Page 124 of Stealing Home

Lucia shoved a block into Gavin’s face, and he gently pried it from her fingers.

“Thank you,” he said solemnly, rubbing his cheek.

Dom smiled and ignored the way his heart clenched at the sight. “You know you basically live here.”

Gavin’s attention returned to him. “I do not.”

“Maybe you should,” Dom said.

He stopped smiling, and for one awful second, Gavin said nothing. Dom’s heart tried to crawl into his throat and he had to force himself not to fill the silence.

“You mean it?”

Dom thought about the pieces of Gavin’s life that were already here. His boots were by the door and his clothes already filled dresser drawers and part of the bedroom closet. The brand of coffee Gavin loved had started appearing in the kitchen cabinet and he kept a charger on the nightstand on his side of the bed. He had a side of the bed. They were already sharing a life. They just hadn’t made it official.

“I don’t want you to just stay over most nights,” Dom said quietly. “I want you here, all the time. I want this to be your home too.”

Gavin tilted his head. “You sure?”

Dom could have given him a hundred clever or sarcastic answers. Instead, he went with the simple truth.

“I’m sure about you.”

That brought them here. Dom blinked himself back into the garage as Lucia grabbed a fistful of Gavin’s shirt.

“Hey.” Gavin brushed his thumb along Dom’s side. “Where’d you go?”

Dom looked at him. “Nowhere. I was thinking about how many boxes we have to unpack.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow, and Dom smiled.

“I’m just happy.”

The words made Gavin’s expression soften. “Yeah?”

“Don’t make a thing out of it,” Dom warned.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

A loud crash came from inside.

“CJ!” Evan shouted.

“I didn’t do anything!”

Dom closed his eyes.

Gavin laughed. “Should we go check?”

“No.”

“What if they broke something?”

Dom sighed. “If they broke it, they can replace it.”

Lucia squirmed, reaching for the floor. Gavin lowered her carefully so she faced Dom but kept hold of her hands while she found her balance, letting her grip his fingers when she was mostly steady. At almost a year old, she had become determined to walk everywhere despite having zero understanding of gravity.

“Easy,” Gavin murmured.