"I understand what you're saying, Dylan, but you aren't telling me how you feel aboutme," Clay said.
She stared up at him for a protracted moment before she finally said, "I fucking love you too, okay."
Clay threw his head back and laughed before he picked her up to swing her in a circle. "Ha! I knew it! Only someone who loves me could put up with my snoring."
"I told you, once I'm asleep it takes a catastrophe to wake me up, like a tornado landing on the house."
"See? You're the one."
Dylan cupped his face with her hands, well aware that he was still holding her above the floor. "What if this doesn't last?"
"There's no guarantee that you wouldn't fall out of love with me in a year. Five years. Or even a decade," he said. "Does that mean I shouldn’t try? That you shouldn't try?"
"You're right," Dylan said. "I know you're right, but I can't get my bearings. I'm worried that everything is going to crash and burn and I won't be able to stop it."
"Okay, answer me this," he said. "Do you think I'm worth the risk?"
She didn't even have to think about the answer. She blurted out her response, "Yes."
"Then the rest of it doesn't matter," Clay said. "Be here with me now, focus on all the ways you make me happy and I make you happy, and take it one day at a time. We can do that and we can do this."
"Do you think so?"
He pulled her in tight. "Of course I do. We work together."
"I'm willing to try."
"Good. First step is that you're not moving out."
"What?!" she yelled.
Clay didn't give her a chance to say anything else. He kissed her and headed toward the bedroom.
He didn't stop kissing her until he tossed her onto the bed. Dylan bounced twice, the air leaving her lungs in a whoosh. They were really going to have to chat about this tossing her on the bed thing.
"Clay," she said. "I can't move in here permanently."
"Okay," he said, stripped off his t-shirt. "I mean, I'm kind of disappointed that you don't like the house but we can look around and find a place we both like."
"That's not what I meant," Dylan argued.
"You don't like my furniture? That's cool. I'll sell it and we'll buy more together. I was thinking I needed a bigger couch anyway so we could both lay on it together and I didn't have to worry about accidentally knocking you onto the floor."
Clay unbuckled his belt, unfastened his pants, and stripped them off, along with his socks. When he stood up, he was naked.
"That's not it either," Dylan said, laughing now because he was yanking off her shoes and socks and it tickled just a little. "It's too soon for us to move in together."
Clay leaned over her and went to work on the snap and zipper of her pants. "News flash, we're already living together, Dylan. It doesn't make any sense for you to move in for an undetermined amount of time, move out again, and eventually move in again later. You should just stay."
His hands slid up her sides, skimming over her ribs. It tickled, making her laugh and squirm again.
"Clay," she said, her voice breathy.
"One day at a time, remember?" he said.
She gave in. She wanted everything that he was offering her. Fear was the only thing standing in her way.
"One day at a time."
