Page 103 of Carter

“Can we stay at your house again tonight?” he asks.

“If you want to.”

“Your bed is more comfortable. And bigger.”

“But your bed is smaller, meaning you have to lay closer to me.”

“I do that anyway.” He smiles. I bring his hand to my mouth and kiss the back of it.

I pull into the driveway and we head inside, because if he wants to stay at my house, I won’t argue. Having him here is what makes me enjoy the house more, not the stuff I can buy to put in it. I don’t tell him that though. Maybe I should, but it feels like a little too much.

“I’m going to shower. I smell like the animals,” he says, but there’s something in his voice that holds a bit of mischief. Though, it could just be me.

“I’ll be out back.”

“Outside?”

“Yeah, I picked up the furniture.”

“And you’re going to put it together in thirty-degree weather?”

“That’s what coats are for.”

He rolls his eyes, gives me a kiss, and disappears into my bathroom.

Part of me wants to go in there after him, but I don’t want to insert myself into his space. We’ve showered every night together, to clean up, and I don’t doubt tonight will be any different. So for now, he can have his space.

I didn’t take my coat off when I came inside, so I just head out back. I could wait to put this stuff together until it gets a little warmer. I don’t want to ruin it out here if we get another big storm. But it isoutsidefurniture. I’m sure it could handle one storm, if it happens. And thinking about sitting on the couch with Carter in my arms in front of a fire is too tempting.

So I get to work, tearing boxes open and putting the furniture together. It’s not difficult, it’s just tedious.

“Need some help?”

I look behind me at Carter who’s still in the house with his head poked out from the sliding glass door.

“You wanna come get your hands dirty, princess?”

He gasps and chuckles.

“I take offense to that!” He closes the door.

I shake my head, laughing again as I tear open another box and pull out the cushions.

The larger couch and two single chairs are put together. Once the cushions are on, all I have to do is put the fire pit together. The furniture is your basic outdoor wicker furniture set in a dark brown with red cushions. I look everywhere for the cement bricks I got for the ground beneath the pit and can’t find them anywhere, then realize I must’ve forgotten them in my truck.

That’s when the sliding door opens and Carter walks out, all bundled up.

I stop and watch as he walks out confidently, with purpose.

“I’ll show you princess.” He lifts his chin, and I can’t help but laugh.

“Come on then.”

We go to my truck and grab the bricks from the back. There are four square bricks to make a bigger one, just needing a platform for the pit to sit on so the grass doesn’t catch from the heat. He carries two and doesn’t complain, even though I can tell they’re a little heavy for him. I close up the truck and head to the back with my two bricks. We lay them out on the ground, a safe enough distance away from the chairs.

“See, that was easy,” he says, out of breath.

“Stubborn.”