Oxley doesn’t respond for a minute. “Yeah, okay. That’s worse.”
I snort.
“I have a counterproposal.”
A grin splits my face. “Oh, yeah?” I’m not even sure what I’d been proposing to begin with.
“You can stay here. You don’t need to work. We’ll get your things from your apartment. Let me take care of you.”
My heart feels like it echoes in my chest. I feel each beat twice as his words settle inside me. “Ox, we barely know each other.”
“Oxley. We’re getting to know each other more every day.”
“Yeah, but…” I’m not sure where I’m going with it.
“You can tell me you don’t want to,” Oxley says.
I flinch. “No. It’s not that.” It’s exactly what I said. Webarelyknow each other. Most of our interactions have happened around my getting shot. I know a little about his siblings, and he knows a little about my situation.
But that’s it. Nothing aboutmeand nothing abouthim.
Maybe I’m a little afraid as well. Oxley is an incredible man. So kind and attentive, and intelligent. How can I possibly make him happy?
“I am very methodical in life,” Oxley says, and I meet his eyes, unsure where this is going. “I follow the rules exactly. My daily routine is predictable. Right down to what I wear. But from the moment I heard you screaming, you’ve disrupted my perfectly constructed world.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good thing,” I point out, frowning.
“It’s a little uncomfortable at times. It makes me irresponsible at other times, such as ignoring the need for a condom and not explicitly asking for your consent in some of the things I do. These are very important aspects of my life that ceased to matter because everything about you occupies my brain, shoving otherwise excessively important things to the side for the first time in my life. Arguably, that might be a good thing since I hyperfocus on routine and rules and expectations.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
His lips curl a little. “No. Not really. There are times when it’s a pain in the ass for those working with me?—”
“They’ll get over it,” I argue.
His smile climbs. “My point is, you change things in me. You push me into uncomfortable places, and I like that. I like the changes in me. Even though it feels overwhelming sometimes and… confusing. The moment our paths in life crossed, we were no longer following different routes. I began following you, and that’s right where I want to stay.”
The words he says aren’t conventionally sweet. In the short time I’ve known Oxley, I’ve seen just how exact and matter-of-fact he is. I’ve witnessed how I’m disrupting his life and his routine.
That he wants me to continue to do so when his routine is so incredibly important to him and his comfort illustrates how much he wants me to be a part of it.
Swallowing, I nod. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
I nod. “I’ll stay. But I want to keep my job. At least for a while.”
Oxley presses his lips to mine. “Okay.”
Okay… My heart races with that word.
10
OXLEY
I haven’t leftHuntley alone since I brought him home. It’s been a couple weeks. He’s sitting up and moving around. Kind of. Not walking exactly. He still doesn’t put any weight on his leg. Mark says we’ll be starting PT soon.
Since his conversation with his boss earlier today, in which I couldhearhim not-yelling at Huntley, fire has been simmering right under the surface. Even as I tried to make it clear to Huntley that I wanted him here with me, his boss remained in the back of my mind.
