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.

we were left with no choice but to either stay in the

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

started, my voice almost tentative,

my words, and I could almost feel the pain radiating from him. His father had passed away hardly more than a month ago, leaving Enzo his

after finding it ransacked

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

know how the house looked last time,” Enzo replied, a hint of despair in his voice. “I haven’t had the strength

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

Nina,” he replied, his voice soft and low. “I’m sorry, but…

His thick, calloused fingers felt warm and comforting laced between mine. “Let’s go

agreed, and the next day found us standing in front of the towering beach house. With its gray and square exterior and massive windows, it looked dark and

I saw potential. I saw

hand tightly, I led him around the property, describing my vision for each room, how we could 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- fashioned architecture into a blend

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

but I continued, and led him over to

cracked glass table, and put in a big farmhouse table. With benches, maybe, instead of chairs… And over here, in

place filled with a family, too. Kids… Lots of them. A whole little