Change of Plans

Brody let me drive myself to work on Friday, but only after I assured him I had no plans to stop at my house.  Really, I didn't have any plans to do anything but go to work, then go back to Brody's house.  This week had worn me out, and I had to work on Saturday.  So I went to work, worked, and went back to Brody's house, just like I'd planned.

I knew Brody would be at work late, so I made myself a quick dinner and then settled on the couch.  I'd just gotten into the book I was reading when my phone rang.  I was surprised to see it was James.  I was a little nervous about him calling, but decided to answer.  "Hello?"

"Liv, hi," he answered.  He didn't waste time on pleasantries, and said, "What's going on with Cassie?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied, confused.  "You probably know more than I do."

"All I know is that she said what she said to you last Saturday, then Brody fired her this week, and I haven't talked to her since--"

"Whoa, hold on!" I interrupted.  "Brody most certainly did not not fire her.  She quit."

James was quiet for several seconds and then said, "Well, that's not what she told me."

"Then she lied to you," I said bluntly.

James chuckled.  "That honestly wouldn't surprise me."  That wasn't the response I was expecting, and I didn't reply.  James continued, "Have you talked to her?"

I told him about our conversation on Monday, then our brief exchange on Wednesday.  Then he asked, "So what kind of information do you think she has?"

I snorted derisively.  Frankly, this whole situation was starting to seriously annoy me.  "You tell me, Mr. PI."

"Liv, I don't know anything.  I'm actually a little insulted because I'm pretty sure you're insinuating that I've been out trying to dig up dirt on your boyfriend.  Brody doesn't strike me as the shady business type, but on the off chance he was, I wouldn't want that on my hands.  This has nothing to do with me and I'm staying out of it.  I'm just worried about Cassie."

"I don't know what to tell you," I said, my tone softer now.   "All I know is that this whole thing is irritating the shit out of me."

"I don't blame you," James replied.

I paused, then said, "So you don't know anything about where she's getting this?"  I don't know why I asked.  I didn't quite believe that he'd tell me if he did know something.  He had a lot more reason to be loyal to Cassie than to me.  And I didn't believe for a second that Brody was up to anything he shouldn't be...but I also didn't believe that Cassie was completely crazy.

"Sorry, Liv.  I really don't know anything.  I'm just as confused as you are."

I sighed, then said, "Want me to let you know if I hear from her?"

"Could you?"

"Definitely."  He thanked me and we hung up.  I wished I hadn't answered.  I had managed to pretend that none of this craziness had happened for most of the day, and now I was frustrated all over again.  I picked up my book and managed to distract myself again.

I must have distracted myself exceptionally well, because I woke up to Brody crouched next to the couch, kissing me softly on the cheek.  I didn't remember falling asleep (though who does?) and was a little disoriented.  "It's not that late," he teased me gently.

"What time is it?" I croaked.

"9:30," he replied.  I stretched and sat up, blinking sleepily at him.  He laughed and sat down in the spot that my upper body had recently vacated, and I promptly laid back down, resting my head in his lap.  "Sorry I'm so late," he said, running his fingers through my hair and lightly scratching my scalp.  "I called to let you know, but you didn't answer."

"My phone is...somewhere around here."  I shifted and shoved my hand underneath my body, finally fishing it out.  I saw one missed call, one voicemail, and two texts from Brody.  "Sorry," I said sheepishly.

"It's okay," he said, laughing.  "I just wanted to let you know I'd be late and the texts are asking if you wanted me to pick anything up while I was in town still."

"How was your day, besides long?" I asked, struggling to stay awake long enough to at least have a short conversation with him.

I felt him shrug, then he said, "It was fine.  I promoted one of Cassie's former assistants into her role and got that position posted.  Pete found an auditor and he's coming next week.  I turned down two new clients because I can't take any more right now.  The usual."  I reached for his hand, which was still playing with my hair and massaging my scalp, and linked my fingers with his.  He squeezed gently and we sat in silence for a couple minutes until I yawned.

"I need to go to bed," I groaned.

Brody chuckled.  "Clearly.  I'm not quite ready yet, but I'll come up with you.  I need to change."  I sat up and stretched, then stood and followed Brody up the stairs.   I washed my face and brushed my teeth and got into bed, yawning the whole time.  I was surprised when Brody climbed into bed and snuggled up behind me.  I shifted to press my back to his chest and entwined my fingers with his when he slid an arm around me.

"I thought you weren't ready for bed," I said.

"I'm not," he replied.  "I just want to lay with you for a couple minutes, then I'm going to get up.  I'm going into the office tomorrow, do you want to ride into town together?"

"Do I have a choice?" I joked.  I could practically feel Brody rolling his eyes.  "Yeah, it would be dumb for us both to drive if we're going in at the same time, then looking at houses after."

"That's what I was thinking," he replied.  After cuddling for a few minutes, he got up, kissed me, and headed downstairs.  I fell asleep right away and didn't even wake up when he got back in bed later.

Saturday morning I drove us both into town and dropped Brody off at work before heading to work myself.  The day was uneventful, and when I was done, I picked Brody up and we went to look at houses.

We looked at 5 more houses, and none of them were the one.  Elena made a couple phone calls and then took us to see one more, one that she promised we'd love.  It was a great house; we couldn't find anything to complain about.  But I just wasn't excited about it, and I could tell Brody wasn't either.  Elena looked confused and a little frustrated, but said she'd try to set up some more showings for us in the coming week.  We thanked her and got in my car.

We were quiet the first half of the drive back.  Finally, Brody said, "What didn't you like about the last one?"

"I liked it.  But it just didn't feel like our house.  That sounds stupid, but it's true.  What didn't you like?"

He chuckled.  "I liked it too.  But not as much as I like my house now."

I nodded in agreement.  I was quiet for several seconds and then said, "You know, maybe we should just stay in your house."

"We'll find something sooner or later," he replied.

"I'm sure we will," I agreed.  "But I love your house, and you love your house, and this is already not fun anymore.  And you've got enough going on.  Plus, every time I try to think about how I want to do payments and the title, I just get completely overwhelmed.  I don't want to do this right now.  I want to move into your house."

Brody didn't say anything at first, and I could feel him watching me.  I glanced at him quickly, and he said, "Are you sure?  Or are you just saying that because you're frustrated?"

"I'm not frustrated," I protested.  "Looking at other houses made me realize how much I really love yours.  And with everything that's been going on, I don't feel like adding the stress of house hunting and moving is a good plan.  I think it makes more sense for me to move in with you for now.  Maybe further down the road we can look again, and find something new, together."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his lips twitch into a smile.  "If that's what you want, then that's what we'll do," he said. 

I grinned back and said, "That's what I want." 

I pulled into Brody's driveway and parked as he said, "Well, I'll let Elena know.  And I guess I'll need to make room for your car in the garage, huh?"

"That would be nice," I said with a laugh. 

As we walked inside, Brody flipped on the flight and turned to me with a smile.  "Welcome home," he said.

I snorted.  "You are so lame," I replied, but I couldn't help smiling back at him. 

"I'm hurt," he said dramatically, pretending to be offended, while he pulled me close to him.  He kissed me hard, pulling my hips against his before sliding his fingers underneath my shirt and brushing the tips across the bare skin of my back.  I shivered.  "Was that lame?" he asked, pulling away just enough to look down at me, one eyebrow cocked.

"Only a little bit lame," I teased.

His other eyebrow joined his first, then he kissed me again.  This time his fingers skated up my back to my bra, which he easily unhooked.  One hand stayed on my back, trailing lightly up and down my spine, while he brushed the tips of the other hand's fingers lightly across my breasts.  When he rolled one nipple between his thumb and forefinger, I moaned into our kiss.  Then he pulled away again.  "How about that?  Still lame?"  I shook my head breathlessly.  "Are you sure?  Because I can do better."  He didn't give me a chance to respond, and kissed me again, backing me up towards the wall. 

His hand on my back kept me from hitting the wall, then he moved it away and pressed me firmly back against the wall.  His hands went for my pants, unbuttoning and unzipping them with ease, then pushing them down my legs.  He crouched down and tugged them away while I stepped out of them, then nudged my feet apart with his knee.  He hooked his thumb under my underwear and pulled it to the side, and I gasped and grabbed his hair when his tongue touched me.  His other hand held my hips steady against the wall, which helped my shaking legs support my weight.  After I came, one hand gripping his hair tightly and the other on his shoulder, he stood, quickly got rid of his pants, and in one smooth motion lifted me and thrust into me.  I cried out as he pinned me between the wall and his body, grinding his hips into mine. 

I came again within minutes, and he followed shortly after me.  He kept me pinned to the wall for about 30 seconds while we both caught our breath, then he carefully lowered me back to the floor and made sure I was steady before letting go and taking a step away.  "Dinner?" he asked, grabbing his pants and pulling them on.

I leaned against the wall and just stared at him.  "Uhhh...yeah," I responded dazedly.  Brody grinned and kissed me, then bent down and grabbed my pants.  He handed them to me then disappeared into the kitchen.  Guess he showed me.

Once I had composed myself and pulled my pants back on, I followed Brody into the kitchen.  We made dinner together then sat down to eat.  "So when you do think you want to get moved in?" Brody asked. 

"I don't know, I guess I'll just start packing and moving some stuff over as I do it.  I don't know what I'm going to do with my furniture, it's practically brand new."

Brody nodded and said, "I've been wanting some new stuff for awhile; this all came from Miami with me.  I was thinking we could get rid of most of my stuff, move your stuff in, and then get a few new things together too.  Maybe it will feel a little more like 'our' place then, too.  What do you think?"

I pondered this.  My couch and chairs would work well in his living room, but it was a much bigger space than mine, so we'd definitely need a few more pieces to fill out the space better.  I also loved the idea of merging his house with my furniture and a few things we picked out together, and I was happy that he was trying to think of ways to help me feel like this was my home too.  "I like that idea," I agreed.  "But I do like your bed better than mine, so let's keep that."  Brody agreed, and after we finished eating we made a list of some things we wanted to look for once we got my stuff moved in.

I was surprised to find myself getting excited about this.  It helped confirm that I was making the right choice.  Later, as we were laying in bed, Brody said, "I didn't expect you to be moving in by spring, but I'm really happy you are.  I can't wait for this to be every night." 

"Me neither," I agreed.  "Lauren's worried we'll become hermits."

"It will be tempting to stay in with you every night, but I think we'll actually go out more, since we'll get to see each other more.  Plus, I'm still really hoping that things will settle down soon at work and I'll have more time in general."

"I hope so too," I said. 

He tightened his arm around me and said, "So now that we're not house hunting, how about that vacation we were going to go on?  I don't want to set anything in stone until I see how things are going to shake out at work, but I'm thinking somewhere that we can turn our phones off and lay on the beach and relax."

"That sounds awesome," I said excitedly.  "Why don't you let me plan?  I won't book anything until you let me know when you want to go, and you can just relax and let me figure everything out."

"I love idea," he said, tightening his arm around me.  "I'd love to be able to go by the end of the month, but I'll have a better idea after the auditor does his thing this week." 

"Sounds good, I'll start doing some research tomorrow."  The wheels were already turning in my head, and I was bound and determined to make this an amazing trip for both of us. 

House Hunting

I actually briefly considered backing out of my driveway and just leaving.  I could come home in the morning and get ready for work.  But then I realized that would be silly, so I parked the car and got out.  Cassie stood about 5 feet away, waiting for me.

"Liv, we need to talk," she said, once I had shut my car door.

"I don't really think we do," I replied, shifting to step around her.

She put a hand on my arm, but pulled it away quickly when I glared at her.  "Please," she said softly.  "I think you'll want to hear what I have to say."

"Does it include an apology?" I snapped, starting to walk towards my front door.

"Yes," she replied, trailing behind me.

"Then I'm listening."  I stopped in front of my front door and turned towards her.

She looked at me curiously.  "Can we go inside?"

"No.  You can say whatever it is you need to say, and then we can both move on with our evenings."

She sighed.  "Fine.  I'm really sorry that everything went down the way it did."  I cocked an eyebrow at her.  So far, this was shaping up to be a piss poor apology.  "You weren't supposed to find out that way."

"Find what out that way?" I interjected.  "I didn't find anything out."

She shook her head sadly.  "You weren't supposed to find out about what Brody was doing until I had the proof.  He has you completely fooled.  He has everyone fooled.  I'm actually really impressed...but he truly is doing shady shit.  I'm sorry you found out like this, but better from me than from the FBI, right?"

I gaped at her, then laughed and shook my head.  "Goodnight Cassie."  I turned and unlocked my front door, then slipped in and slammed it shut and locked it behind me.  "What a fucking lunatic," I muttered to myself.

I stomped up the stairs and gathered together clothes and makeup for the next day.  I was really starting to get excited about moving in with Brody.  We'd been spending so many nights together lately, and this back and forth and packing shit was getting old.

I peeked out my front window before I left, but Cassie was nowhere to be found.  I sighed in relief, because I didn't really feel like being accosted by her again, and left.

I made it to Brody's house without further incident.  I quickly filled him in on what happened.  "Maybe you should stay out here for a few days, and Lauren should stay with Alex," he said when I finished.

I made a face.  "I don't think she's going to do anything.  She's not legitimately crazy, she's just got some wild hair up her ass about this."

"Even so, I'd feel better if you called Lauren and let her know, and if you stayed here for a few nights," he replied stubbornly.   "I'll take you home to get some stuff tomorrow after we look at those houses, and you can come back here and stay through the weekend.  Please?"

"Fine," I grumbled.  "But only because you said please."  I pulled out my phone and called Lauren, and Brody took his out too, presumably to freak Alex out by taking this all way too seriously.  I filled Lauren in and she agreed that Brody was overreacting, but then said that Brody had just texted Alex about it and now Alex was also insisting that she stay with him for a few nights.  We commiserated passive-aggressively about our overprotective boyfriends for a bit, then hung up. 

I refused to talk about the subject for the rest of the night, and Brody obliged me.  I wasn't trying to be a brat, I just didn't think it was a big of a concern as Brody seemed to be worried about.  By this point it was getting fairly late, and we ended up going to bed not long after I got there anyway.

By now we had our morning routine fairly well choreographed.  I got up and showered first, then Brody showered while I got dressed and dried my hair.  He went downstairs and made coffee and breakfast while I put my makeup on (and I admit that this is my favorite part of spending the night with him.  There's nothing quite as awesome as having breakfast made for you before going to work), then we ate together and left.  Some mornings he had to be to work earlier than me and he had mastered getting ready quietly--sometimess I didn't even wake up until my alarm went off.

He'd been going in early most of this week, so I was expecting him to already be gone by the time I got up on Thursday morning, but he rolled over and groaned when my alarm went off.  "Good morning, beautiful," he said his voice raspy from sleep.

"Good morning," I replied.  "I thought you'd be gone already."

"I thought we could ride in together," he said casually, rolling over again and stretching.

"So Crazy Cassie doesn't get me?" I asked, rolling my eyes and hauling myself out of bed.

"Something like that," he replied.  I shook my head and headed for the bathroom to shower.

When we were eating breakfast, I said, "You know, I could just drive myself into town, and then I could stop at home and get my stuff, then meet you for our appointment with Elena.  Then you don't have to schlep me all over the place."

"I don't mind," he responded.  "I like riding into town with you in the morning."

"Why don't you just say that you'd rather keep a close eye on me to protect me from Cassie?" I asked.

Brody sighed.  "Yes, Liv.  I'm being overprotective.  It's annoying the shit out of you.  I get that.  This situation is a little weird and it's got my hackles up.  I'm sure you're right and I'm overreacting, but the last time I wanted to try to protect you and you didn't let me, you got in a car accident and you could have been seriously injured.  I haven't quite recovered from it, so give me this one, please?"

"Okay," I conceded, finishing the last bite of my toast.  "If it means that much to you, you can drive."

"Thank you," Brody said.

I grabbed our plates and put them in the dishwasher, then finished my coffee.  "Ready?" I asked.  Brody said he was, and we headed out.


You'll all be relieved to know that Cassie didn't show up at my job.  She also wasn't waiting at my house when Brody and I stopped there so I could get clothes for the next few days.  I bit back the bratty impulse to say "told ya so"--I'm clearly maturing.

I was excited to go look at houses, and it helped me forget about my irritation at being chauffeured around the city by my overprotective boyfriend.  We met Elena at the first house, and as we pulled up, Brody frowned.  "Needs a new roof," he said, squinting up at it.  Probably not a good sign if we haven't even parked the car and are already seeing a problem.

Elena got out of her car at the curb and greeted us cheerfully.  "So this one clearly needs a new roof," she said, once we got greetings out of the way. 

"I just said that to Liv," Brody replied.  "It really does."  

Elena nodded and then said, "Also, just so you know, the listing agent is here."  That meant little to me but Brody cocked an eyebrow at her, then shrugged.  Elena led us inside and introduced us to the listing agent.  I soon realized what Brody's face was about.  The listing agent followed us around and didn't give us much space to actually look at the house.  Any time we asked Elena a question, the listing agent jumped in with a rehearsed and insincere sounding answer.  I'm reasonably sure Brody and Elena were both ready to strangle him.

We didn't spend much time there.  On top of the roof needing work, neither of us cared much for the layout.  We followed Elena to the next house, which I liked a lot from the outside and was excited to see the inside.

Elena let us into the house with keys from a lockbox.  I loved the entry way and living room.  When we walked into the kitchen, Brody made a face.  "How old are the appliances?" he asked.

Elena looked down at her notes and then said, "Dishwasher was replaced last year, dryer the year before.  Everything else is original to the house.  House was built in 2002."

"So we'd be replacing everything within a year or two," he responded.  "Hmmm."

As we continued through, I pointed out a spot where the baseboard was pulling away from the wall, and then we quickly found some indicators of poor workmanship on the house.  We left this house a little disappointed because we had liked it otherwise.

"Well, we have three to look at on Saturday," Elena said optimistically.  "These were just the first two."

We said goodbye and got in Brody's SUV. My irritation at him for insisting on driving me into town today had faded, and I was just ready to go back to his house and relax for the evening.  "Should we cook or pick something up?" he asked as he drove away from the house we'd just looked at.

"Pick something up," I replied immediately.

"Good choice," he agreed.  We stopped and grabbed some takeout and then continued on to Brody's house.  His worry about the Cassie situation now had me a little nervous as well, and I was relieved to see everything the way we left it, no Cassie to be found, when we got to Brody's house. 

After we ate, Brody said he had a little work to finish up.  I cleaned up the kitchen a little, washing the dishes from that morning and sweeping, then grabbed my Kindle and laid on the couch to read for a little bit.  Brody emerged from his office about an hour later.  He moved my feet, sat, then set my feet down in his lap.  He began massaging one of my feet and said, "What did you think about the houses today?"

"I liked the second one, but didn't like that it didn't seem made very well.  But I really liked that it had a fireplace and I thought the master bedroom and bathroom were perfect for us.  I really liked the kitchen too.  The first one sucked."

"I agree," he replied, picking up my other foot.  "I just want to make sure to give Elena some detailed feedback so she knows what to look for."

"I know it was just the first two," I said, "but I'm really hoping that we have a little better luck on Saturday.  It's a little discouraging to see two disappointing houses right away."

"Yeah," he agreed.  "I'm biased, because this house was the third one I looked at, and I know that's not normal, so I'm trying to remind myself that it's not likely to be that easy this time around.  We'll find something though."  He grinned at me and slid his hands up my calves as he shifted on the couch and moved up to kiss me.  "Let's forget about that for now."

"Hmm, okay.  What would you like to do instead?" I asked, teasingly.

He kissed my cheek.  "I have a couple potential things in mind."  He kissed my other cheek.  "I could go back to doing work."  He kissed my lips.  "And you could go back to reading."  I could feel his breath on my jaw as he moved so he could press his lips to my neck.  He started at the base of my neck and kissed his way all the way to my ear.  He tugged on my earlobe with his teeth and then said softly, "Or we could go upstairs..."

That was an easy choice.

A Real Pair

Oh, hey there, Bonus Post! Just because I had a lot of time to write this week :)  The next post will be on Thursday.  I hope I'm not driving you guys nuts with bumping around my posting schedule, but I think it's better a little more spread out when I'm posting more than just twice a week.  Enjoy!
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I didn't sleep well Monday night.  I had decided that Brody needed to know that at least one of his employees had some interesting ideas about what he was really doing in his office.  We had plans to go out to dinner Tuesday and spend the night at his house.  I hoped I could keep my thoughts to myself at least long enough for us to have a nice dinner together.

"Elena called me today," Brody said as we waited for our drinks to come.  "She set up a couple showings for Thursday, and a couple for Saturday afternoon."

"She certainly doesn't waste time," I said.  

"You can't--not with the way real estate moves here."  Who knew?  I yawned then, and Brody smiled sympathetically.  "Now you're not sleeping?  We're a real pair, huh?"

"Something like that," I replied, returning his smile.  We made it through dinner.  I was a little quieter than usual, but I think Brody attributed it to my sleepiness, and he didn't say anything.

When we got to his house, he took my bag from me and brought it upstairs.  I trailed after him, nervous.  He set my bag on his bedroom floor, out of the way, then turned and slid his hands around my waist.  "Wait," I said, taking a half step away.  He gave me a strange look, but waited.  I walked over and sat on the bed and motioned for him to do the same.  He sat and looked at me, worried.  "There's something I need to tell you," I said.  Now he looked nervous, and I couldn't blame him.  Positive conversations didn't start out that way.  "It's about work.  Yours.  I mean..." I stumbled over my words.

Brody looked a little less nervous and he took my hand.  "Spit it out, Liv.  It's okay."

I opened my mouth and the speech I'd rehearsed in my head went completely out the window as the words tumbled out.  "Cassie wasn't implying that you were cheating on me, she was implying that you're doing something shady.  With your business.  She said that she wasn't saying anything that anyone else hasn't already said.  She said that she doesn't believe that you didn't know anything about your dad's...stuff, and according to her, she's not the only one."  I stopped and took a deep breath, anxiously watching his face.

His face didn't move.  It was like he was wearing a mask.  I waited for him to say something.  Finally, he took a breath and nodded.  "I'm not shocked," he said calmly.  "I should say, I'm not shocked that someone is saying that.  I'm a little surprised that someone is Cassie.  There were a few rumblings about it when the news first hit, and I thought I had put a stop to it.  Thanks for letting me know.  I'll take care of it."  His voice was cold and detached, a weird overly calm I'd never seen.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly.

"No."  His answer was quick, brief.  Still calm, but abrupt.  A couple beats of silence, then, "I'm fucking pissed."  His tone and his face didn't match his words, and I didn't quite know what he needed from me.  He stood abruptly and walked to his closet.  Without a word he pulled off his work clothes and put on a t-shirt and shorts.  He walked over to me and kissed me on the forehead.  "I'm sorry, can you give me like...20 minutes?"

"Yeah, of course," I replied.  And then he was gone.  I listened to his footsteps go down the hall, down the steps, and then down again, and then I couldn't hear them anymore.  I sat on his bed, completely perplexed.  Then the sounds of hard rock music came drifting up to me, and I stood and walked into the bathroom.  Might as well change and wash my face, I guess.

When I heard the music stop, I made my way tentatively down first one flight of stairs, then the next.  I'd spent very little time on the lower level of Brody's house.  I went in the direction I thought I'd heard the music coming from.  There was a room at the end of the hall, and the door hung slightly open.  I knocked gently on it.

"Come on in," Brody said.  I pushed the door open.  He sitting on the floor, slumped against the wall behind a punching bag, unwinding his handwraps while mindlessly staring into space.  His eyes turned towards me as I walked in, and he smiled weakly.

"Do you just keep one of these everywhere you spend any time?  Is there one somewhere in your office?  Have you hidden one in my house too?" I teased him gently.

His smile got a little brighter.  "There is one in my office, actually.  I mean, not in my office, but there's a little gym area in our suite.  Some free weights, a treadmill, a bike, a heavy bag.  Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.  I haven't managed to sneak one into your house yet."

I sat down next to him and pulled my knees to my chest.  "Feeling better?" I asked.

"For now," he replied.  He pushed his sweaty hair back and said, "I'm starting to think it just won't ever stop."

"What won't?" I asked curiously.

"Life," he said, with a bitter snort.  "It's one thing after another.  First my dad storming in here, then disappearing, then his 'scandal', and his death, and now this.  I just want it to stop for a little bit sso I can catch up.  I thought I already handled this stupid rumor that I was in on what he was doing.  I just need a break.  I need a vacation.  No one tells you that you don't ever get a break when you start your own business.  You think 'Oh, I'll be the boss and I can work whenever I want and be off whenever I want!'  I was never stupid enough to think that, but I didn't realize how draining it would be to never be able to truly unplug from work.  When life happens, you just have to keep working, the same as you always would."

"It's exhausting," I suggested.

"It is," he agreed. "Sorry for being weird earlier.  I wasn't surprised by what you told me, but I really did think that I had dealt with it, and I'm just so mad that it's come back up.  Especially coming from Cassie."

"I'm sorry," I said miserably.  "I feel terrible since I'm the one that suggested you hire her.  I had no idea she'd end up doing this."

He turned to me.  "Liv, don't feel bad, you didn't know.  She was--and actually still is, minus this--a really hard working employee and it's been good for me to have her.  I don't think either of us could have predicted this.  But you need to know that I'm going to have to put a stop to this, and that might mean firing Cassie."

I nodded.  "I figured.  Do what you have to do, she's clearly not a friend if she's going to try to damage our relationship and your business." 

Brody leaned over and kissed me.  When he started to pull away, I slid my hand behind his neck and pulled him back.  "I'm all sweaty," he protested.

"So?" I replied, shifting to straddle his legs and tugging off his shirt.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around my legs, then stood easily.  "Come shower with me," he suggested, gently lowering me to the ground.

"Fine," I agreed, turning and walking out of the room and towards the stairs.

We stayed in the shower until the water turned lukewarm, then hurriedly dried off and moved to his bed.  We laid tangled together in comfortable, sleepy silence for several minutes before getting ready for bed.  Once we were settled I said, "You know, maybe we shouldn't look for houses right now.  I don't want to add any unnecessary stress to your plate."

"I want to look, though," he insisted.  "We'll just look and see what's out there.  We don't need to buy anything right now, and I like looking at houses."

I rolled my eyes in the dark.  "Okay, we'll look, but if it gets too stressful--"

"If it gets too stressful," he interrupted, "then we'll take a break."

"You're such a pain," I grumbled.  "I'm just trying to make your life easier."

He laughed softly.  "I know you are.  Thank you.  And thank you for telling me about Cassie.  Now shut up and go to sleep."

I kicked him lightly and laughed, then settled into a more comfortable position and tried to go to sleep.  But my thoughts kept drifting back to Cassie, and I was worried about what was going to happen.  I finally drifted off, long after Brody's deep, rhythmic breathing told me he was asleep.  I was surprised he had fallen asleep so easily.  He must have worn himself out earlier.

I was antsy all day Wednesday, wondering how things were going at work for Brody.  My phone was uncharacteristically silent.  I usually got a couple random texts from him throughout the day.  I finally got a text from him around 4 asking if I wanted to have dinner.  I said yes and waited for more info, but after confirming a time, it was back to radio silence.

I made it through the last two hours of work and went home to change and touch up my makeup before I left to meet Brody at the restaurant.  Once I was there, I waited for him for nearly 15 minutes.  When he finally arrived, he apologized right away for being late.  I kissed him and waited impatiently for his update.  He looked worn out--not exactly tired, just a little drawn and stressed.

"Well?" I said once we were seated.  "How'd it go?"

He looked as though he was considering how to answer.  Finally he said, "Okay, I think.  I talked to Cassie first.  She ended up quitting.  Just walked out.  All I did was say that I heard she had some concerns about the business, and she told me that she was done, effective immediately, and left."

"Wow," I said.  "Well, at least you didn't have to fire her?"

"Exactly," he agreed.  "Then I addressed in a meeting.  A couple people actually brought up some questions and concerns, which was helpful.  I'd rather they just ask so we can address it than gossip about it behind closed doors.  So we had a pretty good conversation about it, which was mostly positive.  No one outright accused anyone of anything, which was helpful.  I think I'm going to bring in an outside auditor just to really set everyone's minds at ease.  The biggest concern that was brought up didn't even have anything to do with me, but more for what was potentially happening with our accounts while they were still being handled through my dad's office, which makes perfect sense.  I've been over everything and didn't find anything concerning, but I think having it evaluated by someone objective will help ease people's nerves."

"That sounds like a really good plan," I said.  "Do you feel any better?"

He shrugged.  "I still badly need a vacation, and I'm worried that people will still find shit to gossip about, but I guess no matter what I do I can't change that.  I'll have Pete be the one that deals with the auditor so I don't have anything to do with it, and hopefully that will help.  And now I need to find a new HR person.  But overall, things went well today and that does help."

"Can I do anything?" I asked.

He smiled at me.  "No, but I'm looking forward to looking at some houses tomorrow.  I know it's crazy, but I love looking at houses." 

"Just a little crazy," I teased him.  "Do you want to spend the night tonight?"

He made a face.  "I do, but I'd also rather avoid the possibility of running into Cassie tonight."

"Ooh, yeah, good call," I replied. 

"I'll stay tomorrow though," he offered.  "And if you want to stay with me tonight, I'd love that, but I get it if you don't." 

"I want to," I replied.  "I just have to run home and get stuff for tomorrow."  We finished our dinner leisurely and then went our separate ways--Brody to his house, and me to mine to get my stuff before I headed out to his.

As I pulled up to my house, I saw someone walking away from it.  The person stopped and turned, and as they walked towards my driveway, I realized it was Cassie. 

Should I Tell Him?

By the time Brody got back, our get-together was winding down, and I'd had more than enough time to over-analyze what Cassie had said.  Logically, I knew that Brody spent so much time at work because he had a ridiculous amount of work to do--that happens when you own a business.  But at the same time, Cassie worked there too.  I wasn't sure what she was getting at, but it was enough to make me a little nervous.

By the time everyone had left (including Lauren, who was heading to Alex's house), I just wanted to go to bed.  I started putting things away but was stopped by Brody's hands on my hips and his lips on the back of my neck.  I pulled away and continued cleaning up.

"Playing hard to get?" he asked teasingly.

I shook my head.  "I'm just really tired," I answered. 

"Okay," he responded with a shrug.  He helped me finish cleaning up and then followed me upstairs. 

After I emerged from the bathroom and climbed into bed, I expected him to go into the bathroom, but he sat down on the bed next to me.  "Are you angry that I left?" he asked cautiously. 

I sat up.  "No," I said sincerely, because I really wasn't.  "I'm not.  I'm really just tired.  I...didn't sleep well last night."  I knew I wasn't being honest with my feelings, but since I logically knew that I was letting Cassie get under my skin in an unreasonable way, I didn't want to say anything and sound like the crazy, paranoid girlfriend.  I hoped I'd feel better in the morning and could pretend none of it happened.

In the dim light of the lamp next to the bed, I could tell from his face that he didn't quite believe me.  He pushed a piece of hair back away from my face, and the gesture made unbidden tears spring to my eyes.  I blinked them back furiously and bit my lip.  "Liv," he said softly, cocking his head.  I will never be an actress, that's for sure.

I took a deep, shaky breath and said, "Okay, I know that this is stupid, and you need to know I don't believe it.  But after you left, Cassie asked if I ever wondered what you did when you were supposed to be working."  His lips formed a hard line, and I barreled on.  "For some reason, I let it get to me, but I know that when you're at work, you're working.  And I've never thought you were doing anything else, except maybe sometimes playing stupid games on the internet, because who doesn't do that at work sometimes?"  My rambling stopped abruptly, and I looked at him. 

He was quiet for several seconds.  I waited silently.  Finally, he said, "If you don't believe it, then why are you so upset?" His tone wasn't accusatory, it was curious. 

I shrugged.  "I don't know.  I just let the things that people say get to me sometimes.  That's why I didn't want to say anything.  I figured I'd probably feel better in the morning."

He pushed his hand through his hair and sighed.  "I'm going to get ready for bed, okay?" he asked.  It seemed like an abrupt end to the conversation and I looked at him with concern.  "I just need a second to collect my thoughts," he clarified, seeing my look.  I nodded and he got up and walked into the bathroom.  I laid back down and wished that I had been able to just let it go.

When he returned a few minutes later, he laid down next to me and pulled me to him.  I curled up against his chest and waited for him to say something.  "Look," he said finally, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little irritated about all this.  Not at you, but I'm not sure where Cassie gets off sticking her nose into our relationship.  I wish I had time to fuck around when I was supposed to be 'at work'.  Not because I would, but because that would mean I could spend more time with you, and with my seriously neglected friends.  And just because she wants to sleep with two guys at the same time doesn't mean that's what I want to do." 

"I know," I replied.

"Do you?" he asked, and it came out not quite harshly, but not as kindly as his earlier question.

"If I thought you were out fucking other girls, do you think we'd even be having this conversation?" I snapped, rolling away from him and laying on my back. 

"Well it seems like you think something," he responded flatly.

"I don't know what to think," I said, struggling to keep my voice controlled.  "I think we've both come a long way in balancing your job with our relationship.  You've done an amazing job at making changes to benefit me and our relationship, and I appreciate that more than I tell you.  I hope you're finding me more reasonable about it too."

"I am," he agreed.  "And we have."  His voice was back to normal, kind and calm. 

I struggled to get mine to match, feeling like a petulant child and frustrated because I couldn't explain where my anger was coming from.  "But other people don't see the work you've put in to making it better, and I get a little tired of constantly defending your actions to them.  They don't really get it, and they don't care when I explain it.  So yes, every once in awhile, when someone suggests that maybe your behavior is less than ideal, it gets under my skin and into my head and makes me unhappy.  I'm sorry if you felt like I was accusing you of cheating on me, because I wasn't.  I'm just struggling to explain what's really going on in my head right now."

"I get the same shit from people.  I get it from my mom and my sister, I get it from Alex.  I used to get it from you, but luckily I don't anymore.  I get tired of defending myself too.  I get it."  He rolled onto his side and slid his hand across my hips, pulling me closer to him once again.  "I promise that I get it, Liv.  And I appreciate you defending me.  Some day, I want to be able to spend a normal amount of time at work.  I want a family, and I want to be there for them, with them.  I need to work my ass off now so that can happen.  If people don't understand...well, fuck them.  I had to learn a long time ago not to care what people thought of my work hours.  It wasn't easy, but if you keep letting them get into your head, you're going to go crazy.  All that matters is that you and I are on the same page."

"We are," I said softly.

"I know," Brody replied.  I rolled to face him and wrapped my arms around him.  I snaked one leg through his as I pressed my face into his chest.   

"Why is this so easy for you?" I asked him suddenly.

"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.

I pushed myself up on elbow.  "Everything.  Moving in together, buying a new house, shrugging off what judgmental bitches say.  All of it.  You don't even bat an eye.  I feel like a child because you're perfectly self-assured about it all, and I'm flailing around like a crazy person just trying to wrap my head around it all."

He chuckled softly and replied, "I'm not sure.  I guess at this point I just know what I want and what I need to do to get it.  Not to say that you don't, but I've made more than my fair share of mistakes, so I've had plenty of time to realize what I don't want.  I think you're a little smarter than me and haven't made quite as many mistakes as I have, so you're still feeling things out a little." 

"It's about time you admit that I'm smarter than you," I teased him, relaxing back against him. We settled into a comfortable position and I fell asleep quickly.

On Sunday I dragged Brody to the gym with me, then we went out for brunch.  We made all the way until we were done eating before his phone rang.  He excused himself to take the call but was only gone a couple minutes. 

"Do you have to go into the office?" I asked.

"Nope, just a quick call and a little time on the computer when we get back to your house," he said, smiling.  I let him work while I did a little cleaning.  I was still feeling restless that afternoon, so we went out into the gorgeous spring sunshine and wandered around my neighborhood.   After that, we sat and looked at some online house listings to pick out a few we liked to guide our realtor.  Lauren had decided she wanted to stay here, so she had signed a new lease for June.  I'd stay as long as it took us to find a place, and then it would be all hers. 

After our conversation last night, I was feeling much better about everything, albeit still a little irritated at Cassie.  She had never been anything but blunt, but she'd never quite crossed the line before. I decided if she brought it up again, I'd call her out.

Monday after work, I picked Brody up at his office.  We were going to meet with the realtor, Elena, then Brody was going back to work and I was going home to spend the evening with Lauren.   Elena was gorgeous, but perfectly professional.  We showed her a couple of the houses we liked, told her what we were looking for, and then she explained the options for whose name would be on the title, etc.  Brody was right: it was far less overwhelming hearing them from her than him.  Elena said she had some listings in mind already, and would make some appointments for showings and call us.  We were in and out in 45 minutes, which seemed way too quick and easy considering that we were going to be buying a house.

Lauren was already home when I got home, and I was surprised to see Cassie sitting in the living room with her.  I wasn't really ready to hang out with her.  "Hi," she said brightly.

"Hi," I replied warily. 

"You're pissed at me," she observed.  I nodded.  "I get it.  I was out of line, I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have suggested that Brody was up to anything shady with his business."

"Wait...what?" I asked, confused.  "I thought you were saying he was cheating on me."

Her eyes opened wide in surprise.  "Ummmm..."  She stopped, and shook her head.

"Let me get this straight," I said, suddenly furious.  "You were implying that Brody is...what?  Dealing drugs out of his office?  Taking a little off the top?  Making illegal investments?  Something else equally unwholesome?" 

Lauren looked like she was trying to disappear into the sofa.  Cassie's face turned pink.  "I wasn't saying anything that other people haven't already been saying," she snapped.  "Wake up, Liv.  His dad was doing it.  He was part of that business for years.  Do you really believe that he had nothing to do with it?  Come on.  Don't you wonder where all his money comes from?"

"No!" I exploded.  "I don't fucking wonder where all his money comes from!  I know where it comes from.  It comes from working his ass off.  How fucking dare you accuse him of running a shady business."

She looked at me with pity.  "Liv, I feel sorry for you," she said.  "You're so naive.  I work there, remember?  Don't you think I have a better idea of what's going on than you do?"

"Get out," I growled.  "I'm done with this conversation."

She shrugged and stood.  "Okay.  If you want to bury your head in the sand, that's fine.  But if you change your mind and want to talk about it, you know where to find me." She walked out, pulling the door shut hard behind her. 

Still standing in the middle of the living room, I turned to Lauren.  "Can you believe her?" I asked.  I flopped heavily onto the chair closest to me. 

"Do you need me to be your friend, or to be logical?" she asked carefully. 

I looked up at her sharply.  "Can you be both?" I asked.

"I'll try," she replied.  She was quiet for several seconds, then said, "I don't think that Brody is doing anything shady.  You said he was absolutely devastated and shocked when he found out what his dad was doing, and I believe that.  But I'm worried about why she's saying that, and who else might be saying similar things." 

I nodded.  "I agree.  I don't believe for one second that he's doing anything shady.  You should have seen him after he found out about his dad.  He was a mess.  But I agree that there must be some reason that people are saying stuff, if they really are, and that could have a really negative impact on his business.  Do you think I should tell him?" Brody's voice echoed in my head, reminding me not to let other people get into my head, but this felt different. 

"If people are really saying those things, do you think he might already know?" Lauren asked.

"He hasn't said anything," I replied.  "But maybe?"

"I could see it going a couple different ways.  I'm worried it will just piss him off and it won't be productive.  But if you think he needs to know, then you should tell him."

"That's not helpful," I moaned miserably.  We were both silent for a few minutes, then I said, "I think I need to tell him."

________________________________________

What do you think?  Should she tell him?  Do you think he's up to something?






 

What Are You Suggesting?

"You'll never guess what just happened!" Lauren exclaimed, throwing herself dramatically into a chair.  I raised my eyebrows curiously, because "dramatic" (which had never been her style) has been more and more normal since she started dating Alex, so I assumed it had something to do with him.  She looked at me expectantly, and I realized she was actually waiting for me to guess.

"If I'll never guess, you should probably just tell me," I replied.  It was Monday evening, and Lauren had just gotten home from work.  I had ordered pizza (two nights in a row, what's better?) in anticipation for our roommate night, and Lauren had been in charge of getting the wine, but I didn't see any.

She rolled her eyes at my refusal to play along and said, "I'm pretty sure Alex just almost said 'I love you' to me."

I cocked my head.  "You're...pretty sure that Alex just almost told you he loved you?"  She nodded furiously.  "And this is a bad thing?"  I couldn't quite tell.

"Of course it's a bad thing!" she exploded.  "What good can come of it?  You know what happens after people say they love each other!"

"They kiss?"

She narrowed her eyes at me.  "You're impossible.  I don't do this shit to you when you're being dramatic.  Do I?"

"You do, actually," I confirmed.

"Oh."  She looked puzzled and was silent for a moment, then she said, "Well you should have told me how fucking annoying it is.  Because it's annoying."

"It is!" I agreed.  "So I won't do it anymore if you won't.  Do you love him?"

She blinked at me, and she didn't say anything for a long time.  I was becoming mildly concerned that perhaps she was having an absent seizure when she finally said, "I don't know."

"Well, then I can see why you're worried about it," I said.

"Right!  Because what do I say if he does?" she asked.

I shrugged.  She glared.  "I'm sorry!" I said.  "I have no idea.  I wouldn't know what to say either.  I'd probably say it back or change the subject, but I'm not sure either of those is a good idea.  And don't say 'thank you'."

"Wow, thanks for all your help," she snapped, rolling her eyes.  "I forgot the wine in my car."  She stood and stomped out of the house, and I stifled a laugh.  Lauren had thought my boy problems were ridiculous for so long, it was nice to see that she wasn't immune to it!

When she returned with two bottles of wine in her hands, she looked much less annoyed.  She also didn't want to talk about Alex maybe almost saying he loved her. "Let's talk about everyone hanging out this weekend," she suggested instead.

"Good idea.  Do we want to go out?"

"I'm in the mood for Cards Against Humanity," Lauren declared.   We made some plans, deciding to have people over to our house on Saturday.  The pizza guy came while we were sending texts out letting people know.  After we invited everyone, we settled onto the couch with our wine, pizza, and Real Housewives.

"You know," Lauren mused, as I poured the last of a bottle of wine into her glass, "I'm pretty sure I actually see less of you now than I did when I wasn't living with you."

"I think that's true," I agreed.  "I think it's because we haven't been doing as many things together as a group now that everyone is coupled up."  When I had moved here, the only people in this group that were attached to anyone were Kendra and Christian.  Now we all were.  It was kind of crazy to think about. 

We briefly debated opening another bottle of wine, but decided against it.  We just talked, with the TV on in the background.  We could always find something to talk about, and that's what I loved most about us.

I was washing the wine glasses before I went up to bed when my phone rang.  Lauren brought it in from the living room and said, "It's Brody." 

"Can you answer it?" I asked, putting the second glass in the drainer to dry and grabbing a towel for my hands.  Lauren chatted with Brody while I finished drying my hands, then she handed the phone to me.  "Hello?"

"Something weird happened," he started.  That made me nervous right away. 

"What?" I asked anxiously.

"Well, it's not that weird.  But I finally went through my mail from when I was in Miami, and I got a sympathy card from Savannah." 

"From Savannah?" I exclaimed.  Lauren looked at me strangely.  "But...how did she even know?"

"That was my question," Brody said. 

"I wonder if Kendra still talks to her?" I asked.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lauren shake her head.  "Okay, Lauren says no.  That's really weird." 

I put my hand over the bottom of the phone and filled Lauren in quickly.  "What the fuck?" she whispered.  "So strange."  I nodded and said goodnight, then walked upstairs, still on the phone.  "Well besides that, how was your day?" I asked.

"Long," he replied.  "I didn't sleep well again, so I'm exhausted."   It was true, he had tossed and turned all night.  We talked for a few more minutes and then hung up so he could try to get some sleep.


The week seemed to take forever, and I didn't see much of Brody.  He was furiously trying to get caught up at work.  He spent the night a couple times but he really just came over, slept, and got up and went to work. 

In fact, he was at the office Saturday afternoon as Lauren and I prepared to have people over.  We decided to go all out, and had put together an entire spread with a taco bar, chips and queso, guac, and salsa, sangria, and tres leches cake. 

Kinsley and Cassie showed up just in time to help us put stuff out.  "Are James and Damien coming?" I asked. 

"James is working, but he said he might stop by later," Cassie replied.  Kinsley said that Damien was having dinner with his family, then heading over.  Kendra and Christian arrived next, then Alex, and finally Brody got there. 

"Hi," he greeted me, kissing me.  "I'm going to go change."  He went upstairs and came back in jeans and a hoodie.  He looked exhausted but still laughed and shoved Alex lightly into the wall when Alex gave him a hard time about not being around much.

Everyone got food and we ate before we pulled out Cards Against Humanity.  We played for nearly two hours.  About an hour and a half into it, Damien showed up.  Shortly after we finished, James knocked. 

I didn't miss the brief glare Brody shot his way before he turned back to the stack of cards he was putting in the box.  I gave him a pointed look and he sighed and said, "I know, I'll be nice."  I nodded and hugged James, directing him to the insane amounts of food that was left.  I stood in the kitchen and we caught up a little, since I hadn't really seen him since he had investigated my grandparents for me. 

"So, have you talked to them since you met them?" he asked curiously.

I nodded.  "I've talked to Nadine a couple of times, and I talked to Sarah once too.  It's still kind of weird, but they're nice people."

Brody had walked up while we were talking and he slid his arm around me.  "Thank you for helping Liv get some more information on them," he said in a friendly tone.  "I know it meant a lot to her."  I smiled at him. 

"I was glad to help," James said warily.  I could tell he wasn't sure what to make of Brody's politeness. 

Brody grinned at him, then turned to me and said, "I got a call.  I need to run in to the office, but it should be quick.  I thought I had everything I needed here, but I forgot some paperwork."

"Okay," I replied.  I  kissed him and he took off.

"He's still doing that shit, huh?" James observed. 

I shook my head.  "He's only on call certain weeks now, so it's way better.  This is his on call week."

"Don't you ever wonder what he spends all that time at the office doing?"  I hadn't noticed Cassie come into the kitchen, but her tone was innocent and curious.

I furrowed my brow.  "No, I don't.  I imagine he's working.  That's generally what people do at the office," I snapped.  James gave her a weird look.

She held up her hands in surrender and said, "Sorry, I'm just saying.  He has a lot of people in and out, sometimes it seems weird." 

"Cassie, what exactly are you suggesting?" James asked.  His tone held a hint of warning in it, and he was giving her a hard look. 

"I'm not suggesting anything!" she protested.  "Just wondering."  With that, she tugged James back into the living room, leaving me alone in the kitchen to continue to wonder what she was suggesting.

This is Really Happening.

I woke up in the middle of the night and realized I was alone in Brody's bed.  I rolled over and clicked the display on my phone, and saw that it was after 2.  After a few minutes, I got up and grabbed the first piece of clothing I found, which happened to be one of Brody's t-shirts.  I pulled it on, decided it covered enough of me for what I needed it for, and wandered downstairs.

I found Brody in his office, sitting behind his desk, staring at his laptop.  He looked up when I walked in.  "Can't sleep," he said ruefully.

"I know the feeling," I replied, frowning.  I walked over to him and leaned against his desk.

His fingers tugged on the hem of his t-shirt, which didn't even reach halfway down my thighs.  "This looks way better on you than on me," he said with a smirk. 

I laughed and shook my head.  "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"About how that shirt looks better on you?" he replied, cocking an eyebrow teasingly.

I rolled my eyes.  "No, about whatever is keeping you from sleeping."  His fingers were still toying with the hem of shirt, and they tightened as he tugged harder, pulling me closer to him.  He pulled me into his lap and I curled up against his chest, waiting.

But he didn't say anything.  His hand ran up and down my leg, from my ankle to my t-shirt covered (barely) hip, and back.  I waited, silently.  His hand moved absently, and then stopped.  He took a deep breath and said, "I don't know.  I guess it's just my dad.  And his business.  And my business.  Nothing new."  I still didn't say anything, but he didn't continue.

"That's a lot of stuff to have on your mind," I replied sympathetically.

"Yeah," he agreed.  His hand went back to moving mindlessly up and down my leg.  Then he said, "But it doesn't have anything to do with you, or you moving in, or looking for a new house, if you were worried about that." 

"I wasn't, but I'm glad to hear that anyway." 

We sat silently there for few minutes, until I yawned and he said, "You should go back to bed.  It's so late." 

"What about you?" I asked gently.

I could feel him shrug.  "I'll come up when I get sleepy enough."  He kissed the top of my head and nudged me gently out of his lap.  I said goodnight (again) and headed back up to bed.  I tossed and turned for awhile, because I was fairly awake now, but managed to fall back asleep eventually (and before Brody came back to bed).

When I woke up again, it was to Brody getting back in bed.  I looked at my phone and saw it was nearly 4:30.  "Sorry," he murmured, "I was trying not to wake you up."  His hand found mine in the dark and I quickly fell back asleep. 

Needless to say, we slept fairly late on Sunday.  We made breakfast together when we finally managed to drag ourselves out of bed, and then Brody went into the office for a couple hours.  I rode into town with him and met Kinsley at the gym.  I hadn't been spending nearly enough time there lately, and it was pretty obvious by about halfway through our workout. 

"I am so ready for tax season to be over," Kinsley complained as she stretched.  I was laying on the floor next to her, trying not to die, and occasionally halfheartedly attempting to stretch something.  "You look like you're going to need someone to carry you out of here," she teased me. 

"Yeah," I agreed.  "I also need to get my ass to the gym a lot more often.  This is embarrassing."

"It's embarrassing for me too," she joked. 

"Shut up," I groaned.  "You're lucky that I don't have enough energy left to throw this disgusting sweaty towel at you."  Kinsley laughed and stood up, reaching a hand down to me.  I let her pull me up and followed her to the locker room. 

I walked home to shower, do a little laundry, and wait for Brody to finish up at the office.  He was going to spend the night at my house, and we were going to order pizza and watch Beauty and the Beast. 

When I got out of the shower and came downstairs, laundry basket in hand, I was surprised to see Lauren on the couch.  "Hey roomie!" I chirped.  I felt much better after my shower. 

She made a face at me.  "Hey yourself.  Don't worry, I'm not staying long.  I'm just finishing up my laundry.  Great minds, apparently." 

"You can stay as long as you want," I replied, rolling my eyes.  "You live here, remember?"  I dropped my laundry basket next to the couch and plopped down next to her.  "What are you up to tonight?"

"Alex and I are having dinner with some coworker of his and his girlfriend.  Hopefully they don't suck."  I laughed at her bluntness.  "We looked at some apartments today.  I hated all of them.  I'm sorry, I'm trying to get out of here so you can have your space back."

"Actually," I said, wanting to take advantage of the opportunity, "I wanted to talk to you about that."

"I really am looking everywhere," she said quickly.

"Laur!  Shut up and listen to me. And I really do mean shut up and listen, because you are going to have a lot to stay, and I want you let me finish first."  She looked at me curiously, but nodded.  I took a deep breath and then said, "Brody and I are going to move in together."  Her eyes widened, but she managed to keep quiet.  "My lease is up in two months.  We're going to look for a house together.  And if you want to stay here, you could take over my lease."

"Okay, so back up.  Because a month ago, you were all 'Ohemgee, never moving in with annnnyoneeee!' and now you guys are, what?  Buying a house together?"

"Maybe," I said with a shrug.  "If we find something."

She studied me for several seconds, then her face broke into a grin.  "You guys are going to get married and have stupidly gorgeous little babies and you're going to end up being a stay at home soccer mom that takes your stupid little dog everywhere in your purse."

"Do you even know me?" I exclaimed.  "Knock it off."

"What's wrong with stay at home soccer moms?" she asked pointedly.

"Not a thing," I replied.  "But I could never do it.  Anyway, can we get back on track here?  You don't have to let me know anything for sure right now, but is staying here something you might want to do?  If you know you don't, let me know, because then I need to give notice that I won't be re-signing my lease."

"I love your place," she replied.  "And it's in my price range, for sure.  The neighborhood is great.  It's a little far from work though...but it's probably worth it.  Let me think on it for a couple days?"

"Definitely, take your time. Maybe let me know the end of this week or next week some time?  Is that long enough?"

Lauren agreed that it was, and then she grinned.   "So, despite the fact that I'll probably never see you again once you move in with him, I'm seriously excited for you."

"You will see me!" I protested.  "I promise."

"Speaking of which, we haven't all done something together in awhile, and we should do that."  I agreed, and then the dryer buzzed.  Lauren got up and disappeared into the laundry room.  She emerged a few minutes later lugging her laundry basket.  "All yours," she said, hauling her laundry upstairs.  I went in and started mine in the washer, coming out just in time for Lauren to come back down. 

"I'm out of here," she said.  "See you tomorrow for roomie night?"  

"Definitely!" I replied.  "I hope Alex's coworker and his girlfriend don't suck!"  Lauren laughed and left.  While I waited for Brody, I cleaned my bathroom and vacuumed.  Lauren had been doing a much better job of keeping things tidy and I appreciated it. 

I had just settled on the couch with my Kindle when my front door opened.  Brody walked in and I jumped up to grab a pizza box out of his hand.  "Decided to pick it up instead of ordering.  I didn't want to wait," he explained.  He kissed me and then pulled his shoes off while I took the pizza into the kitchen.  By the time I had plates and drinks out, he had disappeared upstairs.  He came down a few minutes later in shorts and a t-shirt, and we settled onto the couch with our pizza.

I couldn't get Brody to admit that Beauty and the Beast is a classic love story, but he didn't hate it at least.  And he gamely put up with my off-key singing along with each song. After the movie I filled him in on my chat with Lauren about her taking over my lease.

"I guess we'd better decide what we're looking for and talk to a realtor, huh?" Brody said. 

"I guess so," I replied, smiling. We talked for a little bit about what we each wanted, and what areas we wanted to consider.  We were surprisingly on pretty close to the same page about most things, which was reassuring to me.  Brody sent an email to the realtor he had used for his current house, and we made an appointment to meet with her a week from Monday.  Brody was on call this week, so we didn't want our appointment to be interrupted by his phone, or cancelled if he had to travel. 

We opened up my laptop and looked at some of the online listings to get an idea of what was out there.  "Hmmm, click on that one," Brody said, pointing to one of the listings on the screen. 

"Ummmm," I said, my mouse hovering over a picture of a gorgeous house with a ridiculous price tag.

Brody looked at me expectantly.  "It's...not cheap," I finally managed. 

Brody laughed, but quickly caught himself.  "We should talk budget and financial stuff," he suggested. 

I cringed.  This was the part I had been dreading since we had talked about looking at houses.  I knew that Brody had a lot of money.  I didn't know exactly how much.  I had no idea how much his business brought in, or how much his dad's business brought in.  I knew that he had spent a lot to buy his branch out from his dad, but I had no idea how much he'd made since then.  And me?  I had barely managed to save any more since I'd moved out here.

"Liv," Brody said gently.  "I know you hate talking about money.  But we need to decide how much we want to spend, where it's coming from, and whose name will be on the title if we do find something."  I just stared at him.  I had no idea where to start.  "Okay," he said, sighing.  "Look, I can afford that house."  Then he pointed at another house, that was twice the price of the one that had originally made me pause.  "I can afford that house.  Actually, I can afford them both.  I could put at least a 20% down payment down on any house on this page.  Closer to 50% for most of them."  He said it matter-of-factly.  He wasn't bragging.  He was just telling me. 

"Okay," I replied.  "And...I can't." 

"I know, and I don't expect you to.  So here's what I'm thinking.  I'll take care of the down payment.  I'm perfectly fine making all the mortgage payments too, though I have a feeling you're not fine with that."  He looked to me for confirmation and I nodded my agreement.  "If you're going to want to help with payments, I think both our names should be on the title.  That way, if anything happens, you're not screwed.  But, that would also make you responsible for the house if anything were to happen to me."  I just blinked at him.  I had no idea how he could just have this conversation with no emotion.  Everything was straight to the point. 

"So, if you're worried about that," he continued, "we could consider just having the house in my name.  Then I would want to make all the payments, unless you wanted to do a separate contract defining your rights to the property.  It would also be more beneficial from a tax standpoint for it to just be in my name.  But I don't want you to feel like it's not your house, so I want you to decide what you want to do."  He stopped and realized I was just staring at him.  "That's...not a good look you're giving me."

"I'm just having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around how...business minded you're being right now.  It feels kind of cold, I guess.  It's confusing." 

"Liv, this is a huge investment.  Someone needs to be business minded about it, because otherwise that's how people get screwed over."  His point made perfect sense, but his speech about titles and payments and contracts had me completely overwhelmed, and I was getting close to shutting down completely.  Brody sensed it and said, "Okay, how about this: when we meet with Elena next week, I'll let her explain the options to you.  She'll do a better job than I did, and she can present the pros and cons to each option objectively.  And it won't feel so cold, because it won't be coming from me." 

"Okay," I agreed.  "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult, but I've obviously never bought a house, and we're not married which makes it more complicated apparently, and I only just decided to even move in with you, so it's kind of crazy that this is really happening.  Also, I'm feeling a little inadequate, plus kind of stupid for not even thinking about all these things."

He grinned widely and me, and I looked at him like he was crazy.  "Sorry," he said quickly.  "It's just that you're actually telling me your feelings without blowing up and stalking off.  Thank you for saying that.  I'm sorry that I overwhelmed you."  

I nodded, then smirked.  "I'm kind of feeling like I need to watch Beauty and the Beast again now."  He groaned and sunk back on the couch.  I laughed.  "I'm kidding.  But I do need a break from this house stuff."  Brody agreed to that, and we flipped the TV back on.  My brain wouldn't stop going, however, and all I could think was, this is really happening.

Hi guys!  There won't be a new post tonight, but look for one tomorrow and Friday (or maybe Saturday) to round out the week.  See you then!