Page 26 of Friends with Benefits

Theo ignores the sincerity in her tone that doesn’t match her expression. “Sal needs an answer by the end of the week.”

She nods. “You mentioned that.”

Theo needs to swing by Ralphs to pick up produce for the week. Evelyn needs to retrieve Gen from his apartment, so she circles around to the other side of the table where he’s still seated and wraps her arms around his neck in a goodbye hug, before whispering, “I’d be a terrible wife.”

He looks at her, mimicking her expression. “I know.”

She lets go of him, then shoves his shoulder. “Asshole.”

Theo laughs. “Text me when you’re at Gen’s?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll do a grocery run and be home before you’re even through downtown,” Theo says. “This life could be yours, too. Just marry me, Evelyn.”

She removes keys from her tote bag. “I do miss Pasadena.”

“So come home, then.”

Evelyn’s expression turns serious, those words disarming enough to render her speechless. Theo worries it’s too much. Way too earnest. But he’s trying to sell a plan that doesn’t just provide another year of housing security for them but also gives her the security she needs to pursue her art.

Theo can do this for her.

She can let him do this for her.

“Okay.”

Theo’s eyebrows rise, as this is the shortest beat to ever beat. “Okay?”

“Yes.”

His heart hammers in his chest, thrashes wildly against his rib cage at the one-syllable answer to his question that changes nothing.It changes nothing. Theo can marry his best friend andit can mean nothingoutside the benefits—health insurance, a Foley fellowship, a retained apartment.

“Assuming it would be low-key,” Evelyn adds.

“Super low-key! Really, no one even needs to know.”

“Gen needs to know.”

“Only Gen needs to know.”

“Pep and Mo, too,” Evelyn adds, then nods once and it’s firm. Decisive. “Okay.”

Theo googlessame day marriage LA county howin that order because what even are words and starts a shared to-do list because lists are logical, lists are calculated, just like this decision. It’s a straightforward process. Go to the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk office (notcity hall) with aphoto ID, bring a witness, pay a fee, sign some papers, and… that’s it.

“I have a half day on Wednesday,” Theo says. Well, technically his kids do, but he’ll be free from the afternoon of professional development by two o’clock, enough time to make it to the closest office, even in traffic. “It’s probably our best shot of making it during the week.”

Her eyes meet his. “As long as we make it home in time forSurvivor.”

Home.

We.

Theo ignores whatever that sentence is doing to his heart. “Of course.”

Evelyn breaks the eye contact, her attention shifting to a screen aglow with notifications. Gen has blown up her phone in a truly dramatic fashion that has her off to retrieve her sister and return to the west side, but not before standing and saying goodbye with one more hug. “Are we seriously doing this?”

“It’s just a piece of paper,” Theo repeats. “Nothing will change.”

---