Chapter 26

6K 144 3
                                    

A few weeks later and it was Landon’s turn to help move. Melody and Zoe were trying to unpack as the guys brought in the boxes. After a few hours the four of them sat on the floor of their new house eating pizza. Melody fell in love with the house the first time Riley had shown it to her. The best part was the pool in the backyard. When Melody had asked Zoe if she wanted to move in she instantly said yes and started packing. The house was pretty bare because they had so much more room than they did in the dorms. They still needed a couch. 

After Landon left they all went to their own rooms to unpack. Zoe was a little surprised Melody didn’t want to share a room with Riley. Melody had decided to keep their rooms separate. As much as she loved Riley she knew they were still too new and did not want to rush things. She wanted a space of her own and felt Riley needed his space too. She was happy with their relationship and was in no hurry. She knew they would sleep in each other's rooms from time to time. As Melody finished making her bed she felt his eyes on her. 

“There you go staring again.”

“I can’t help it. My new roommate is this sexy little thing.”

“You have a girlfriend now. Do you think she would be ok with you staring at your new roommate?”

Riley smirked and walked to her, wrapping his arms around her. 

“I think as long as I stay away from her best friend she won’t mind.”

“Eww...I heard that.”

Melody and Riley looked at the door to find Zoe standing in the hall outside Melody’s room. They laughed. 

-----------

Melody walked into the bookstore. It was her first day working there. She had to get a job to pay rent and was so excited when she got the job at the bookstore. It wasn’t too far from home and campus. They also were understanding about being flexible with her schedule when her classes started back up in the fall. The owner was a sweet older lady that Melody had connected with during her interview. She was excited to work with Mrs. Greene. She headed to the back room to put her purse away and grab her name tag out of the locker Mrs. Greene had given her. As she walked into the back room she ran into a wall of muscles. 

“Woah...no one is allowed back here.”

She just stared at him. It wasn’t until he started pushing her back into the store area she snapped out of it. 

“Excuse me. I need to get through.”

He tilted his head and looked her once over. She could almost see the understanding on his face.

“Let me guess, you’re the new girl.”

She didn’t get a chance to answer before he walked away. She made her way into the back and got ready. She walked back out to the front and went to the register. There was a girl about the same age as her standing there. When she saw Melody she started bouncing in excitement. 

“Hi I’m Melody. Can you tell me where I can find Mrs. Greene?”

“Oh she is not here. She doesn’t really work anymore, just pops in and checks on things. I’m Willow.”

She reached out to shake Melody's hand.

“I’m Melody but you can call me Mel.”

“So you are going to shadow me today. Things are pretty easy, once you learn the computer. We check the shelves and basically wait for customers. It can get pretty busy, I’m so glad they hired you! Usually one of us will be running the counter and the other helping customers. Then…”

She stopped when she noticed Melody staring at something. Melody watched as she turned around to look at what she was looking at. The wall of a guy was stocking some shelves. Willow turned back around smiling.

“That’s Patrick, he is the store manager. Now that you’re here he will probably just be moving books from the stockroom to the front. Stay on his good side and you’ll be fine. He’s pretty quiet.” 

Melody shrugged and walked over to the register. After a few minutes of learning the basics she was relieved to find it was very similar to the one at the diner. She spent most of her shift behind the counter because she didn’t know where everything was. She always felt bad when someone asked where to find a book and she had to say she didn’t know and to ask Willow. 

After a long first day at work Melody collapsed on her bed. She felt her bed dip next to her and looked up into his beautiful eyes. She crawled onto his lap and inhaled his scent. She felt him chuckle before dozing off to sleep. When she woke up she was laying in her bed, covered up, and alone. She got up and walked out to the living room. No one was there but she heard voices in the kitchen. 

“Well hello sleeping beauty.” Zoe teased.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Almost two hours.”

Melody sat on a bar stool next to Zoe and watched as Riley was pulling food out of a bag. She smelled it and smiled.

“It’s our first Sunday in the house together. I was going to take us all out to eat but I figured you wanted to rest so I ordered it to go.”

Melody got up and wrapped her arms around RIley’s waist and kissed him.

“You two are going to be nauseating to live with aren’t you.”

Melody laughed. “Yep.”

Melody took her plate of lasagna and garlic bread, found a seat on the living room floor, and turned on the TV. The other two followed. She looked around and smiled...everything was perfect.

His Forbidden Sweets (Complete)Where stories live. Discover now