Once Upon an Arizona Sunset

Chapter 7

******** Chuck ********

I woke up before her in the morning. Instead of trying to sneak out of bed I just watched her.  She was beautiful and in her sleep she fluttered her eyelashes softly. Then she’d lick her lips and sigh. I laughed softly at it. I wondered briefly if she felt as strongly about me as I had instantly felt about her. She rolled over, burying her face into my chest hair. I wrapped an arm around her. Brushing hair out of her face. She opened her eyes and looked at me. I smiled at her and kissed her gently. 

“Morning.” I said, She smiled back at me. 

“Good morning.” She said. She sat up stretching. I noticed a rose tattoo hidden on the underside of her arm.  It was tiny, and cute. I liked it. I leaned over and pulling her arm to me kissed it. 

“I like this.” I said, kissing her once more on the lips. She smiled at me. 

“Me too. I got it when I was fifteen. My parents still don’t know about it. Or they haven’t said anything if they do.” She said. She stood up. That perfectly shaped ass taunting me. She began throwing her clothes on. I followed suit. Starting to strap into my leg. She turned to me before leaving the bedroom. 

“Connor went to Olivia’s last night. He threw a brick through her french doors. My parents hauled him off to rehab.” She said, turning and leaving. What? Why didn’t she tell me this last night. 

“Peyton!” I shouted after her. But she didn’t respond. 

“Peyton!” I said, chasing her as quickly as I could down the stairs. I wasn’t sure where she went but I chased her anyway. 

“Peyton!” I called once more. I heard the front door close. God dammit. I needed to catch her. I flew out the front door in bare feet. She was halfway across the road. 

“Peyton are you really going to make an amputee run through the street in his boxers to catch you?” I called. She stopped, but she didn’t come back. So I kept going. When I got to her I pulled her into a hug. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked her. She just shook her head. 

“So did you actually want me last night or were you just trying to get something out of your head?” I asked her. She was quiet. 

“Peyton, let’s go back and talk about this please?” I asked her. She nodded and followed me back into the house. I sat down at the kitchen table. She sat there with me. 

“Well?” I asked her. Praying for the right answer. 

“Half and half.” She said. s**t. Well at least it was partly the right answer. 

“Ok.” I said. 

“Go on.” I urged. She looked down at her fingers. 

“I wanted to get something out of my head. But you do a spectacular job of helping me with that.” She said. 

“What does that mean?” I asked her. 

“I don’t know. There’s just something….” She trailed off. 

“Something between us that makes things different in the world?” I asked her. She nodded. 

“Yes. I.” She said, stopping mid sentence again. 

“I love you.” I said to her. She smiled. 

“I love you too.” She said. 

“Move in with me.” I asked her. She looked around. 

“This is Liam’s house.” She said smiling at me. I nodded at her. 

“I know.” I said. 

“Let’s buy a house.” I said to her. I meant it too. She was quiet. Pondering. 

“I know it’s fast. But I love you. I want to be with you. You make the world seem right. You make my days better.” I said. Trying to convince her that it was the right thing to do. She was still quiet. 

“There’s a house in the complex here for sale.” I said, trying to convince her more. I was thinking of looking at it anyway. It was close to Liam, it was decently close to work. It was in a good neighbourhood and I couldn’t very well live here once they had a baby. She still hadn’t said anything. 

“Well how about we go look at it this afternoon and see how you feel?” I asked her. 

“I need to move out before the baby is born anyway.” I said. She nodded agreeing. 

“Ok.” She said. I hugged her. 

“Peyton, I don’t mind you using my body to feel better. In fact I am one hundred percent ok with it. But next time. Please tell me that you're going to do it ok?” I said. She smiled. 

“Let me call the realtor and set up an appointment. Then we can go and see what’s going on across the street ok?” I asked her. She smiled. I dialed the number and set us up for noon. When I got done with the call we walked over to Olivia’s. They were having breakfast in the kitchen. 

“There’s extra. You guys hungry?” Olivia called from the stove. 

“Starving.” Peyton said, going to help her out. I could hear them whispering but I let them have that. They needed one another just like I needed Liam. 

“I’m taking Peyton to look at a house at noon.” I said to Tim and Liam. They both stopped and looked at me. 

“What?” I asked them. 

“You’re buying a house for her?” Liam asked me. I shook my head. 

“No, I’m buying a house and I asked her to move in with me.” I said. 

“I actually think that might be a great Idea.” Tim said, 

“She needs to be away from her brother.” He finished. 

“She can just move in with us.” Liam said. I smiled. 

“Liam man, I can appreciate that and I want to thank you for the offer. But you and your fiance will be getting married. You’ve got a baby on the way and you’ll certainly have more. We would be in the way.” I said. I didn’t want to be in his way at all. He’d been letting me live there since we got home. I had offered rent. But he never accepted. 

“You guys could live here.” Tim offered. I smiled at him. It was a great offer. But I didn’t want to impose on him either. 

“Thank you so much for that offer too. But really, let me look at this house. If I don’t like it. We can discuss that.” I said to him. He smiled. 

“Where is this house?” Liam asked me. I smiled. 

“The one four houses down from here.” I said. They both laughed. Just as the girls walked in. 

“What’s funny?” Olivia asked. 

“I’ll fill you in later baby.” Liam said,

“Thanks this looks delicious.” Tim said as the girls laid out a spread for us. After our breakfast I took Peyton walking around the compound. 

“How much of it have you seen?” I asked her.

“Just to pool.” She said. I smiled, I took her to the dog park where people had their fluffy dogs running around. She smiled. 

“I’ve always wanted a dog. But my moms allergic.” She said. I smiled back. Guess I knew what I could get her. Then I took her around to the playground where kids played. She smiled. 

“I’ve always wanted kids.” I said smiling. She smiled too. By the time we got back to the house I wanted to look at it was noon. This one had a garage underneath the house. The yard was slightly smaller than Tim’s and Liam’s. The realtor was just opening the door as we walked up. 

“Good afternoon.” She said smiling at us. We shook her hand. Then she led us into the foyer. It was similar to Liams. Open, very bright. A fancy light fixture. I honestly didn’t care as long as Peyton liked it. It was round shaped and the slightly curved, carpeted stairs were off to the left. 

“As you can see the open and bright foyer is a great feature to walk into. Peyton opened the closet to the right. Then closed it. 

“Right off the foyer we have what would be your entertaining space.” This area had large windows that led out into the back yard. It was small too. There was also a fireplace. It was big and bright. The wood floors are a cappuccino colour. Light fixtures that matched the one in the foyer. Very different from Liam’s. There was a built in tv hole in the wall. To the right of the living room was the kitchen. 

“Hazelnut cabinets, granite countertops. Top of the line appliances.” The realtor said. 

“This is beautiful.” Peyton said, running her hands along the counter. 

“Would you cook me breakfast here?” I asked her. She smiled at me. 

“Baby, I would cook you breakfast anywhere.” She said. I took her hand and brought it to my mouth, kissing it gently. Her eyes sparkled. The realtor smiled. 

“Double ovens, extra large fridge, gas cookstove.” She said, pointing things out. There were large windows and a french door on the opposite side of the room. A space for a small dining table there. 

“The laundry room is of the side here.” She said, opening the door to the laundry. She opened another door. 

“Half bath for any guests. That way they can stay downstairs.” She said, finishing with those rooms. We headed up the stairs to the living space. There was a large cast iron chandelier hanging above us. Upstairs were two bedrooms. Maybe for babies I thought. Along with a bathroom off of each one. Then the master bedroom. It was large and bright, with a big balcony off the side that wrapped around. A massive walk in closet and a big beautiful bathroom. Separate shower and tub. As an added surprise, she led us downstairs to the yard. It was small, but in the corner. Was a decently sized pool, complete with a waterfall. 

“A pool.” Peyton said happily. I smiled at her. 

“Well?” I asked her. She smiled. 

“I could see us here.” She said. The realtor seemed happy. 

“This is a repossession. It’s priced rather low for the area at five hundred and twenty nine thousand. But I know for a fact that I can knock some dollars off of that price.” She said. I nodded at her. 

“What should we put in as an offer?” I asked. 

“Well I think you should try four hundred and thirty five as a start and see what happens. You’re dealing with the bank so they won’t be getting insulted by your offer. Worst case they just say no.” She said. 

“Ok, Why don’t you start with that and we will see what happens.” I said. She nodded. I gave her my email. Then we headed back to Liams. 

“I’ll move in with you on one condition.” She said, as we walked along. 

“Anything you want Peyton, it’s yours.” I said smiling at her. 

“I want a dog.” She said. I giggled. 

“Done baby, you can have a dog.” I said. Kissing her softly. She smiled happily and skipped around me until we closed the door behind us and she drug me upstairs to the bedroom.