Page 123 of Not Made to Last

“I don’t get it.” I shake my head, my heart heavy, and try not to let my disappointment show when I add, “Dominic said you’d love the place.”

“You showed him?”

“I brought him through yesterday… He thought you’d be excited, not… I don’t know… You’re acting like you hate it.”

“I don’t hate it,” she’s quick to say, holding my arm tighter. She goes back to looking over the pool and into the darkness. “I’ve just gotten so used to sleeping beside you every night. I don’t know how I’m going to feel when you move out.”

I pull away to glare at her, eyebrows drawn, because she can’t be serious. “Liv…”

Her eyes meet mine. “What?”

“This is forusto live in.”

She looks mad. “What?”

I backpedal. “Dominic said you didn’t have any emotional attachment to your house?—”

“Rhys!”

“Hear me out!” I’m almost shouting now. “You can keep the house, rent it out for additional income. And I know it’s only a four-car garage, and we already have three cars?—”

“Three?”

“Well, until Dom goes to Indiana!” I rush out, then add before she can say anything more, “But there’s this massive storage room in my building that has roller door access, so I was thinking of converting that into a workshop for you—you’ll easily fit all your tools and furniture—ifyou want to keep doing that. You don’t have to. You can do whatever you want. And Max—I was thinking he can have the two rooms upstairs, you know, the adjoining ones with the Jack and Jill bathroom. He can have one for his bed and the other can be his little creator space with his LEGOs and stuff. And my parents are literally two houses over, so you know… they can come over to babysit, and oh! I forgot to mention—my dad and sister asked if they could take Max to NASA. I was thinking we could all go, and the boys and I could catch a Rockets game. You, too, of course. And I checked—it’sthe same distance from here to Philips as your house now, so it won’t be inconvenient. And Dom, he can have the basement apartment.Fuck. I didn’t even show you the basement. But he loved it when I showed him. And it doesn’t have to be forever; it can just be for now. Or until Dominic gets that NBA contract. I know you’re not sure what will happen then—if you’ll move with him or stay here so Max can stay at Philips—but it’s whatever. I’m flexible. I can work anywhere. Go wherever you go. And I know you’re not thinking about college right now, but if you decide that’s something you want to do, then… Why are you crying?”

She drops her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs.

I hold her to me. “I’m sorry,” I tell her, my chest tight. “I should’ve asked first, but I thought the surprise would be better.” I scoff at myself. “Happy birthday, I guess…”

She lifts her head just so she can glare at me. “Rhys!”

I cower an inch. “Sorry.”

“Where is your phone?”

“What?”

She puts her hand out between us. “Phone.”

I give her my phone and the PIN in case she’d forgotten it, and if she’s pissed about something that might be in there, then I’m safe. I ain’t got shit to hide. But she doesn’t look at the phone. She just sets it beside her, next to hers, and the next thing I know she throws her arms around my neck, then… throws herself in the pool, taking me with her.

I’m so shocked by the move that I take longer to get my bearings than she does, and by the time I come up for air, she’s been waiting for me, and she’s laughing, and swear, every inch of tension that had been inside me dissipates with the sound. I grab her around the waist and let her wrap her legs around my middle, her arms around my neck.

“Is that a yes?” I ask, leading us back to the edge.

“Yes!” She kisses me, taking all my insecurities with her, and when she’s done, she pulls away, saying, “Just so we’re clear, this has nothing to do with the house.”

“No?”

She shakes her head. “I’d be happy to live where we are now, but I’ve just… I’ve been wanting to ask you what your plans are, but I didn’t want to come across as too needy.”

“Needy? Have you met me, Cheeks?”

“I think you highly underestimate how many times you saved me, too, and sure, I may not have had a loaded gun, but… I didn’t need it. I was barely surviving, let aloneliving.”

I pout, then lead her out of the pool. “Wait here,” I say once we’re out, and I go into the house to retrieve the towels and spare clothes I’d prepared earlier. When I’m back out, I wrap the towel around her shivering body and hold her close. “I figured we’d end up in the pool one way or another, so I prepared.”

“I love that about you,” she says, sitting on the edge of the pool again.

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