Page 172 of The Plan

Ilook back down atmy phone to see my stingrays again.Mystingrays. I shriek, and Sire breaks into a laugh.

“You’re still looking at those pictures? We left them twenty minutes ago.”

Yeah, but I miss them already. Sire let us stay until closing because I didn’t want to leave them. They are so cute; I still can’t believe he adopted them for me. I didn’t even know that was a thing!

I nod, and Sire laughs. He grabs the mail and then holds my shoulders as he leads me to the elevator and our apartment because I keep my eyes on the pictures the entire time. I feel like my life is complete.

When we walk in, I put my phone down and give my eyes a rest. I flop onto the couch, and Sire lays next to me, hugging my lower waist. I soothe his hair, and he lets his eyes fall shut. I watch him for a few seconds, and then he speaks up.

“So, I was thinking.”

“Uh oh.”

“Oh, fuck you.” We break into a synchronized laugh. When I look back down at him, he’s already watching me with a perfect smile on his face. “It’s about what you said, about starting therapy?”

I turn my head to the side. I only ever brought it up twice, but I didn’t think he was giving it any thought.

“Mhm?”

He sort of shrugs. “I was thinking of going.” His words surprise me, but I try not to show it.

“Yeah?”

He nods softly, and I lean over to kiss the top of his head. “I think you should go too.” He glances up at me, and I think about it for a second. “I think it would be good for both of us.” Yeah… That's the main reason I brought it up to him in the first place, but I didn’t commit to it because when I brought it up to my mom, she said I didn’t need therapy, and I guess her words just stuck.

“We should try.” I shrug, thinking out loud.

“Yeah?”

I give him a nod, and he smiles, leaning forward to kiss me. When he lays his head back on my stomach, I lean over to the coffee table for the pile of mail. Most of what I sort through is junk, but when my eyes land on a specific one, I open it, confused. My eyes scan the paper, and it looks like a lease or a contract, but I’m confused as to why my name is on it.

“Do you understand this?”

He glances up at me and holds his hand out for the paper. When I see a crease grow in his brows, I grow worried and peek at the paper again.

“Dammit, I thought I had more time.” He mumbles about howthey’refast, but I’m still lost. “I should’ve checked the mail first,” he says to himself as his eyes scan the paper one more time.

“Well, what is it?”

His eyes snap to me from the paper like he’s remembering I’m here. “It’s your sunflowers.” I feel my entire face scrunch. I’ve never been this confused before. He smiles, then sits up to pull me onto his lap, so I’m straddling him. “When I took you to the picnic in the sunflower field, you said they’re so pretty, and you wanted them all.”

“Uh-huh...”

“So you have them all.” He plants a few kisses around my neck. “Sign the papers, and the entire field is yours.”What?!He pulls away to look at my reaction. My eyes slowly widen at the realization, and I swear his eyes shine at the sight of my shock.

“You bought me a field of fucking sunflowers?!” I shoot up from his lap and look down at him. He said nothing was impossible, but holy shit. I think back to how big that field was, and it washuge. “Sire, how much did all that land cost?”

He pulls me back to his lap and snakes his hands up the side of my shirt so he’s touching my bare waist. “It doesn’t matter. You wanted it, you got it.” He has to be insane.

“But Sire—” He shuts me up and kisses me. I give in and melt against him, letting his tongue explore my mouth. We pull away, lips swollen, and rest our foreheads against each other.

“Just give me an estimate.”

He shakes his head as he bites back a smile. “It was ninety-seven acres, so let's see how good your math is.” I bite him lightly for being a smartass. We both break into a laugh, but when we sober up, I try to actually do the math. I don’t know how much each acre cost; it would depend on location. It’s not too far from here, so—

“Stop doing the math.” He cuts me from my thoughts and tickles me. I break into a laugh and fall on my back. He comes over to me and keeps his eyes on me. “Are you going to sign the papers?”

I lean over to grab them and let my eyes scan through the papers, trying to make sense of them. “What am I even going to do with almost one hundred acres of sunflowers?”

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