The Girl

THIRTY-TWO: TO BUILD A HOME

"I love you so much," I whispered and allowed my fingers to dance down her spine. "How long has this been going on?"

"Mm, since you left New York. I talked to Jack and Ben about it and then this was happening," She told me and then took my hand, leading me over to the far wall. I smiled at the sight. "I thought I'd personalize this part."

A plate reading 'The Cranberries' sat there and she looked pretty fucking proud of herself. And honestly, so was I. I was pretty fucking proud of her for making this happen.

"Downstairs," She told me and led me down. The recording studio was fucking epic and she made sure I knew every part of it inside and out. Instead of letting her continue upstairs, I brought her mouth against mine and placed us inside of the booth.

"I don't deserve you," I mumbled and brought her onto the couch. She smiled and cupped my face, kissing my cheeks and then down my neck. "I want to know something."

She hummed, slipping her hands under my shirt. "I'll always answer honestly."

"Was that really a tactic of yours, not telling a guy your name until they took you on a date?" I asked, her body climbing on top of mine. She bit down on her lip and rested her hands on my abdomen. "Or was that just some weird plan to get me to ask you out?"

"I actually knew about you already," She admitted and pressed her lips together. "Your brothers told me that you needed someone in your life, another friend and I just--I didn't expect for us to be here. Ben's a really good matchmaker."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course we didn't just happen by chance."

"What? Yes, we did, Luke," She told me and frowned. "Just because we had a little help doesn't mean that we weren't by chance," Brianna paused, taking time to get off of me. "Why do you always do that? We're so good right now, but you have to look for something negative to throw us off. Am I not exciting enough? Are we not full of adventure--"

"Babe," I took her hand.

"Because I thought we were good. I thought what we're doing right now is enough,"

I sighed and wrapped her arms around my waist. "We are enough. I don't know why I do that. It's just something I do and I really can't help it because I'm not exactly used to being so insanely happy for a long period of time."

Brianna shut her eyes. "I love you, Luke. Stop trying to find the faults because as far as I'm concerned, everyone can see our faults, we just have to live with them."

*

Brianna offered to make dinner, but I had to go to rehearsal for Jingle Ball so we agreed on chinese take out backstage with all my bandmates after the show. She handed each of us a container and some chopsticks, (except for me and her. As much as everyone taught us how to use them, we could never get the hang of them).

"Right, so after New York we're heading off to Philadelphia," Michael told my girlfriend as she shoved noodles into her mouth.

I laughed softly and took a napkin into my hand, wiping the sauce around her mouth after she had finished fitting whatever she could inside of her mouth. She gave me a look, but continued to eat anyway.

"And I'm totally gonna get a fucking philly cheese steak when I get there," Michael continued and then shut himself up by shoving dumplings into his waiting mouth. We were quiet for a little while and Brianna situated herself between my legs.

"After Philly?" She asked suddenly, moving her head back as she sipped on lemonade quietly. "Chicago, and then Atlanta, and then Miami, and then Tampa."