old house.

Once Hollis and I had made things official with Finn and our friends, it became clear relatively quickly that living with Finn long-term wasn’t going to work.

When we’d wanted to do couple-y things, we both felt bad that Finn had to go out or go to his room.

Not that we’d ever asked him to; he did voluntarily.

And even though Finn was my oldest and closest friend, I certainly didn’t feel comfortable being around him when inappropriate thoughts about what I wanted to do to his sister crept into my mind.

We’d sat down with him again and agreed the best thing for us to do was find our own place.

Hollis had initially had second thoughts about leaving the family home again, but once we’d found this place, knowing how close it was to Finn, she’d been fine.

The only problem was that we’d moved in pretty quickly and, for once, for Hollis, with very little forethought or planning. Which was why we currently had a couple of deckchairs and a box as our living room furniture.

“What do you think about a couple of recliners there?” I pointed to a space that faced the wall we’d likely put a television on.

Hollis put her hands on her hips and glared at me. “Recliners?”

“You know, the ones that when they go back, you can put your feet up. ”

“I know what a recliner is, thank you. And we are not having them in our house. I’ve seen a really comfy big sofa.”

“Big enough to…you know…” I winked at her.

“You’re incorrigible.” The corners of her mouth tipped up in a smile.

“What? I meant recline .” Catching her around the waist, I pulled her towards me and placed a kiss on her lips, the fact that I didn’t have to hide it any longer making it all the more enjoyable.

“Whatever you want, Princess. Although I’m not sure we’ll get it in time for the housewarming party tomorrow. ”

Hollis drew back, looking up at me. “That’s why I told everyone to bring their own chairs.”

I thought she had been joking, but when I answered the door to Finn the following evening, he had a blow-up beach chair under his arm.

“Found it under the stairs. No idea if it will inflate, but I thought we could have fun trying.” Finn shoved another bag towards me. “Plus, some food for tonight. Hollis messaged me earlier to pick up a few bits she’d forgotten.”

I glanced over to the counter where Hollis had spread out all the food we had already bought: pizzas, salads, and other picnic snacks. “Remind me how many people are coming?” I called to her where she was fussing with arranging paper plates and cups.

She stuck her tongue out at me as she came over to take the bag from Finn. “Thank you, much appreciated.” She nudged me with her shoulder. “You’ll enjoy the leftovers.”

Ushering Finn into the living room, I watched him look around.

“This is a nice place, you two,” he said. “Perfect for starting out.”

“I am sorry to leave you on your own in the house.” Hollis started plating up the snacks Finn had brought. “But it was the right thing to do.”

Finn grinned. “It means I can sit on the sofa in my boxers and not have to worry about anyone.”

“You did that anyway before Hollis came back. In fact, we both did.”

“Ugh, enough. I love the idea of one of you in your boxers, but I cannot think of my brother like that.” She pulled a face as the buzzer went again.

I went over to the intercom. “Hello, Dillon residence, how can I help?”

“Sutton and Dillon residence, if you don’t mind.” Hollis’s comment was loud enough for the others to hear as they waited for me to let them in.

“I don’t care whose house it is, just let me in; I’m desperate for a wee.” Ella’s voice came through the intercom, and I laughed, pressing the button to let her in.

It wasn’t long before everyone had arrived: Finn, Ella, Barney, Lenora, and Liam. We sat around, lounging on either the deckchairs, some beach chairs, or the cushions Ella had bought us as a housewarming present.

“I can’t believe you two are living together,” mused Ella, as she sipped her wine from a plastic glass. “It’s like you’re proper grown-ups now, not just in a house share any longer.”

“At least, you’re not the sad, lonely bloke with no girlfriend.” Liam stared into his beer. “Everyone around me is loved up.”

“Er, I don’t think so.”

“There’s nothing going on between me and Finn.”

Finn and Ella spoke at the same time, the speed of their denial evoking questions in me.

I knew from speaking to Hollis that Ella had had thoughts about maybe wanting to get back with Finn, and he had admitted the same to me—although we had been drinking when he told me.

But I didn’t think anything had actually happened between them.

Liam laughed. “Didn’t actually mean the two of you together; I know Ella’s still having her toy-boy moment.” He waved his beer in Finn’s direction. “And you copped off with that Jenna bird last week.”

I didn’t miss the way Ella’s eyes narrowed at Liam’s statement. Maybe there was more to it than they had told us.

Finn coughed and changed the subject. “Anyway, we have news.” He looked over at Hollis, who nodded.

“You’ve only just moved out; you can’t be moving back in,” Barney said.

“You’ve put the house on the market,” suggested Lenora.

“Hollis is pregnant,” announced Liam.

I shook my head and let out an exasperated breath. “Don’t you think that would be my news to share, not Finn’s?”

“Oh…yeah.”

“Lenora’s actually the closest,” said Hollis. “We definitely won’t be selling the house, though. There are so many memories; we could never do it. But it is property-related.”

This came as news to me. When Hollis and I had started looking for a place, we knew we couldn’t afford to buy anything and had decided to rent. She had used some of her savings for the deposit, so we could move quickly, but that was as far as it went.

“Hollis and I have bought a house. Well, a project really. It’s one of the old places on Market Mews.

Needs a full internal renovation, which we’d be grateful for your help with—paid, of course.

” He nodded in Liam’s direction. “ Then we’ll either rent it out or sell it, depending on what would make us the most money. ”

Ella pursed her lips. “Oh, another business you can put all your time and energy into instead of having a relationship.” She had spoken quietly, but I could hear the disappointment in her tone.

I glanced between the pair of them. “A joint Sutton venture this time. Sounds like a lot of work, though.”

Hollis came over to me and sat on my lap, careful not to overload the flimsy deckchair. “But will you do an accent wall?” She wound her arms around my neck and leaned in to meet my lips with hers.

“For you, Princess, anything,” I murmured against her, “always.”