Moving In
July 14th, 2013
Days later, Skye arrived at Wells Fargo arena in Philadelphia pulling her large rolling suitcase behind her. As she made her way through the parking lot, she took quick notice of a crowd of fans shouting out her name nearby and she made her way over to sign a few autographs and pose for pictures for a few minutes before eventually making her way into the building.
After dropping off her stuff in the Diva's locker room, Skye wandered toward catering where she had planned to meet up with Joe before the mayhem of the Pay-Per-View began. When she entered the room, her eyes glanced around not finding him or his teammates anywhere, so she shrugged and walked toward the food to grab a plate.
Once she had the plate piled full of food enough to feed about three people, she walked over an empty table and sat down. As she began to eat, her eyes detected movement toward the door and she nearly groaned when Randy entered the room, pausing momentarily to greet Cody Rhodes who was sitting nearby with his newlywed wife, Brandy.
When Randy bid them farewell, he began heading in the direction of the long tables filled with food very near where Skye was sitting.
Slowly she shrank a little in her seat, hoping he wouldn't pay her any mind, but she failed miserably.
His eyes caught her lone form and veered from the catering table to begin walking in her direction.
Damn it, she thought miserably. I knew I should have found Joe before eating. Damn you, stomach!
"Mind if I sit here?"
She eyed him curiously, "It's a free country – do what you want."
He plopped into the seat directly across from her. "Look, I wanted to apologize for that whole thing with Kim the other week. She's just – well, you know."
"Threatened by me," Skye questioned with a tight smile.
"Maybe," he stated slowly. "I mean we just started seeing each other and she's great – I just don't want you to think that I was okay with the way that she treated you."
"I don't care what she thinks of me, so why bother apologizing?"
"Well, it wasn't like you were completely innocent either," he pointed out. "I mean you did call her a skank if I do recall."
Skye snorted, "Yeah after she implied that I wasn't woman enough to handle a guy like you when in fact it required more than just me to keep a guy like you satisfied. I mean how many women were there again?" Her eyes narrowed. "I must have stopped counting after like seven or so."
"Look, I've apologized..."
"Actually," she interjected, sharply. "You haven't, but that's not the point. The point is that I'm over it. I've moved on and I'm happy. I don't want to keep living in the past when my present and future is so much bigger than what we ever had. So," she sighed. "I would really like it if you would keep your girlfriend away from me and remind her that she really needs to act her age especially since she's nearly eight years older than me. I'm really not interested in her high school bullshit."
After learning the woman's age from John Cena, Skye couldn't help but feel even more disgusted by the woman's actions.
Shaking her head, she continued, "We're co-workers, Randy. I would like to have a good rapport with my co-workers. I mean I don't see us exactly being friends, but we can at least be courteous. So, keep your girlfriend on a leash, okay?"
Frowning, the large man simply nodded his head, "If that's what you want."
"It's been nearly nine years, Randy," she replied pointedly. "We've done pretty well at existing in the same company and having to run into the other. I've done the whole angry, resentful thing and I just want to forget it."
"I understand," he stated, pushing himself up to stand. "You won't have any problems with Kim, I promise."
As she peered up at him, she nodded, "Thanks."
Without another word, the Missourian turned and started to walk away, but paused midway to the exit.
With a raised brow, Skye peered around him and saw Joe standing near the door watching him with narrowed eyes. Soon the two men were moving again and bypassed each other without any acknowledgement whatsoever.
Joe made his way around the table to drop down in the empty seat beside her and questioned, "What the hell did he want?"
The edge in his tone didn't go unnoticed. Skye eyed him hesitantly and then sighed, "He just came over to apologize...or in his own way apologize."
Joe cut her off, "For what? What the hell did he do?"
She placed a hand on his knee, "Baby, calm down. Look, I bumped into him the other week at Smackdown and had a few words with his current girlfriend. He just wanted to come and apologize which ended up opening up old wounds I guess. I'm fine, though."
"Why didn't you tell me about this run-in when it happened," he asked as he body seemed to lose its tension.
"I didn't feel like it was all that necessary. I handled it, plus I knew you'd get all Wild Samoan and want to beat his ass." She smiled crookedly at him. "Don't tell me I'm wrong."
He snorted, but cracked a smile, "Not entirely. You do know how much I want to protect you from that guy – it's my nature. He broke your heart, so I wanna break his neck."
"And I love that about you," she reassured, chuckling. "I do, baby, I really do. Just trust me. I know how to take care of myself."
"I know you can," he relented, shaking his head. He eyed her plate. "Are you hungry by chance?"
Her eyes narrowed, "Don't you dare judge me!"
He chuckled, "I just forget sometimes that you eat as much as a frat guy."
"Are you trying to tell me something," she inquired, glancing down at her stomach beneath the top that she wore.
"Fuck no," he blurted which caused her to giggle and a few curious stares by the other occupants in the room. He lowered his voice, "Baby, I'm just teasing. You should know by now how much I love your body. In fact..." His voice turned sexual. "If there weren't so many people milling about out there, I'd drag you off to a dark and secluded area and have my way with you." She rolled her eyes as he declared, "Have a mentioned how much I hate going to bed without you? Pure torture, I tell ya."
With flushed cheeks, she nodded, "I can tell. As much as I would love for you to ravish me in some broom closet somewhere, I'm afraid you'll have to wait, big guy."
"So, you didn't miss me," he asked with a fake pout.
She stood up and placed herself on his lap. With arms wrapped around his neck, she kissed him softly. "I missed my hot Samoan like crazy."
He smirked, "Are you sure you don't wanna to go find an empty supply closet somewhere and show me how much you missed me?"
"And risk the possibly of being caught and fined or worse fired?" She shook her head. "Sorry, but no," she affirmed, pecking his lips again. "I do, however, want to talk to you about something."
"Is it serious," he asked immediately.
"Not life-threatening, no," she answered, sliding from his lap and settling back in her chair. She reached for her phone sitting not too far from her plate. As she fiddled with the screen, searching for the Zillow app, she continued, "As I was in Chicago, I started thinking about something and I wanted to run it by you."
"Okay," he responded, sitting back. "Lay it on me."
"Well, as I was sitting in my apartment, I kept thinking about how much I missed you and I know I chose to fly home instead going down to Pensacola with you, but I just felt like I wasn't where I was supposed to be, you know?"
"Go on," he urged, his eyes softening at her words.
"So, I thought that maybe I would move down there."
"To Pensacola," he asked and she nodded.
"Yeah, I mean we've been together for nearly two years and it's not like you can just pack up and move to Chicago especially with Lexi to consider, so I thought I'd make the move myself." Her eyes left his to glance at her phone to pull up a few apartment listings. "I found a few possible apartments, but I didn't want to pursue anything until I talked to you about it. I mean obviously if I do move down there it will take a while for the whole thing to take place, so I might have to stay with you until my place is ready to be moved in...or maybe you don't want me to move down there and if that's the case then..."
His hand on her leg stopped her continuous rambling and eyes glanced back at him. "Okay, slow down and take a breath."
She does as he asked and chuckled a little. "Sorry. I didn't mean to just throw that all out at you."
"It's okay," he told her, gently. His face broke out into a smile. "Look, I think it's a great idea."
"You do," she asked, relieved.
"Of course I do," he reasserted. "I know how hard it's going to be to move away from your hometown and your family, and I never wanted to have to ask you to do that..."
"You have a daughter," she pointed out. "I knew the moment that the topic of relocating would arise that I would have to be the one to make that sacrifice. I would never ask you to move away from Lex – ever. It's okay, I promise."
He smiled finally. "So, you're moving down to Pensacola to be closer to me."
She snickered, "Yeah, well, I kind of like you just a bit."
"Well, I more than just like you," he admitted, staring deeply into her eyes. "I can't get over how amazing you are, babe."
"Stop," she requested, swatting at him embarrassedly then motioned to her phone. "Anyway what I was trying to say amongst my rambling is that I found some prospects and I thought we'd check them out this Thursday during our day off."
He nodded, "Absolutely." As he looked through the pictures of an apartment she had selected, he glanced over at her as she resumed eating her meal. "Have you told your brother?"
Her fork paused in mid-air and she shook her head, "Not yet. I haven't found a way to mention it to him, plus I kind of wanted to speak with you first before I did so."
"He'll be okay with it, right? I mean you guys can't live with each other forever."
"Yeah, I know," she whispered and smiled sadly at him. "He'll understand. I mean he knows that we're serious and it was bound to happen eventually. I'll tell him soon."
After watching the events that had unfolded during the main event of Money in the Bank, Skyler Grace was walking backstage with her rolling suitcase in hand when Tom Phillips stopped her.
"Skyler, a quick word, please," he asked thrusting the microphone at her
"A quick one," she stated firmly staring at the camera closely.
"Obviously, you saw what happened out there with your brother..."
"I did," she answered simply. "And?"
"Have you been to see him," the man asked.
"No, why would I?" She tilted her head at the man. "Tom, my brother made it perfectly clear that he didn't need me, so his bed has been made. I suggest he lie in it." She addressed the camera. "If my big brother is watching right now, well, I'd hate to say that I told you so, but it looks like I don't even have to say that. Now he knows who he should have trusted, but he's alone now. I guess blood isn't thicker than water now is it?" She nodded at Tom. "We're done here."
With that, the diva continued on her way to the exit.
Monday Night on Raw, CM Punk stood in the middle of the ring clad in a blue Gracie Jiu Jitsu hoodie and basketballs shorts.
Paul snickered, "CM Punk better than Paul Heyman?" The crowd booed and Punk jaw clenched. "So, I lied to you. I manipulated you. I played you. I turned you against your own blood." He pointed toward the ring. "I did this because you can never claim that CM Punk dumped Paul Heyman." He backed up the ramp. "No! History is going to write that Paul Heyman dumped CM Punk. You didn't want a business relationship with me, no you wanted to keep it personal! So, I made it as personal as I can possibly make it and you know that to be true."
The man continued, "So here's the truth. You have no family. You are estranged from your own mother and father. You have no wife. No kids. All you have is," he motioned to the WWE universe. "them."
While the crowd agreed whole-heartedly, the look upon Punk face didn't go unmissed by those watching at home.
"All you have is the WWE universe. All you have is their admiration. All you have is there respect - " His taunts halted when a certain diva's music hit which caused the older man's eyes to widen and turn toward the curtain.
Skyler Grace walked her way onto the stage clad in her wrestling gear, fresh from her match with Brie Bella, and glowered at the balding man before jerking the microphone from his hand.
When her music died down, she spoke firmly. "No, that's where you're wrong Paul. My brother doesn't just have the WWE universe behind him. HE. STILL. HAS. ME!"
As the crowd went wild, her eyes flew over to where her brother stood alone. "It doesn't matter that he didn't believe me. What's important is that finally he's sees you for what you are – a conniving snake who honestly was a bit too into my brother and has hide behind other people because all that you have that makes you strong is that pie-hole in the middle of your face! Otherwise you're nothing, but a blubbering idiot who needed to get his own life and stop living vicariously through my brother."
Grinning snidely, she added, "And one other thing, Paul, before I go down there and join my brother at his side where I belong –" She flashed a quick glance at her brother before turning back with an open palm, slapping the former manager across his flabby face.
She shoved the mic back into the man's chest before turning on her heel and heading for the ring.
After ducking under the rope, she slowly approached her brother who watched her with a blank expression upon his face.
She gave him a small, comforting smile, "I got your back, bro, always."
Her brother sent her a grateful look her way along with a short nod before they both gazed back at the lone man standing up on the stage.
"Well, Skyler is so wonderful to have you back and by your brother's side. After all, both you have one thing in common. You both are without those titles and Punk I took away your chance on getting the WWE title away from you and from all of them!" He motioned wildly to the loud crowd.
Punk rubbed the back of his hood covered neck.
"And you're all about find out with the bad reputation that I had in this business – I am a whole lot worse personally. Here is the hardest truth of them all. I betrayed you because – CM Punk, you cannot beat Brock Lesnar."
Skye eyed her brother expectantly as he brought his own mic up and whipped off the hood. "Are you done," he asked in a snarl.
"You want to talk about the truth," he questioned his former friend. "I learned the harsh truth last night. And maybe I should have seen it coming and believed my own blood, but damn it, Paul, I trusted you! And all I have to show for it is these thirteen staples in my head and the guilt for not trusting the one person who's had my back her entire life."
Skyler looked downward, biting her bottom lip.
"But another truth is that Skye knows me better than anyone, better than you, Paul, so I'm turning to her right now." He faced her, looking her in the eye. "Tell me, sis, you know when I'm lying and when I'm telling the truth. And you know when I want something bad enough I'm the most relentless man on the planet. I will not stop until I GET IT!" Skyler nodded and he turned his attention back to Heyman. "And the truth is, Paul, I'm going to get you. I'm going to get everyone that is aligned to you and I'm going to make them pay."
The man standing on the stage looked worried and rightfully so.
"You don't have a future because I'm going to burn down everything around you until you are the last man standing. And I'm going to keep you alive just long enough to look you in the eye and hurt you worse of all because you made a mistake, Paul, when you manipulated me into turning my back on my sister. You know that she is the last person that you mess with, so you tell me, you son of a bitch – am I lying?!"
Skye smirked and stared at her brother proudly.
Heyman stared at him a moment before wiping a hand over his sweaty, bald head and then over his face, flicking the sweat from his chubby hands. "No, you're not lying. Since you want to tell me how I lack a future, well, allow me to spell you mediate future out for you." He threw down the mic and dropped to a knee.
From the ring, they both watched as he proceeded to mock a part of Punk's entrance where he draws a circle in the "sand" then checks his wrist.
"It's clobbering time," Heyman shouted.
Skyler's face fell when the music belonging to the Beast incarnate played and the screens behind him flashed. She was afraid of this.
"Oh no," Michael Cole's voice spoke up as Brock stepped out on the stage. "The beast – Brock Lesnar! Here again to do Paul Heyman's bidding!"
While Paul smirked in the direction of the ring at the two siblings, Skyler reached for her brother's arm. "Punk, come on you're not in any state to take him on tonight."
He ignored her attempts to pull him from the ring. "Just stay behind me," he ordered. "If he steps into the ring, you need to get the hell out, do you hear me?"
With a deep sigh, she gave him a reluctant nod and readied herself as Brock started their way.
"He doesn't stand a chance after the beating he took last night," JBL commented. "Skyler better get her brother out of there!"
"Come on," Punk provoked wielding only the microphone as a weapon, placing himself between the upcoming Beast of a wrestler and his sister.
While both of their eyes were on Brock bouncing from foot to foot just feet from them outside the ring neither of them saw Heyman rushing around the ring and slide under the ropes.
Skyler jerked around just in time for Heyman to shove her to the canvas. "Punk, look out," she shouted out, but was too late.
Heyman hammered him in the back of the head sending Punk to his knees and into the ropes in front of him.
Brock grabbed Punk's legs and dragged him under the bottom rope and onto his shoulders readying him for a F-5 for which Punk countered by sliding off his back and shoving him away.
The Chicagoan grabbed Lesnar by the back of the head and started pummeling him with punches to the face.
Skyler climb to her feet just in time for Brock to send her brother into the barricade. Punk returned back to his feet and began punching at the larger man again.
"Get him," Skyler shouted from her place in the ring as her brother sent a few forearm jabs only to be kneed in the gut in return. Brock sent him flying to the padded flooring again, causing him to roll near the timekeepers area.
This went on for about a minute with the two going at it back and forth while Skyler watched worried from the ring.
It wasn't until Brock had ripped the hoodie from her brother's back and soon sent him over the announcers desk did Skyler finally jump into action. She climb through the ropes while Lesnar's back was turned and jumped on his back throwing a few blows of her own onto his large head.
The man jerked back and forth trying to get her off, but she had a strong hold around his neck.
She let out a cry of pain when his large hand reached up to grip her hair, pulling her forward over his shoulder.
With his other arm, he took hold of her legs and proceeded to drape her around his neck readying her for...
"Oh my god," Jerry Lawler bellowed.
"Somebody stop him," Michael Cole cried out. "He's about to perform an F-5 on Skyler Grace!"
"Punk, get up," JBL called out at her brother struggling to his feet.
"No," Punk hollered, but he was too late.
Lesnar's body spun and sent the diva flying toward the ring. Her head bounced off the apron and she fell like a rag-doll to the floor, not moving.
"Holy shit," Colby let out as he sat beside Joe on the bench in the locker room watching the events unfolding on screen.
"Did her head make contact," Dean questioned immediately as Punk jumped off the announcer's table Lesnar after the altercation with his sister. He was caught and Lesnar shoved his back into nearby post, dropping him near his motionless sister nearby.
"I don't know," Colby answered glancing over at his Samoan friend as he tried to see some kind of movement from his girlfriend whenever the cameras would show her being tended to by WWE officials.
He tried not to panic. Skye had warned him that she was going to get physically involved during the segment.
"Punk is hurt," JBL stated lowly. "I hope Skyler's okay. She hasn't moved since being F-5ed by the Beast."
"Her head hit the apron really hard, fellas," Lawler pointed out in dread.
The trio of the Shield watch as Brock Lesnar grabbed Punk and draped his barely moving form onto shoulder, mirroring what he had just done to his sister, and sent the smaller man flying over the announce table, ending the brawl.
Joe remained silent throughout the rest of the segment. His eyes followed Punk as he struggled to crawl over to his sister.
"Skye," he called out, pushing away the trainers that were trying to come to his aid.
At first, Joe was convinced that she was selling the hell out of that hit. It all seemed to plow into him like a freight train when the camera zoomed in on the blood spilling from Skye's forehead and a trainer held up his arms up in an X.
"Fuck," he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and rushing from the room with Colby and Jon on his heels.
"Babe, I'm fine," Skye insisted fifteen minutes later as the doc cleaned up the gash at her hairline.
"You lost consciousness," he threw back as he stood at her feet while Colby and Jon stood near the doorway.
"Just for a few minutes," she argued. "It's just a minor concussion, right doc?"
"Yes, you were very lucky," the doctor answered which didn't help her cause much.
"I knew I should have talked you out of taking that F-5," Phil snapped as another doctor tended to his own injuries which consisted of a few bruised ribs and various other things. "And Brock took it easy on ya."
"It turned out awesome though," Skye pointed out, having seen the replay when she had come around. "The crowd was silent! Come on it was awesome!" Both of the important men her life gave her a look and sighed, "So, the landing wasn't what it should have been. I knew the risk. Hell, I could have gotten this injury during one of my matches!"
"I thought it was pretty kick ass," Jon piped up.
"For real," Colby agreed. "I don't think any other diva could have handled it."
Smiling, she pointed at the two other Shield members, "I knew I liked the two of you."
Joe glared at the two men and commented, "Why don't you guys go grab your stuff and meet me in the parking lot in an hour."
"Sure thing," Colby chuckled, elbowing Jon and the two of them strolled out.
"You're going to need stitches of course," the doctor told the diva once he got her cleaned up.
"Swell," she chirped. Her eyes moved over to where Joe was standing, now leaned against a wall with his arms crossed still looking pale. "Will you hold my hand, big guy?"
"Barf," was the reply of the other injured wrestler in the room.
"Oh shut up," Skye threw back as she settled back and held out her hand to her beau, who took it with a smile.
She released a few calming breaths as the doctor approached and soon went to work.
Since neither Phil nor Skye was scheduled to be a part of the taping of Smackdown, the two headed to Chicago for a couple of days to rest up a bit. Skye planned on taking this opportunity to tell her older brother of her plans to move down to Pensacola.
So, here they sat eating some pizza from their favorite pizzeria. As he sipped his Pepsi, Phil glanced across the table at his little sister who poked at her pizza with her fork.
"You look like you have something on your mind," he concluded after pretty much having a one-sided conversation since dinner began.
Her eyes lifted, "How can you tell?"
"Well, for starters you're about to take a bite of my veggie pizza."
"Ew," she murmured pushing her plate away in disgust.
He chuckled, "So, what's up?"
"It's nothing," she dismissed the shook her head. "No, I mean it's something, but I just don't know how to go about saying it."
He stared at her closely, "Is there something up with you and Joe?"
"Sort of," she admitted, glancing at her hands in her lap.
"Are you pregnant or something?"
She gave him a deadpanned look, "Why must that always be the first thing that you question? The answer is no by the way!"
"Well," he laughed. "I don't know what could possibly be so hard to tell me if it's not that you're knocked up." Shaking his head, he motioned with his hand, "Spill. What's going on?"
Swallowing, she sat back in her chair and stared at her older brother. "I've – uh – decided to move down to Pensacola."
"Oh," Phil managed to state. "Well, okay...do you mean that you're moving in with him?"
"No," she answered quickly. "I just think it's time that I live in the same state as my boyfriend. I mean things are going really good and he obviously can't move up here with his daughter so far away which he probably would if it was just him that he was thinking about."
"Why were you so worried to tell me about this," Phil asked with an amused smile.
She shrugged. "I don't know."
"You're a grown woman," he pointed out. "I figured the two of you were heading in that direction. Although, I thought you'd be moving in with him not getting your own place – what's up with that?"
"Nothing," she quickly cleared. "He just didn't ask me to. I mean I'm the one who brought up moving down there."
"Maybe he's being cautious," Phil suggested, standing to clear away their dirty plates.
"I'm not some porcelain doll," she snorted. "I don't think I'm much a flight risk anymore."
"It just seems like it would make more sense if the two of you found a place together rather than apart."
"Why are you pushing this," she asked with a chuckle. "Here I thought you were going to miserable without my presence and you're trying to get me to shack up with my boyfriend."
"Well, you guys basically shack up anyways," he pointed out. "What's the difference?"
With a sigh, she slid from her seat and went to grab another can of Mt. Dew from the fridge. "Phil, if he wanted me to move in with him then I would know. He's not exactly that subtle with his feelings." She turned to face her brother, who stood leaned against the counter with his arms crossed studying her. "What?"
"I still think that he's feeling you out first before he finally asks you."
"Stop," she ordered, walking from the room and into the adjoining living room. "Change of subject, please."
"Fine," Phil relented, following her and plopping down on the couch. "So, when is all of this happening?"
"I don't know," she responded as she got situated on the other end of the couch. "We're going to check out some apartments on Thursday, so we'll see." She swiped up the remote and began channel surfing.
"For the record," Phil spoke up, gaining her attention. He gave her a small smile. "It's been pretty awesome living with you."
"Honestly, I don't know how you're going to function without me," she stated in amusement.
He rolled his eyes and leaned over to snatch the remote from her hand. "I'm not watching Friends."
"But it's a good one," she argued, trying to grab the remote back.
"Nope, and since this will soon be my place and my place alone – I get to pick what we watch."
Her jaw dropped, "Wow and just like that it's like I no longer exist."
"I like it," Skye commented as her eyes moved around the apartment that Thursday. Joe stood alongside the realtor, Greg.
"I thought you might," Greg stated with a smile. "It has all of your must-haves."
"Fantastic," Skye smiled then turned to Joe. "What do you think? Is it me?"
"Yeah," he answered, glancing around.
She eyed him, "That didn't sound very convincing, big guy."
"I just think that maybe you should keep looking," he shrugged. He looked over at Greg. "Do you have any others to show her?" Skye couldn't be too sure, but there seemed to be some kind of exchange between the two men's gazes.
"Absolutely," the other man responded. "Shall we check out those listings before we make a final decision?"
Skye shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt, I suppose."
Soon the three of them were heading off to the next listing. In the backseat of Greg's Ford Focus, Skye eyes took in the change of scenery quickly taking notice the lack of apartments and townhouses.
"Uh, fellas, these are houses," Skye pointed out. "I specifically asked for apartment and townhouse listings."
"It doesn't hurt to check a few houses out, right?"
When Joe suggested this, Skye couldn't help but wonder why he was insisting such a thing.
"It's always good to keep the options open, Miss," Greg stated as he pulled into the driveway of a beautiful, two-story house which was hidden partially by some trees.
"Is this even in my price range," she questioned as she stared at the home in awe.
Greg pulled the car to a stop. "We'll talk about prices once we see if you're interested in the place."
Nodding, she slid out of the car and walked alongside Joe as Greg led the way. Skye tugged on Joe's arm, stopping him. "What's going on? Did you ask Greg to add this one?"
He gave her a confused look, "Why would I do that?"
She felt her heart fall slightly. "No reason," she responded sheepishly. She actually naively thought he was interested in finding something together. Slowly she followed the two men inside. "Wow," she breathed as she took in the amazing entryway.
"You've got yourself a four bedroom, 3.5 bath beauty, Miss Brooks," Greg rattled on as Skye entered the living room.
After getting a glimpse of the rooms downstairs including the spacious kitchen, Skye and Joe followed the relator upstairs to the master bedroom. "And this," Greg remarked "would be your master bedroom."
Skye couldn't put it into words. "It's," she began and glanced over at Joe who was watching her closely. She flashed a quick glance over at Greg. "Can you give us a moment?"
Greg smiled politely. "Sure. I need to call another client, so I'll step outside."
When he was gone, Joe spoke up, "It's a nice house don't you think?"
"What's going on," she questioned, crossing her arms. "This place is clearly out of my designated price range. I know that you had to have talked to Greg because I plainly stated that I wanted an apartment or a townhouse." She motioned around them. "I don't need all this space if it's just going to be me."
His eyes grew thoughtful as he turned around to inspect the room. "What if it wasn't just you who moved in?"
Her eyes widened slightly. "What are you saying?"
He raised his hands up and smiled, "Just hear me out."
"Okay," she replied, swallowing.
"I want us to buy this house, well not this one specifically, but a house," he told her simply. "I know we haven't really talked about us ever living together, but to be honest, I've wanted to ask you to move in for a while. I just wanted to make sure that you were ready for that."
"So, the moment that I mentioned that I wanted to move down here – you saw your chance?"
He nodded, "Yeah." He approached her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "I'm not trying to put any kind of pressure on you, okay? If you want a place of your own, we can wait and when you're ready we can revisit it."
"Why didn't you just say something last week," she asked softly. "Is it because you didn't want to freak me out?"
His hands stopped moving and responded, "Maybe." He was a bit caught off guard when she smiled.
"It's been nearly two years, Joe," she pointed out. "I think I've come a long way since when we first start dating – I get freaked out a little less these days."
"It's still a big step," he reminded for which she nodded. "Even I haven't ever lived with a woman before."
"So, I'll be your first," she pondered with a smirk.
He smiled. "Yes, you will be." Then he registered what she just said and eyed her questionably, "Are you saying yes?""
Her eyes surveyed the bedroom again, "I could see us living here."
"You haven't seen the best part," he told her, grabbing her hand and leading her into the master bathroom.
When they entered, her eyes widened and she gasped, "Holy shit."
The room was large with marbled floors and consisted of his and her sinks on opposite walls from the other. Skye couldn't believe the counter space! Then her eyes zeroed in on the center of the room where a large tub sat. "Oh my," she commented. "I think that might be the prettiest damn tub I've ever seen."
He approached her from behind and whispered in her ear, "Why don't you take a seat and test it out?"
With an excited smile, she hurried over and stepped over the side and took a seat, leaning back to stare at the shower in front of her.
Joe came over to take a seat on the edge of the tub and questioned, "How does it feel?"
"Pretty damn good," she admitted then nodded toward the shower. "Do me a favor? Go walk into the shower – I'm curious about something."
He chuckled, "Okay." He stood and walked over to the glass enclosed shower. When he stepped inside, he looked in her direction expectantly.
"Turn toward the showerhead," she instructed and when he does so, she allowed her eyes to take in his backside which was slightly visible not only by his height, but the short wall that connected the shower with the tub. "Yep, I can so watch your fine ass showering while I take a bath," she commented with a broad smile. "Put that in the pro column."
His chuckles echoed from inside the shower and he stepped out. "So, what's the verdict? Does it feel like our home?" When she didn't answer right away, he continued, "Look, it doesn't have to be this house. We can keep looking if you want. I just saw this listing online..."
"I love it," she spoke up. She held her hand up and he reached down to help her out of the tub and to stand in front of him. "It's perfect," she went on. "Can we afford it?"
"Yeah, baby girl. I made sure Greg showed us something we both could afford," he informed her, his arms wrapping around her. "So, what do you say? Should we call Greg back up here and talk numbers or should we keep looking?"
She shook her head, "Nope. This is it, this is our home." Her head tilted upward and she leaned up to kiss his lips softly. "Let's go tell Greg that we're interested."
Remember to review and let me know your thoughts. I appreciate the reviews last chapter. I hope all of you enjoyed this longer update. Check out my tumblr page to see some pictures that go along with this chapter. :)