Rylee spun around the room and grinned over at Trace.  “This is perfect.” 

They were standing in the living room of Trace’s friend’s apartment, and Rylee loved what she saw.  It was two bedrooms, with a beautiful kitchen and a spacey living room.  She would have plenty of room for her things, and she could turn the spare bedroom into an office of sorts.  She loved it, and it was even in her price range.  It was on the high end of her price range, but she knew it would be worth it.

“I’m glad you like it,” Noah, the current owner of the apartment spoke up for the first time.

“Are you sure you want to sell it?  I mean, it’s such a great place…” Rylee spun around again, taking in the view from the bay window.

“I’m moving in with my fiancé, I really don’t need it anymore, and I’d rather sell it to someone I know is really going to appreciate it.  So, if you want it, we can go to the office together and fill out all the paperwork.  Just tell me when you’re ready.”

Rylee clapped her hands and jumped up and down for a second.  She was giddy.  She finally felt like she was headed back in the right direction, and she was excited to think that she would have her own place soon.  She loved being with Justin, but she knew that their honeymoon faze would wear off soon, and she needed her own space.  It didn’t matter that they would probably be spending the majority of their time together anyway, she liked knowing that she wasn’t depending on Justin for everything, and if she needed space she had it.

“I’d love to go over and sign papers right now; I just need to figure out my finances first.”

“I don’t think I’m going to need all this furniture, either.  I don’t know if you’ll want anything, but if there’s anything I leave that you don’t want, let me know and I’ll make sure it’s out of your way.”  Rylee was beginning to think that Noah was too good to be true.

“Seriously?  This furniture is incredible, I can’t imagine you’d want to leave any of it behind!”

“Rylee, I’m moving in with my fiancé, he’s got better taste than I do and most of my stuff looks like cheap crap compared with his.  So…if you want it, let me know, and if not I’ll make sure it’s gone.”

She ran over to Noah and gave him a huge hug.  “I don’t even know you, yet I can’t help but want to kiss you!”  They all laughed.  “Really, though, you have no idea how much you’re helping me out here.”

“I’m sure you’re helping me out more.  I didn’t think I was going to get this place sold.  I’m moving my stuff out tomorrow, so you can come over any time after that and let me know if you want anything left.”

“Noah, thank you.”  She couldn’t do much else but grin at him.  She was so relieved to think that she’d found a reasonable place to live that was close to both Justin and Trace.

Rylee was an independent person, but she’d never lived on her own before, Christina had always been there.  She may not admit it out loud, but she was a little nervous about being on her own.  She was afraid of the loneliness and she knew that being on her own meant more time to think about everything that had happened.  At least with Justin she had some distraction.

She and Trace left the apartment complex and headed to the cars.  She needed to stop by the university and see about fixing her financial issues there.

It was strange to finally feel like things were falling into place, especially when it was just a few weeks ago that everything was falling apart.  Rylee had done a lot of thinking about everything that had happened, and she knew that being with Justin was worth it.  At first she questioned things, and of course she was afraid that she would never feel content being in a relationship with him.  Now, she knew she was falling in love and it didn’t matter that life had gotten a little crazy, because he made it better.

The ringing of her cell phone shook her out of her thoughts.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Rylee?  It’s Brett.”  Rylee was a little surprised that Brett was calling, and she got worried that something was wrong.

“Hey, is everything OK?  Is Justin OK?”

“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine.  He’s still at the studio.  I was calling you to offer you a job.”

“A job?” now she was confused.

“Yeah.  I just had a meeting with Justin.  I can’t work anymore at the studio.  Things have gotten really crazy with my wife and the baby, so I decided to stop working at the studio so I can spend a little more time at home.  Justin told me I had to find a replacement, so…what do you say to being a full time technician at the studio?”

“I…wow.  I say wow.”  Rylee was blown away.  “Are you sure?  I mean, does Justin know you’re asking me?  Can he hire me?”  Her head was spinning.

“He knows.  I told him that I wanted you to take my place and he was really excited.  He just said that I had to ask you because he didn’t want you to think that he set it all up, or something crazy like that.”

Rylee grinned.  Of course Justin would say that.  “Well, thanks so much Brett.  It’s not going to be the same without you, you know.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna miss being at the studio, I love it.  But my wife and baby need a little bit more attention.”

“Of course.  You make sure you take care of them.  And I’m sure we’ll get together soon.”

She hung up the phone a moment later and sat back in the car seat.  Things had certainly started to fall into place.  She was tempted to pinch herself to make sure it was all real.  She was almost worried that something was going to go wrong, simply because everything was going so right.

“What’s up, Ryles?”  Trace noted the shock on her face and he was curious about what was going on.

“I just got a job at the studio.  Brett’s leaving and he wants me to take his place.”

“That’s awesome!”  Trace knew that this job would solve Rylee’s financial issues, and it was just what she needed.  “Congrats, Ryles!”

“Thanks.”  She grinned at him and let out a laugh.  “Am I dreaming this, Trace?”

“No, darlin’, you’re wide awake.”

“Good.”

~*~

Justin had finished up the track he was working on when the studio door flew open and Rylee came skipping in.  She had a grin stretched across her face and Justin couldn’t help but return it as she settled her self down into his lap.

“Hey Boss,” She gave him a lingering kiss.

“So Brett called you, huh?”  He could feel the happiness radiating off of her and he was glad that she was so happy.

“Yes.  Thank you.”

“For what?  You’re the best for the job, it was the obvious choice.”  He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close.  “I wouldn’t want anyone else to help me run my studio.”

“You’re just saying that so I’ll have sex with you later.”  He laughed and Trace made an annoyed grunt from across the room.

“I thought we talked about this, you two.”  He huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“No, you pouted about it and we’ve just decided to ignore you.”  Rylee quipped, laughing at the face Trace made.  “Don’t ruin my moment, Trace.  I’m in a good mood now.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Ryles.”

“How did everything go today?  Do we have an apartment?”  Justin watched as the grin on Rylee’s face grew even wider and he wondered if her cheeks hurt.

“Oh, Justin!  It’s beautiful.  It’s perfect and I love it and I can afford it now because I have a job and I’m just…”  She leaned her head back and let out a whoop of excitement.  For the first time in a very long time everything felt like it was supposed to.

“I’m guessing you’re taking the apartment, then.”  She sat back up and nodded at him.  “When do we move?”

“Noah said I can move in whenever, so as soon as we take care of the paper work and everything I’d like to start putting my stuff over there.”

“Sure, just let me know.”  He smiled at her excitement.  It was contagious.

“Oh!  I went to the University today, and we figured everything out.  Apparently they had the paper work and the money all along, but they were missing the go ahead from the loan company.  Or something stupid like that.  I’m still getting charged for late fees and some of the registration stuff, but at this point I don’t really care.  I’m just glad that they’re not kicking me out of the program.”

“Well that’s good.”  He was happy to hear that all of the things that had been troubling Rylee had working themselves out.  “What else so you have planned for the day?”

“I’m all done,” She turned to look at Trace and he shrugged.  “I guess we’re just waiting on you.  Are you done here?”

Justin looked around and shook his head.  “Actually, no.  With Brett gone there’s a lot that I need to get done now so I don’t get behind.  I was hoping you’d be able to help me out for a while.”

“Oh no problem.  I get paid for this now!”  She grinned at him.

“Well if you two are gonna work, I’m just gonna head out and get some food or something.  Do you need anything?”

Both Justin and Rylee glanced at each other.  “I don’t think so.  I’m not hungry,”  Rylee spoke first.

“Me neither.”

“All right then, you two have fun working.  I’ll catch you later.”  He left the room and there was a moment of silence before Rylee grabbed Justin’s head and brought him in for a long, lingering kiss.  When they broke, Justin pulled back and licked his lips.

“What was that for?”

“I’m just really excited.”  She let out a surprised squeal when Justin suddenly stood from the chair with Rylee in his arms.

“How excited?”  He walked her over to the counter and set her down, standing between her legs.  She bit her lip and grabbed onto the collar of his shirt.

“This excited.”  She crashed her moth into his and he let out a groan.  His hands traveled over her shoulders and down her back, pulling her closer into his body.

“This seems oddly familiar.”  He whispered into her ear before latching onto the lobe with his teeth.

She giggled at the tickling sensation, “You mean you’re about to cheat on your girlfriend with me?”

Just let out a laugh.  “I hope you don’t tell her, she’d be mad to know I was having sex with someone else on our counter.”

“Who said we’re having sex?”  She gave him a coy look before laughing at the look on his face.

“Oh, so you mean I can do this…” He trailed his lips over her neck, stopping to suck on the sensitive spot beneath her ear, “and it won’t make you want to have sex with me?”

She pretended to look thoughtful for a second, “Nope.  Gonna have to do better than that, hot stuff.”

He smirked.  Slowing undoing the buttons on her shirt, he moved his hands down her torso.  When all the buttons were undone, he slowly slid the fabric off her shoulders and let it pool behind her.  He stepped in closer to her, their skin almost touching, and with one hand he unhooked her bra, the other moving to slid the straps off her shoulders.

Rylee’s eyes closed and her head fell back as Justin’s breath fanned across her collar bone.

“What if I do this?”  His tongue snaked out of his mouth and he slowly traced his way down her body, stopping to make circles around her exposed nipples.  He grinned when he heard her sharp intake of breath.

“Ok…that might change my mind.”  She giggled when he started to laugh.

“I hope so.”