“Don't shake your head, if he wants an ass to stare at he will have to make do with mine.”
I laughed as we headed out to the stairs and descended them.
“You're crazy,” I said.
We left my apartment building and joined everyone else who was standing next to the moving van.
“Where the hell did you get those?” Bronagh asked me causing everyone's gaze to turn my way.
I grinned and proudly held up my flowers. “Mr. Pervert.”
The lads all looked to Alec and laughed.
“How badly did you want to hit him?” Nico asked.
Alec growled, “I’m still contemplating going back inside and kicking his ass.”
I rattled my head. “Relax, he was just being nice.”
“Nice my ass,” all four brothers said in unison, which cracked up the girls.
“They all share the same narrow mind,” Aideen teased.
I fell into Alec and laughed.
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Shut up,” Kane deadpanned making me laugh harder.
When the laughter subsided Aideen spoke up.
“Okay, Keela, me and you are goin' in your car. The girls are going with Ryder and Nico, and Alec is drivin’ the movin’ van while Kane is drivin’ his SUV,” she said, taking leadership. “Does that sound cool?”
I nodded my head. “Yep.”
“Excellent. Let's get on this, bitch,” she announced.
We all snorted.
Alec kissed my head. “We'll be right behind you.”
I nodded my head and walked over to my car. I unlocked it so Aideen could get in then I opened the back door and laid my flowers on my back seat along with my bag and laptop case then closed the door and got into the driver's seat.
“How are you doin'?” Aideen asked as I started the car.
I put the car in gear as I shrugged my shoulders. “I don't want to say anythin' positive because I'd be lyin'.”
Aideen sighed as I pulled out of my car parking space for the last time.
“I think you're puttin' way too much thought into this. You can live in the newer, bigger, and way better house with Alec and just remain engaged. You don't have to plan a weddin', you don't have to do anythin' but enjoy one another.”
I processed that thought.
I glanced at Aideen as I drove. “I never thought of it like that.”
“Of course you didn't,” she mumbled. “You were too busy seein' the horror in movin'. It's not a big deal. You can have what you want, just ten minutes away from the apartment complex.”
I thought about it and realised Aideen was right. Moving was just stressing me out, but once it was done, it would be over and I could get to enjoying Alec at a leisurely pace.
“You have no idea how much better you made me feel,” I breathed.
Aideen reached over and rubbed my shoulder. “I'm glad, I hate seein' you upset.”
I lightly smiled. “I know, but the weight of me worry just faded away thanks to you.”
Aideen was silent for a moment until she said, “Now we just have to deal with your nightmares.”
My hands tensed around the steering wheel of my car. “Can we not talk about that, please?”
“Fine,” Aideen reluctantly said, “but now that we know Bronagh is in the same boat as you, you have to talk to her.”
“I will,” I said firmly.
Satisfied, Aideen nodded her head once then turned and looked out the car window.
I already made a decision to speak to Bronagh about my nightmares back in my apartment. When she admitted she suffers from nightmares too, I felt... overwhelmed with relief. I was so relieved I wasn't on my own, and what went on in my head wasn't me losing my mind, but the effects of my past playing horrible tricks on it.
“I don't mean to bring this back up, but when are you goin' to tell Alec you don't wanna get married for a few years?” Aideen asked me.
My stomach churned at the thought.
I exhaled. “Whenever the time is right.”
I had to wait until the perfect moment to unload this on Alec—he was a complex person and unless I worded things correctly he would take my feelings the wrong way and things could go horribly for us.
“I just need some time. I have to sort out me own head first,” I murmured.
Aideen put her hand on my shoulder. “I've got your back.”
I glanced to her and smiled.
Having friends like her got me through the tough times, hopefully the only times ahead for Alec and I are good times. God knows we could use more good times in our life. We've had a past full of bad ones.
“Can you believe the size of this place?” Aideen shouted from the kitchen of mine and Alec's new house.
Her voice echoed.
I chuckled as I placed a picture of Aideen and myself on the sitting room wall. I was perfectly fine on my little stepladder, but Alec was apparently afraid I would fall and hurt myself so he took it upon himself to stand behind me and hold onto my hips. His hands occasionally slipped though.
“That's me arse, Playboy,” I said as I adjusted the frame on the wall.
Alec squeezed my behind. “And what a perfect ass it is.”
I snorted. “Give it a rest.”
Alec gave my arse one more squeeze, then slid his hands up to my hips.
“Is this straight?” I asked him.
He took a step back then to the left and observed the picture. “Yep.”
“Great. One down, a million more to go.”
Alec smiled wide.
Smiling was all he seemed to do since we arrived at our new house. We had been here with the gang the last three hours. It was sometime after five in the evening, and the majority of our boxes were completely unpacked. Having so many people to help out sped everything up, we all moved ten times faster.
Bronagh and Branna unboxed the bathroom boxes and put everything in the en-suite in mine and Alec's master bedroom. We'd have to buy more bathroom stuff though because each of the bedrooms had an en-suite, and then there was a bathroom on the bottom floor of the house for any guests who came to our house.