Until Her Smile: Happily Ever Alpha World

by Samantha Lind

  “That’s good, and how was work today?”

  “Great. I started the therapy with the little boy I assessed last week. He did so good today.”

  “That’s awesome! How often will you see him?”

  “Once a week for the foreseeable future. We do a reassessment after the ten-week mark to see how the child is progressing with the therapy. For some kids, music helps them process other things. Some get lost in the music. In my experience so far, the kids that benefit the most are usually on the autism spectrum. I’ve had some kids who are completely mute, and they use the music as a means of communication. It’s really fascinating, and I love getting to work with each and every child that needs my help. I’ve thought a lot about leaving the songwriting behind me and opening a practice to focus fully on the therapy side of music, and I may still do that. Build up a nice cushion from the royalties on my songs, and then open a therapy clinic in a few years.”

  “Sounds fascinating. I’m sure you would rock at it. Would you stay in Nashville and do that, or do you foresee yourself ever wanting to move back home and be around your family?” I ask her, just as the timer on my phone goes off, signaling it’s time to flip the steaks.

  “Nashville has become home to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love going home and seeing my family, but I don’t see myself moving back anytime soon.”

  “Would you ever leave Nashville for somewhere else?” I ask, curious if our relationship was to move forward and I was to get re-stationed, what would happen.

  “I wouldn’t say never, but it wouldn’t just be a quick decision. If I stick with songwriting, I can do that from almost anywhere. I’d just have to be willing to travel sometimes when necessary. As it is, I already have Skype writing sessions with clients when they’re out on the road or when they don’t want to come to Nashville to meet up. When Reese was in Indianapolis with Austin, we’d Skype her and work on songs. It’s not the same as being in the same room together, but it works when needed.”

  “So, theoretically speaking, if this,” I say, motioning between the two of us, “was to go somewhere and I was to get re-stationed, would you consider moving with me?”

  “If we were serious, then I don’t see why I wouldn’t. If you got orders tomorrow, I’d like to say I would, but that’s kinda fast, don’t you think?”

  “I agree it is, but do you believe that we all have a soulmate out there somewhere, and when we find them, everything just clicks into place? That, when our worlds collide, things just fit perfectly?”

  “I guess so,” she says, biting that lip once again.

  “I’m the last guy on earth that thought he’d ever be talking about soulmates and forever with a woman, but look at me now. Meeting you a few weeks ago completely changed my world. You came in and flipped me upside down. All it took was one look at you and my heart was pounding harder in my chest. And it wasn’t a physical attraction, not that I don’t think you’re drop-dead gorgeous, because I do. But I feel it to my soul, Stacey.” I close the distance between us and take the beer from her hand. I place it on the railing of my balcony and then grab both of her hands in mine. “I can’t even put into words what I feel with you, here,” I tell her, tapping my chest.

  “I’ll agree with you that what we have is something special and different. Does that mean that we were destined to meet and be together? I have no freaking idea, but the idea of you not being in my life isn’t something that I want to ever have to know.”

  “Is it too early for me to tell you that I love you? Because I do. I love you so fucking much. Being away from you this past week sucked so damn much. I had to stop myself every day from driving to your place after I got off work each night. I hated not having you in my bed each night, and in my arms.”

  “I hated it, too. And I love you, too, Peyton,” she says and the words wash over me.

  I capture her lips in a searing kiss, only breaking apart when the timer on my phone goes off again, signaling that it’s time to take the steaks off the grill. If it wasn’t for that damn timer, I would have completely forgotten about our food and taken her back to bed. After we both just expressed our love for each other for the first time, I’m so full of love for this woman, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to eat.

  “Let’s eat, then we can ravish each other again,” she suggests as she breaks our connection.

  “If you insist,” I tease her, dropping a peck to her forehead before I step away and remove the food from the grill.

  We head back inside, where we dish up, then take a seat at the small table in my kitchen. We eat quickly, just happy to be in each other’s company again.

  An hour or so later, we’re lying together on my bed, sated from love making, and just enjoying the comfort of being back in each other’s arms.

  “Have you ever considered moving off base?” Stacey asks, breaking the silence that had fallen between the two of us.

  “Not really, why?”

  “Well, I was just thinking. Since neither of us really wants to be apart all the time, what if we got a place together, somewhere around halfway between here and Nashville? The lease on my condo is up soon. That would give us time to find a place, and give you time to give your notice or whatever it is that you have to do to move off base.”

  “I would absolutely move off base if that meant I got to come home to you every night. I’d just have to notify base housing that I’m moving and go through the normal checkout process. Then, I’d get a housing allowance to help me pay toward rent, utilities, et cetera.”

  “So, is that something we want to pursue, then? I’m required to give my landlord a sixty-day notice, so if we want to do this, I need to give my notice when I pay my rent at the beginning of the month.”

  “I’m all-in, babe. If this is something that you’re ready to take the huge step toward doing, then let’s do it.”

  “I’m all-in. I love you, Peyton,” she says before she kisses me.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Stacey

  The past seven weeks have flown by. After my first weekend visiting Peyton and the decision being made that we were going to move in together, we both began working toward that goal. That weekend, we started looking at what towns between us would be the best to look at, and settled on one as close to halfway as we could get. We found a cute little two-bedroom house to rent and the day has finally arrived for us to get the keys.

  The weeks since then have been super busy for the both of us. Peyton accompanied me to the awards show a few weeks back, where Lee, Reese, and I all won awards for the songs we penned, and Reese recorded. Hearing my name get called was a feeling I’ll never forget, and having Peyton there by my side to help me celebrate made it that much more special.

  We’ve split our time between who drives to who each weekend as we hate being apart from each other. Having a set end date on when we’ll no longer have to think about not coming home to each other each night has been our saving grace these past two months.

  I left the studio around lunchtime today, wanting to have a little bit of time to pack a few more boxes to take with me today, when I drive to our new place and meet Peyton to get the keys. We plan to come back to my place tomorrow with a U-Haul truck to get everything else and then do the same for him. His furniture belongs to the apartment, so it’s working out perfectly that we only have to deal with one set, and we also don’t have to run out and buy a bunch of stuff to furnish our new place.

  I’ve been packing for a few hours when I hear my cell ringing from the living room. I run out to grab it before it rolls over to my voicemail, and see Peyton’s face flashing on the screen.

  “Hey, babe,” I greet as soon as the call connects.

  “Are you leaving soon?”

  “Yep, I was just finishing up a few more boxes. But I’ll load them up and then hit the road. Are we still on to meet at four?”

  “That’s the plan. I just got off work. I was going to swing by my place and grab stuff for tonight. But I was think
ing, after we get the keys and unload both of our vehicles, why don’t we drive back to your place, so we don’t have to sleep on the air mattress. And that saves us the drive in the morning. We can just get up, go grab the U-Haul, and get to work.”

  “That works for me.”

  “Sounds like a plan, babe. I can’t believe this day has finally arrived,” he gushes into the phone.

  “You sap,” I tease him. “If your squad could hear you now. Think of all the shit Lukas and Max would be giving you.”

  “Yeah, they were ragging on me today when I told them I was leaving early. I think it’s taken them all this time since I told them about you to actually believe I was serious and had changed my view on relationships.”

  “Well, when you make a complete about-face on your stance, I don’t blame them.”

  “All right, babe, I’ve got to get off my phone if you want me to start driving. Drive safe, and I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

  “Love you, too,” I tell him before we disconnect the call. This man has me so tied up in knots and I love every minute of it. He might have been the shock of my life, but I wouldn’t change meeting him when I did for anything.

  “Peyton, Stacey, so nice to see you both again,” Kyle, our leasing agent, greets us.

  “Good to see you, Kyle,” Peyton tells him, shaking his hand.

  “Ready to get moved in?” he asks the both of us.

  “So ready. We’re tired of the commute between our current places. Ready to just have one place to call home together,” I say, as he unlocks the door and lets us in.

  We conduct the check-in walk-through before he hands us our keys. We already took care of our deposit and first month’s rent when our application was approved a few weeks back.

  “Well, welcome home, guys. Please call the office if you need anything. If it’s after hours and you have a maintenance issue, there’s always someone on call to help.”

  “Thank you,” we both tell him as he sees himself out.

  “Welcome home, babe.” Peyton pulls me into an embrace.

  “Welcome home,” I echo. I look around and can see us settling in here, and the memories we’ll make excite me.

  “Ready to start unloading?” he asks after a few moments.

  “Yep!” I eagerly tell him.

  We get both his truck and my car unloaded in just around thirty minutes. We don’t worry about starting to unpack, since we need the furniture moved in to get things put away, so for now, we just stack all the boxes in the second bedroom. That way, they’ll be out of the way when we arrive tomorrow with everything else.

  “How about we leave your car here and take my truck. That way, if we have to haul anything in it, we can,” Peyton suggests.

  “Sounds good to me. Want to stop for some dinner on the way?”

  “Absolutely, I’m starving.” He links our hands together as we head out to his truck, only stopping long enough for him to lock up the front door.

  “I can’t believe we finally have the keys!” I muse, once inside the truck.

  “Believe it, babe. This house is now our home, and I can’t wait to come home to you every night here.”

  “Morning, gorgeous,” Peyton’s raspy voice says into my ear the next morning.

  “Morning,” I sleepily tell him.

  “We need to get up. The guys are going to be here in an hour and we still have to go pick up the U-Haul.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I grumble. “Why did you arrange them to come so early again?”

  “Nine in the morning isn’t early, babe. Plus, it’s going to take a good chunk of the day.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I say again, then he starts to tickle my sides. “All right, I’m up!”

  I get up and toss on some jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. I pull my hair up into a messy bun, brush my teeth, and call it good for the day.

  “How about I drop you off to get the moving truck, and then stop and pick up some breakfast pizzas, donuts, and a carafe of coffee,” I suggest.

  “Sounds like a good plan,” he says, grabbing his truck keys, and we head out the door a few minutes later.

  Forty minutes later, I return to my condo, food and coffee in hand, and find Ethan, Cash, and Peyton conversing in the living room as they decide the best order to load all the furniture into the truck.

  “Hey, guys!” I greet. “Thanks for the help today. I come bearing food and coffee.”

  “Hey, Stacey!” they reply as they descend on the food and coffee.

  “Cam should be here shortly,” Ethan tells me after his first bite of breakfast pizza.

  “Awesome, I’ll appreciate her help today.”

  Once we’ve all filled our stomachs, the guys start dismantling the furniture and loading it up while I focus on the boxes. Cam arrived a few minutes ago and she jumped right in to help me with everything.

  Hours later, with the moving truck fully packed and the back end of Peyton’s truck loaded down with a few other things, my condo is finally empty. I walk through the empty rooms, double-checking drawers and cabinets in the bathroom and kitchen to make sure nothing got forgotten.

  I can’t believe I’m actually moving out of here. It was the first place I ever rented, outside of when I lived with some girlfriends in college, in an apartment off-campus my junior and senior years.

  “Ready to hit the road?” Peyton asks, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me.

  “Yep, just taking it all in. It’s so surreal,” I tell him.

  “Take all the time you need. I’ll be out in the truck when you’re ready.”

  “I’m good. Let’s go,” I tell him, following him out of the room, and out of the unit I’ve called home for the last few years.

  All our friends follow us to our new place, and help get everything unloaded and the furniture reassembled. They’re all godsends for giving up their Saturday to help us. Without their help, it would have taken us multiple weekends to get this all done. It’s amazing how much stuff I had in my place. I never thought it would be so much, but thankfully, all my furniture fits nicely into our new house. We’ll probably have to pick up a few new things as we settle in, but nothing huge anytime soon.

  “Thank you all again so much for your help today,” I say as we all chow down on some Chinese takeout I ordered in for everyone.

  “Anytime. That’s what friends are for,” Ethan tells us.

  “We’ll have to have everyone over for a cookout this spring, once it warms back up,” Peyton says. “By then, we’ll be fully moved in and unpacked, and y’all can come see what we’ve done to the place.”

  “We’re holding you to that,” Cam replies.

  We visit with our friends a while longer as everyone relaxes from the busy day we’ve had. After we unloaded everything from my place, the guys went up and got all of Peyton’s things and brought them back here. Cam and I stayed here and worked on getting the kitchen stuff all unpacked and put away since we’ll need it immediately. I also got the bed all made up so that once everyone leaves, we have a place to collapse and fall asleep.

  With all our friends gone and the moving truck returned, we settle in for our first night in our house. I’m still giddy with excitement as we slide into bed together.

  “Can you believe we made it through today?” I ask Peyton as I settle into what’s become my spot, tucked next to his right side, his arm around me with his hand on my hip, and my head resting on his chest, right over his heart.

  “I can. Thank you for making me so happy. Thank you for making me believe in love again.”

  “No need to thank me,” I tell him. We melt against one another as our bodies relax into the mattress.

  “I’m so exhausted, otherwise I’d be sliding inside you right now. But I promise that we can christen this room in the morning. Right now, all I can do is close my eyes,” he tells me on a yawn.

  I look up and watch his eyes drift shut, listening as his breathing becomes slow and even. I follow his lead and fall asleep
a few minutes later, feeling so loved and knowing that this man was meant for me and I was meant for him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Peyton

  One year later

  The past year has been like no other year of my life. From the moment I walked into that bar and sat next to Stacey, my life has changed, and for the better. Her bubbly personality took over and I’ve been pretty smitten, as my dad likes to say, since that moment.

  Moving in together after only a couple of months of dating was kinda quick, according to some people, but it was a game-changer for the two of us. It has done nothing but strengthen our relationship and shown me how having a woman in my life that is just as concerned about my well-being as her own can be a blessing.

  I’m also the proudest boyfriend of all her accomplishments. She’s continued to rack up the hit songs and awards. Not only with Reese, but with other artists who have specifically requested to work with her and Lee. They’ve worked with some pretty big names in the music industry this past year and today, she’s due to fly back home after being out in L.A. for the past week, working with some hip-hop producers on a list of different songs.

  I have the house tidied up, as always, with dinner waiting in the oven for when she arrives home any minute now. I’m nervous as can be to see her tonight. I’ve got one very important question to ask her, and the rock to go along with it is burning a hole in my pocket.

  I never expected to be the guy getting down on one knee and proposing, but that will be me in just a few hours. I can only pray she’ll say yes.

  “Honey, I’m home!” I hear her sweet voice call out as she walks in from the garage.

  “I’m in the kitchen.”

  “It smells amazing in here, what did you make me?”

  “Something new I found online that I thought we could try.” I pull her into my arms as soon as she steps into the kitchen. I bring my lips to hers in a passionate kiss. “God, I missed you this week. Sleeping in an empty bed sucked ass,” I say against her lips.