Eighteen months later...

"Mikah is getting the last of it... and acting like a complete child while doing it, might I add." Hallie hurled a box much too big to be carried by just her to the kitchen table and slapped her hands together as a job well done.

I eyed the box, noting the sharpie-written bathroom on its side. The bathroom was on the opposite end of the house. Boxes labeled kitchen belonged in this room, as it was the kitchen. The blonde in Hallie was really rearing its ugly head today. Not having it in me to correct her for the tenth time this afternoon, I picked the box up myself—needing to readjust it to get a better hold—and began my journey to the hall. No use in complaining; I was just lucky to have the help today.

The bathroom wasn't nearly as stunning as the one in the apartment above Mulligan's, but it was an improvement from the one Hallie and I had shared for the last few years. The home was aged—what Ollie loved to call a "fixer-upper". It was good that he had a lot of enthusiasm about restoring it, because I had never touched a power tool in my life. It was beautiful, though, and we got it for a steal. An old farmhouse on the outside of Chicago, sitting on three acres. We had a chicken coop. And I, having never had a childhood pet, couldn't wait to name the chickens my boyfriend had promised me. But that wasn't the best part. The best part was that it was ours.

I dropped the box to the counter of the double sink—one that was about to be ripped out because of its atrocious pink color—and began unfolding the flaps of the box. All the contents were mine, ready to be mingled with Ollie's. There was something incredibly sexy about that, causing me to grin as I opened the medicine cabinet to place tampons beside Ollie's deodorant. The room already smelled like him. He'd moved in a few days prior. Today was the first time Mikah and I both had the day off for him to assist with his truck. It was a good thing I had little to move, because the poor guy not only had to move me outside of town, but later he had to move Hallie into the apartment above Mulligan's—the one that two brothers had been sharing since Mikah's final split from Shelby. Hallie and Mikah had been at each other's throats all morning. I cringed, thinking about them being roommates—even though Hallie was determined to be back out of the apartment as soon as possible. I knew better. As soon as my best friend would lay eyes on that bathroom, Mikah would have to put up a fight to keep it for himself.

Selecting a shampoo bottle with one hand and body wash with another, I pivoted on my heel to add them to the shelves of the shower, instead finding myself dropping both to clutch my chest. Damn it. "Hallie!"

Giggles erupted from the hall. My friend was already hunched over, clutching her stomach and unable to control her laughter. "I can't believe you didn't see them until now!"

"What the fuck do I need a blue one for?" I pointed to the obnoxiously large, erect, blue-marbled dildo that was protruding from the shower wall beside a limp Hulk. "I don't use the other one, as it is."

"His and hers!" Hallie's smile couldn't get any bigger, and tears had fallen down her, more than happy, cheeks. "It's a housewarming gift for Ollie. I wouldn't want him to be jealous of Hulk."

"He's not into ass-play," I attempted yanking Hulk from the wall first, certain it was going to bring the frail tile with it. Ollie could use the damn thing as a tool to pull the rest of it down.

"Not into it yet," Hallie attempted to correct me as she left the room.

"Says the girl who has never tried it herself!" I called after her.

It was too late. Hallie had already disappeared out of the vicinity. I gave a few tired yanks at Hulk before he popped free. I knew it was him that would pull a piece of tile with it. An entire chunk was now stuck to his suction cup base. I sighed, knowing that the bathroom had just become the first to be upgraded. I pulled the second dildo free.

"Where do you want..." Mikah stopped in his place, holding a box while wide-eying my current hold of two massive dildos. "You know what? I'll figure it out."

Mikah awkwardly turned and rushed from the room. It was time he got used to seeing dildos. He was about to share a tiny space with Hallie's expansive collection. Before I could toss them to the countertop, the two roomies were already disagreeing about something from the family room. I followed the argument to the source. Being the third wheel of their arguments all afternoon made an already tiring day more exhausting. Thankfully, this was the last box from the truck.

"These are mine!" Hallie yelled, clutching two throw pillows in tight fists. "I told you that these go with my stuff to the apartment."

"Must have forgotten." Mikah's eyes rolled hard as two oversized pillows were shoved into his chest.

"They go back to your truck!"

"They're going into your room," he said. "I'm not bringing women home for them to get the wrong idea. It's a bachelor pad."

"Right." Hallie crossed her arms. "I'm sure the guys I bring home will love to see I'm living in a bachelor pad."

"Ha!" Mikah cackled, watching Hallie stomp her way through the front door. "What guys? I see the tools you leave the bar with! They probably have frilly pillows on their beds to match yours!"

Mikah followed Hallie out the door, tossing her pillows behind him and back to the floor of the front porch. I didn't even care that I was going to have to pick them up and hide them away for when Hallie realized they were gone. I was just happy they were finally leaving me to finish unpacking in peace.

The last box Mikah brought in was unmarked, making it understandable why he didn't know where to put it. It had been left on the couch instead. I told the Google Home to play my favorite playlist and began pulling the miscellaneous items from the box. There were three things, specifically, I knew were packed in this box that were important enough to have a place in the house already. Ollie had hammed two nails into the drywall of the hallway for them. Carefully, I hung a picture of Steve and me on our wedding day, and beside it I hung a picture of Ollie and his dad in their family kitchen. Two years ago, this would have broken both of our hearts to see. Now, after a lot of grief therapy, we understood it was important to remember them. Without them both, Ollie and I wouldn't know each other, possibly. Last, I hung a frame beside Ollie's degree. Only this one displayed an Associate's Degree in Culinary Arts... with my name on it.

>>

"Hey, homeowner!" Mick slapped my back as I entered Mulligan's busy kitchen.

I grinned, loving the sound of that. "Thank you!"

Homeowner was not something I'd ever imagined I would become. It had been a busy month since graduation and buying a house. As excited as I was for my graduation party tonight, I really just wanted a sweet night in with Ollie at our place. We had many of those in our future, though. As Ollie looked up from the stew he was stirring, dimples told me he felt the same. And the wink that followed made my knees weak.

"Shouldn't you be unpacking?" Todd nudged me as he passed.

I moved to Ollie's side, where an arm was wrapped around my shoulder to be pulled closer to the kitchen's executive chef. "I missed my guy. He promised me fries for unpacking all day without him." I lifted to tiptoes to receive a pair of warm lips against mine.

"I missed you last night." Ollie kissed me back.

"Liar." I giggled, dropping back to flat feet. "I saw those beer bottles in the sink. You and Todd were playing poker."

"Busted," Todd called from the freezer.

Todd and Ollie had rekindled their friendship in the kitchen. The two had a knack for setting out to complete a project on the house, only to need "beer breaks". Beer breaks involved poker, snacks, and a dent in the fridge's liquor supply. I loved giving them a hard time about it, but really, I loved seeing Ollie thrive. I was finally experiencing the Mulligan's kitchen the way it was when Ollie and Mikah's dad was there. Now I understood why these guys never left Ollie's side when he hit rock bottom.

"Who won?"

Ollie sighed and gave me a squeeze before releasing me for his stew. "Let's just say that we might hold off a month before we rip out the bathroom."

So, now wasn't the time to tell him that Hulk ate the shower. Got it.

"Taste." A spoon arrived in front of my face. Ollie's brows lifted as he waited.

"Pretty sure you got me here with the promise of truffle fries. There are no fries in this kitchen, sir."

"Just taste it."

I rolled my eyes and wrapped my mouth around the spoon. My first thought was... hot. The roof of my mouth was a goner. Second thought... bland. Flavorless gravy wrapped around unseasoned pork. I held my hand to my mouth, shaking my head no. His stew was horrible.

"Don't like it?" Ollie asked, holding back a laugh as I retrieved a napkin to spit it out.

"Where's the flavor?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's no flavor!" I eyed the pot, looking for a hint of pepper, bay leaves, anything... "It needs salt."

Ollie's eyes rolled. "You think everything needs more salt."

"There's none in it!" I argued.

"I'm not adding more sodium, Sloan."

Fine. But he was adding something. This stew was the most disappointing concoction that had ever come out of this kitchen. I opened the fridge to fetch our secret ingredient. When I selected the brown bottle, I was surprised at how little effort it took to lift it. When normally it sloshed, it rattled instead. I held the bottle up in the air, hoping the overhead lighting would show what had happened to it.

"What's in this?" I squinted, worried I'd been using a contaminated bottle and serving it to customers.

Ollie arrived at my side to gaze at the barely lit bottle. He hmphed, helping me lift the bottle higher towards the light. "Looks like it's your engagement ring."

My head snapped in his direction. "My what?"

He lifted a hand. "It's not a gift!" he said, clarifying. "I know you don't like those. This isn't a gift... it's an investment in our future."

My vision blurred as I took the bottle back. I held it close to my heart, which was attempting to leap from my chest. "Our future?" My tears burst free. "You want to marry me?"

His dimples reappeared as he grabbed my waist and pulled me into him. "Absolutely." He beamed. "What do you say, chef? How about we ditch that generic last name from the state of Illinois, and I make a Mulligan out of you?"

There was no other name in this world that I wanted more. My head was frantically bobbing yes as Ollie placed one hand on the back of my neck to pull me forward and press his lips to mine. Ollie took the bottle back as we continued kissing, accompanied by the sound of our coworker's claps and cheers.

Ollie pressed his forehead to mine. "There's no salt in that stew. I needed you to find this." He lifted the bottle again.

"How did you get the ring into the bottle?" I eyed it close, dying to see the ring he'd selected. "And how the hell do I get it out?"

"Easy."

"Easy?"

"It's all yours..." Ollie grinned wickedly, holding it in front of my face and rattling it as a tease. "If you can pronounce it."

The End.