My Hockey Alpha

Chapter 302

Bonus 2: House Hunting

Nina

The whisper of the wind and the distant hum of the campus came as a backdrop to our conversation. Enzo and I were sitting on the steps of our university dorm, a stack of housing catalogs spread out around us, dog- eared and underlined with no luck.

Enzo ran a hand through his hair, frustration clear in his furrowed brows. “Nina, none of these places feel right. They’re not…us.”

I looked at the houses in the brochures, all perfectly manicured lawns and cookie-cutter designs, and I had to agree with him. There was nothing that I hated more than a white picket fence and a perfectly mowed back lawn.

For the past couple of weeks, we had been house hunting almost nonstop. Neither of us wanted to continue living in our campus dorms once we were married. We craved the true privacy of a home, and we planned on staying in Mountainview for a long time, so we figured that now was as good a time as any to officially settle down and buy a home.

But the movies and TV shows made house hunting appear to be much easier than it really was. I always thought that it would just take a few houses and a good real estate agent before we would find the house of our dreams, but that wasn’t the case.

Everything that we looked at felt too cramped between other houses, too bland, and nothing had enough character to suit our unique lifestyle.

We both wanted space to run in our wolf forms, trees outside our windows, and the feeling of the ocean breeze on our skin; but it seemed that all of the houses that were available in the area were the exact opposite of that.

stay in the dorms or get an apartment downtown, and neither of us wanted

something that I had been hesitant to bring up because I knew that it was a soft spot for Enzo, but now, it

I started, my voice almost tentative, “have you

feel the pain radiating from him. His father had passed away hardly more than a

it ransacked and destroyed

just sitting all alone up there on the cliff, dark and empty. It was like a coffin. Even just thinking about

Enzo replied, a hint of despair in his voice. “I haven’t had the strength to fix it up. Plus, I

our own,” I suggested, meeting his brown- eyed gaze. I was convinced we could breathe life

voice soft and low. “I’m sorry, but… The wedding is so close, you know? We won’t have any time

but I reached out to hold his hand. His thick, calloused fingers felt warm and comforting laced between mine. “Let’s go look at it, just once. Maybe it’s not as

towering beach house. With its gray and square exterior

when I looked at it, I saw potential. I saw

play with the natural light, the open spaces, and the amazing view of the ocean. I explained my ideas for renovations, for turning the old-

We can replace all of these metal cabinets with nice wooden ones, and we’ll put

said nothing just yet, but I continued, and led

in a big farmhouse table. With benches, maybe, instead of chairs… And over here, in the living room, we can get rid of all of this awful gray furniture and replace

my head that wanted me to picture this place filled with a family, too. Kids… Lots of them. A whole little pack of pups. The thought of it made me blush, but I decided to keep it