"Your apartment doesn't have any furniture yet."
"I have a bed.That's all we need."
Heat flooded through me at the promise in his voice."Fine.But we're getting Thai food."
"Whatever you want, baby.Tonight's about you."
As we walked out into the December night, his arm around my shoulders and my first real client secured, I felt something I hadn't felt in months.
Hope.
Not the desperate, clawing kind that came from chasing what other people thought success should look like.But the real kind.The kind that came from building something that mattered with someone who mattered.
"Hey," Shawn said, stopping on the sidewalk to look at me."You okay?"
"Yeah."I stood on my toes to kiss him."I'm really okay."
"Good.Because I've got plans for us."
"What kind of plans?"
"The kind that involve you naked in my bed for the foreseeable future."
I laughed."That's not a plan.That's a fantasy."
"It's both."He started walking again, pulling me with him."And trust me, the fantasy is even better than you're imagining."
"Cocky."
"You love it."
"I do."I leaned into him as we walked."I really do."
Epilogue
Shawn