“Huh…sounds about right.”
He smiled with his eyes as he kept eating.
“Did I do anything embarrassing?”
“Does none of that qualify as embarrassing?”
I shrugged. “Not really. I’ve done worse.”
“Oh wow.” He chuckled as he kept eating. “You really are a crazy-ass bitch.”
“Yours truly.” I dug into my food and ate, moaning with every bite because it was so damn good. It was better than sex—at least in that moment. “Have you talked to your friends?”
“Matthew hooked up with Jenny, and I’m not sure what happened to Kyle.”
“Sounds like they had a good time. Did you?”
“I always have a good time with you—even if I have to keep an eye on you.”
“I did tell you it would be a crazy night.”
“Yes, you did, in all fairness.”
We turned quiet, eating in companionable silence, demolishing the plates of food in front of us.
I ate until there was no more room in my stomach, knowing all the food would help with the headache behind my eyes. My body was exhausted, like I’d competed in the Olympic trials last night. “Well, thanks for putting up with my craziness.”
“I like your craziness.”
“Really?” I asked as I dunked my pancake into the pool of syrup, unable to resist the last bite.
“Yeah. Listening to you tell me how much you love me and begging me to fuck your brains out…pretty sexy.”
My mouth stilled and stopped chewing on my bite. “You said I didn’t do anything embarrassing.”
“I don’t think that’s embarrassing.” His eyes smiled more as he watched my reaction, watched me regret my atrocious behavior the night before. “Said that when you saw your ex, you felt nothing for him and you just wanted him to disappear so you could keep talking to me.”
I tried to brush off the embarrassment and get out of this sticky situation. “Well, he never made me breakfast like this, so…”
“I imagine he didn’t do a lot of things I do.”
I dropped my gaze and kept eating, trying to ignore the conversation even though I’d provoked it with all my craziness.
“Didn’t realize you’re the jealous type.”
“I’m not.”
“Really? Because you were pretty jealous of Bobby.” He was having so much fun with this, and he couldn’t even downplay his enjoyment.
“Look, I was drunk and out of my mind.”
“So, if a woman were hitting on me at the bar, you wouldn’t do exactly what you did?”
I pushed my food around on the plate, feeling his stare pierce my face. “How are things with your trials?”
“That’s a yes.”
“Fine, I’m not as chill as you are. You win.”
“I’m not chill.”
“Whatever. You never care when I go out with my friends. You never showed any reaction to me talking to Mason. You never care how I dress. Come on, you play it way cooler than I do.”
“Not wanting you to go out with your friends and policing your clothing is not a sign of jealousy. That’s a sign of abuse—and that’s not me. But with Mason… I didn’t show a reaction, but I certainly felt one.”
I chewed my bite as I stared at him, knowing I was sitting across from the man who had claimed my heart, knowing that no one else would ever compare. If he left, there would be a permanent hole in my heart, and no amount of success or one-night stands would ever replace it. “The reason I kept telling you I loved you is because I do, with everything that I have…and I just can’t pretend that I don’t. I can’t play it cool. I’m stuck under your thumb, I’m hooked around your finger, I’m totally hooked on you.”
I was still in his t-shirt, sitting on the couch beside him, seeing the stacks of paperwork and his laptop on the coffee table. He was like my parents, working during their evenings, having the TV on as background noise. “So, can I sleep over again?”
His arm was over the back of the couch, around my shoulders, his hand holding me close. He turned his head to regard me, affection in his eyes, looking at me with the same love I felt for him. “You can stay as long as you want.”
“Be careful what you say…you might get a roommate.”
That handsome smile moved into his lips.
“Home-cooked meals, good D, comfy shirts…”
“What about the company?”
I gave a shrug.
He released a breath from his nostrils, a quiet laugh.
“You know that’s my favorite part.”
His fingers moved into the back of my hair, and he lightly played with the strands, the smile in his eyes fading the longer he looked at me. He studied my face like I was asleep, like he didn’t care that I was watching him do it.
I loved it when he looked at me like that. “So, how are things with your trials?”
“We had a patient with promising results.”
“Yeah? That’s great.”
He nodded. “He was in stage four, and now he’s nowhere near it. It hasn’t worked as well with other patients, but his progress is so significant that it can’t be a coincidence. We’re still in the observation phase, but I’m going to figure out why he responded the way he did but others didn’t.”
“That should be helpful.”
“If we can figure that out, then maybe we can figure out how to help everyone.”
“You know, this is a pretty big deal.”
“I know.”
“You just don’t act like it’s a big deal.”
His fingers continued to move through my hair. “I guess I’m still in shock. I’d always hoped that this would work, but I never actually expected to see a patient go from being on oxygen to feeling better than he has in decades. But your father and I went out for drinks after we realized the ramifications of our research. It was like four in the morning, and we hit one of the bars that was still open.”
“That’s cute. Had a little celebration.”
“Yep.”
“I’m happy for him. I know how personal this is to him. It’s as if he’s still fighting the clock to save his father.”
He gave a slight nod. “Yeah. It does seem that way.”
“Does he ever…ask you about us?”
“He doesn’t ask questions. But he did say we seem happy together.”
I was glad that my dad kept his word and didn’t share anything I’d told him. It seemed like there was no animosity either, that he cared for Atlas the same way. “Because we are.”
His eyes softened as he looked at me, but then they slowly hardened, releasing a breath at the same time.
I knew exactly what he was thinking.
He didn’t speak his mind, kept it to himself.
I didn’t ask, giving him the opportunity to share if he was ready.
But he stayed quiet.
“Why won’t you tell me?”
The question made him look away entirely.
“I won’t judge you. I just want to understand.”
He kept his eyes away. “It’s…complicated.”