Page 96 of Room 4 Rent

I mean, look at them. We’re having a heavy conversation about where our relationship is going, and they’re torturing the kitten together.

“Stay for pizza?” I ask Cason as he lays on the floor and wrestles with Tatum.

“I’m starving,” he says and then proceeds to take a playful bite out of Tatum’s belly as he traps her on the tile floor.

“Boy! No!” She smacks at him, wiggling around. “I’m not food!”

God, could they be any cuter together?

LATER THAT NIGHT, after pizza and watchingFrozen, I’m lying in bed with Cason, and he rolls over to face me. We’ve been sleeping in the same bed for over a month, though I refuse to acknowledge we’re dating. We totally are, but I can’t play all my cards that soon. I have to keep the guy guessing a little.

“Are you nervous?” he asks, his voice low and rough.

“About?” I touch my hand to his cheek, loving the way the moonlight hits his shoulder and outlines the definition, the power in that right arm that’s going to take him so many wonderful places. And does so much for me too.Wink wink.

“Me leaving.”

The corners of my lips twitch. “I wouldn’t say nervous. More like terrified.”

Sadness marks his features, his lips pressed into a flat line. “I wish I could take you both with me, wherever it is I go.”

“We’ll be right here, waiting,” I whisper, trailing my fingertips over his bicep and to his chest.

His dad told me the one piece of advice he ever gave Cason and hoped he remembered. And now I hold it true to me. The game usually gives you what you deserve, good or bad.

I think the same can be said for life and love.

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