FUTURE TALKS.

ORION.

We were currently in Harro's Walk-in Closet, which is basically our closet now since half of the space is filled with my belongings.

We were getting ready for dinner with my family. Can you believe my father's wife invited us out for dinner? I still can't believe it! She just called me up last night to invite us for dinner and Harro, being the kind soul he is, decided he'd host everyone in his restaurant—the same one he took me to last time.

My stepmother sounded so excited about it, saying she'd been thinking about going there, so now I really don't have an excuse to skip this dinner. I thought about bringing the girls along, but they're out on a date. Their relationship has gotten more serious than we thought. They're always together and they seem genuinely happy, and honestly, we're happy for them too!

"Babe?" Harro's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, baby?" I replied spinning around and he walked over, helping me with my tie. He stepped back with a pleased smile.

"I've been thinking..." He started, and I raised my brows making him pause.

"It scares me every time you start a conversation like that!" I joked, and he shot me a glare, a pout forming on his beautiful face and I laughed.

"Ha ha, very funny. Just hear me out, okay?" he asked. He seemed a little anxious about whatever he's trying to say, so I know it must be important and I nodded urging him to continue.

"Alright, I'm all ears!" I said, bracing myself.

"What do you think about selling your penthouse or renting it out?" Hmm, that caught me off guard. That's not at all what I was expecting.

"Uh... I'm really confused. Why would I do that? I live there!" I already have other properties I'm renting out, plus we're not exactly hurting for money.

"Well, we spend nearly all our time together at your place or mine these days. My place is more spacious, and yours kinda screams 'this is a bachelor's cave' so I'm just saying." he explained, which made me even more confused, what does that have to do with me selling my penthouse?

"What do you mean my penthouse sreams this is a bachelor's cave? I am a bachelor!" Isn't that the whole idea of being a bachelor?

"For now, maybe. But do you want to stay a bachelor forever?" he asked folding his hand on his chest.

"Hold on a minute...what are you getting at?" We can debate the fact that he has issues with my penthouse later, I need to understand the point of this conversation first.

"I'm saying I want us to move in together," he laid it out plainly. Oh, that makes so much sense! Why couldn't he have led with that?

"Hmm...that's not a bad idea. I would love to live with you." I told him and he smiled. We already spend so much time together because he mostly works remotely, and I know that bouncing between homes most times can be exhausting.

"I was thinking my place would be better for us. But, I have other houses we can move into if you're not okay with my current one. Do you want to check them out? I'm sure we can find something that'll work for us" he suggested, looking hopeful and I shook my head.

"I like your current place just fine," If we're talking about space, his current place indeed has the most space, "We can always move into a new house later when we get married. That way, it'll feel like a fresh start!"

"Wait, repeat that last part!" he suddenly exclaimed, excitement dancing in his eyes.

"That way, it'll feel like a fresh start?" I echoed, confused.

"No, the the first part!"

"I like your current place just fine?" I said, I'm getting more confused now.

"After that!" He was getting impatient, as he shouted his demands.

"We can always move into a new place when we get married...ohhh!" And he nodded vigorously with a wide smile. It hit me! I'd said that out loud. It's something I'd been thinking about discussing with him but it was out in the open now, so no going back I guess.

"You want to get married?" he asked, sounding both surprised and hopeful.

"I do! I want to get married when we're ready. Is that something you would like to do?" I pressed, hoping he felt the same.

"Hell yeah! I would marry you any time, any day! It's just... you said it so naturally, I wasn't expecting it."

"I was going to talk to you about it first, sorry." That must have caught him off guard.

"There's no better time to talk about things like this, babe. I mean I just asked you to move in with me." He said with a smile and I nodded in agreement and then I recalled how surprised he was that I spoke naturally about us getting married and I felt like I needed to clear the air.

"Also, loving you feels natural. So, why shouldn't marrying you feel the same? I love you, and I want to be with you forever." I told him and I noticed his eyes had gotten a bit misty, so I walked over to hug him, kissing the top of his head and I heard him sniff.

We hugged for a while and then he spoke, "This isn't how you're going to propose to me, right?" He teased as we pulled apart and I laughed.

"Of course not! I plan to propose in a very grand and romantic way while being all mysterious about it—don't worry!" I said and he chuckled shaking his head.

"Somehow, hearing those words from you sounds a bit scary!" He teased and glared at him playfully.

"I can be romantic and mysterious too, you know?" I shot back, and he laughed.

"Yeah, sure! Let's go with that," he retorted with a cheeky grin.

"Just wait and see! I'll surprise you this time." I promised, I know the girls wouldn't let me down.

"I'm looking forward to it, babe. Just so you know, I'd marry you even if you proposed with a popsicle ring in the parking lot." he joked, and I couldn't help but laugh as I shook my head fondly.

"Good to know! I'll keep that in mind when I'm shopping for the rings." I replied, and he smiled.

"My life is perfect because you're in it, babe, and that's always going to be enough for me," he said, looking at me with so much love that my heart fluttered.

"I love you too," was all I could manage, but he smiled wide because he knew I meant it. He always knows the right words to say that take my breath away.

"Ready to go?" I asked after we finished getting dressed, and he nodded, taking my hand as he lead me out of the bedroom. I was beyond excited because we've finally had the talk about our future together, but that excitement is being replaced with the dreaded feeling of Harro having dinner with my family—I hope I wouldn't regret my decision about accepting her invitation.