Page 43 of Porter (Dirty Misfits MC 2)
He kissed the top of my head again. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
I tightened my grip on his hand. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”
“Come on upstairs, I’ll show you my bare bones place. It’s the place of an alcoholic right now, but I hope to breathe some personality into it eventually.”
I giggled. “I’d love to see it anyway.”
We walked up the stairs, hand in hand, and when we entered his apartment I saw what he was talking about. I didn’t really see it before when I closed his front door, but now that my eyes were bouncing off the walls of the place he called “home,” I saw what he meant. He didn’t have much furniture other than a rickety couch, a cracked flat-screen television, and the bed in his bedroom was just a mattress and box-spring on the floor. I walked into his tiny bathroom and wondered how the hell he survived this every morning. I mean, the shower itself looked like it was much too tiny for him.
“Can you even get under that showerhead?” I asked.
Porter snickered. “Not in the slightest. I have to bend over every time I want to wash my hair.”
“Yikes. We need to get you out of this place.”
“Well, my lease is up in a couple of months and I haven’t put in an intent to stay, so I guess I should start looking for other places.”
“You could come stay with me.”
He froze. “I can’t believe you’re actually offering that.”
I tugged him out of the bathroom. “You could always say no.”
“No, no, it’s not that. I think it’s a great idea. I’d love to spend more time with you that way. Plus, I’d be able to secure your safety, which means the world to me.”
My cheeks flushed. “Thank you.”
He cupped my cheek as we stood in his bedroom. “But Brooks. He owns that house, right?”
I shrugged. “I’m not paying him rent, so it’s not like he can evict me.”
“But he can get you for squatting or some shit, I’m sure.”
I sighed. “We can’t be afraid of him forever. We can’t just side-step my brother and your best friend because he doesn’t like this arrangement. And if he really wants to get petty enough to throw us out because I’ve offered for you to move in, then we don’t need him anyway. That’s not the kind of family I want in my life, and that isn’t the kind of best friend you deserve.”
He closed the distance between us. “I love you Astrid. And I’d love to move in with you.”
Tears crested my eyes. “I love you too, Porter. And I can’t wait to move you in.”
His lips teased mine as he bent down toward me. “My drinking days are gone, you have my word. I’m going to work on getting the help I need to make sure I never fall down that dark hole again.”
I feathered my lips against his. “Such magical words.”
He kissed me softly. “I promise you, I’m going to start going to A.A. meetings. I’ll find a sponsor. Someone to help keep me on course.”
I kissed him gently back. “You astound me every day, handsome.”
His hand ran through my hair. “And above all, I promise never to do anything that compromises my ability to protect you and be there for you.”
My knees grew weak. “Kiss me.”
“I thought you’d never fucking ask.”
The second his tongue collided with mine, I felt like my heart might actually burst from within my chest. My arms blanketed his neck, holding tightly to him as he pulled my body against his own. We stumbled over to his mattress and fell toward it, letting the old fabric suck us in until we couldn't move. And as I giggled against Porter’s lips, he snickered.
“Maybe we should just toss my bed out,” he murmured.
I giggled profusely. “Yeah, I think I can actually feel your box spring.”
He slid off the bed and held out his hand. “Come on. I’m hungry, and I think we’re going to need fuel for the journey ahead.”
The darkness of his eyes shivered me to my core. I took his hand in stride and he pulled me up, stumbling me on my feet. I fell against him and felt his muscles catch me. His arms wrapped around me as he steadied me on my feet, and when I peeked up at him I found nothing but love and adoration staring back.
“You feeling pizza or burgers and fries?” he asked.
I smiled. “Pizza. Easier to eat in bed that way.”
He growled. “A woman after my own heart.”
He captured my lips one last time before we started out of his apartment. He walked me out to my car before he headed for his bike, then away we went. I followed him to the one pizza place in town that had a drive-thru and we put the pizza, breadsticks, and two-liter drink in the backseat of my car.
