Page 83 of The Loves We Lost

He grins and takes my hand. “If you don’t like the car idea, you might not like what I’ve done inside.”

King and Halo approach a truck on the driveway that seems to hold outdoor furniture.

“You’re not looking quite so pretty right now,” Halo says with a grin.

“You should see the other guy,” Miles replies, even though I know he had little time or opportunity to fight back.

“Good to see you back, brother. You doing okay?”

Miles glances down at me with a smile. “Never better.”

When we catch up to Avery, who is telling Niro about the red car we are definitely not getting, he laughs.

“We might have a surprise upstairs for you,” he says. “You want to come check it out?”

“Oh, is it a puppy?” Avery asks.

I give Miles a swift glance, but he shakes his head subtly.

“Wait and see,” Niro says, taking her upstairs.

“What did you do?” I ask Miles when she is out of hearing range. “It better not be a living thing I have to take care of when we go back home.”

“A.Don’t talk about going home when you only just got here.B.No living things you need to take care of, unless it’s a sibling for Avery. AndC. Will you just take a breath and relax? I wanted the house to feel more like home for you two. So I asked Gwenfor a little help decorating my house. She came up with the design. Everyone pitched in. It’s forty-eight hours of incredible effort by my club to make sure you can settle here.”

As soon as he says that, I can smell the faint tang of paint, even though all the windows and doors are wide open.

“I’m sorry. It looks like you have a lovely home.”

The main floor is very open plan. A large grey sofa dominates the room, but there are two leather armchairs in deep tan on either side of the wide fireplace. A large screen is mounted above it. There’s a wood dining table, but the six chairs around it are still wrapped in plastic.

“You got new chairs for us?”

Miles glances over at where I’m looking. “Two days ago, a bike I was working on was there, situated on a large tarp. But I figured a table would be a great place to chat over food and set a good example for Avery.”

He shrugs at the end of the sentence, almost embarrassed.

I step up on my toes and kiss him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

We greet most of the club as we make our way up the stairs. And when we get to the upper floor, I hear Avery squealing with absolute joy.

In the middle of the room is a large wooden bed with a huge canopy draped over it. It’s a true princess bed.

“I love my bed.” Avery bounces on it, wearing a giant beaming smile. “Momma, look at it.”

“Stop bouncing on it, you lucky girl. You’re going to have the best sleep in it tonight.”

“How much do I owe you?” Miles whispers to Niro.

“You owe me four grand for all of it,” he says with a grin.

“Oh my god, you spent four grand on a bed for her?” I say.

Niro laughs. “You haven’t seen everything yet.”

“I told you,” Miles says, tugging me close. “Let me do this, yeah? Probably cheaper than taking the two of you to Paris.”