“You’re my girlfriend, so by default, you’re obligated to say yes.”
I laugh so hard I snort. “You—you are the best kind of ridiculous.”
“Bloody hell. Here I go, exceeding expectations already. We are doomed, Beatrice. Doomed.”
“Ever After,” I tell him. “My favorite movie of all time isEver After.”
“The Cinderella retelling?”
“My mom used to watch it all the time when I was growing up. It would get to the end, and she’d say, ‘See, Bea? She saves herself. It’s always a better movie when she saves herself,’ and my dad would ask if he could please assist if she ever needed to save herself, and she’d say only if he followed directions, and then they’d both laugh, and it always made me feel safe and happy, like nothing bad would ever happen because my parents loved each other and me and my brothers too much for anything bad to happen.”
“I suppose that’s a reasonable second choice for a favorite movie.” He hugs me tighter and kisses my hair. “And Bea? You’ve done a remarkable job of saving not only yourself, but your family too. I have no doubt they’d be incredibly proud of you. And grateful as well.”
My eyes water, but I’m smiling as I blink the tears away. “So you know, my dad set the bar high.Reeeeeaallllyhigh. My expectations in this relationship are going to be absurd.”
“Darling, I’m acquainted with at least one of your ex-boyfriends, and I’m afraid, despite the example you had set for you in your youth, you don’t recognize the bar.”
I poke him in the stomach. “Hey.”
“And then you went and decided to invite this guy to a late-night rendezvous?—”
“Booty call,” I correct.
He ignores me. “When I’ve warned you time and time again that my greatest pleasure in life is underperforming expectations.”
“Simon?”
“Yes?”
“If I told you I wanted pancakes for breakfast tomorrow, what would you do?”
“If I answer honestly, you’re making a liar of me, and if I answer dishonestly, you’ll know I’m lying.”
I can’t stop smiling. “How would you get me pancakes?”
“First, I’d secretly ask input from your roommate and brothers about your favorite kind of homemade pancakes, if there’s a mix you’re absurdly addicted to or if you prefer all fresh ingredients, and then I’d add sausage and bacon—both the American and the British kind, because I cannot make one without the other in case I ever convince everyone in my life of the superiority of British bacon—and likely a fruit salad, precut from the store for time’s sake, and I would arrive at your apartment ready to cook a full hour before you usually awake, with a local diner on speed dial in case I bungle it all to hell.”
I shift onto my elbow and lift myself to look at him.
He purses his lips together and looks away, which cracks me up.
“You’re a terrible bad boyfriend.”
He looks at me again. “You’re merely saying that because I discovered your secret love of those horrific marshmallow treatsand made sure you had enough that you’d make yourself quite ill on them, thus never desiring them again.”
The way his eyes twinkle as he says it, the way he’s tucking my hair behind my ear, the way this is just so comfortable and easy even while it’s not easy at all to find private time together right now—there’s noI could fall in love with this man.
There’sI’m already there.
“Why have I not taken you up on that offer to have your roommate supervise my children so that we can see each other more often?” he murmurs while I settle back against him.
“Because she’s been distracted and busy and stressed about her sister. I’m not sure she’s sleeping more than three or four hours a night right now. And also because you know you’re going to miss your boys when you leave in a few weeks.”
“But I shall miss you too.”
“I can come see you easier than they can. And I’ll have you all to myself then.”
“I’ll be terribly busy for some of those weeks.”
