“In theory, yeah, but it’s much more than that.” I can see how much this affects her and I wish I could make it better. “Plus, they’d never sell it to me because they know how much it means.” She shrugs like it’s nothing.

“Jesus,” I whisper, threading my fingers through my hair. “Wait… what if I buy it?” The idea suddenly flicks into my mind.

“They know you already,” she replies in an instant.

“I can speak with my dad or a friend of mine,” I suggest, knowing they’d do it for me.

“We’d have to lie to your parents again, and I’m tired of it,” she admits, a drained look on her face.

“Yeah, it sucks.”

Soon, we’re going to get lost in the lies we’ve told. Indigo has no grandmother living here, she doesn’t own a big company, we’re not in love. The only true thing is my feelings, and they’re growing as we get to know each other better. Don’t know where that will take us, but I know I don’t want to lie anymore.

“Should we tell them the truth?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I don’t know if I’m ready yet. Admitting we’ve been lying to them this whole time will be really tough.”

I nod. “I could still speak with someone else.”

“Nah,” she shakes her head. “The house hasn’t felt like hers since she’s been gone, anyway.”

I don’t know much about Mushroom, just that he was her grandmother’s, and the garden was a comforting place for her as a kid. Honestly, that’s enough to make her feel this way. I can’t imagine my house without the big family table or my childhood bedroom. They carry memories, and when you lose whatever keeps your memories alive, you start to feel like it never happened.

“I try not to think about it, you know?” She shrugs.

“Come here.” I lie back and open my arm to her. She drags her body closer and puts her head on my chest and her hand on my stomach.

“Don’t get used to it,” she says when I kiss her head. She smells like cookies fresh from the oven. “I don’t like hugs.”

“Mhmm.”

She looks up at me, her beautiful eyes piercing mine. I’ll never get enough of them. “What?” she says.

I smirk. “You said the same thing about people, and you seem to like me just fine.”

“That’s because I have no other option,” she challenges, raising her brows. “You are so invasive.”

“Yeah?” I ask, ready to pin her down in less than a second.

“Mhmm,” she starts before I throw her onto her front, picking up where we left off the other day.