Chapter 48

Sunday afternoon, they took Jace’s bed apart and stored it in the basement. Then they wrestled the mattresses from Joe’s bed upstairs after putting the bed frame together in his new room. The shelves and desk stayed, although they had to be moved to accommodate the larger bed.

When they finished, Joe stepped back and smiled. “My room,” he said under his breath.

“It is,” Derek agreed, wrapping his arms around him from behind. “I guess that means you have to stay.”

“I wasn’t planning on leaving,” Joe protested.

“Not consciously, but I think there was still some part of your mind that thought maybe you would, if things went wrong. It’s not called a guest room for nothing.”

“I’ll admit, for the first week I kept that as an option.” He turned in Derek’s arms to look up at him. “After that, my staying here became a no-brainer for as long as you wanted me around.”

“As far as I’m concerned, that would be forever,” Derek said softly before kissing him.