“I’d be a liar if I said I’ve not taken lovers—but they were not the other half of my soul. They were not you. They were notmine.”
His anguished eyes transform, leaving no doubt that what he’s saying is true. He drags one of our joined hands until it’s resting over his heart this time. I feel it beating as my human one does.
“I know you may question it, but I’ll spend the rest of eternity convincing you that we belong together. That my heart was made to beat for you, and you alone.”
“I won’t live for eternity.”
“But you will, Theo. If you choose me, choose to be mine like I have chosen you, you will.”
I want to laugh again, or pinch myself again, but the steady beating of Eros’s heart under my palm, and the breath in my lungs tells me this is real. And so does my gut. Despite it being unbelievable.
“Why me?” I ask.
“Why not you?”
“I’m a human. One who just got out of a shit relationship. A florist of all things! How can I be destined for you? And is destiny the only reason you went after me tonight?”
“I think you know that’s not true.”
“Do I?”
The question feels ridiculous, but self-doubt still creeps in. I think of every failed relationship, Ricky included, and all the men who saw me as the “just for now” guy, instead of the forever one. And now I’m supposed to believe I’m fated to a god?
“First of all, you’re more than a human florist. You’re smart, funny, and handsome. You know how to grow plants, and help them flourish. Not to mention, you know your wines.” I smile at him softly before he continues. “You’ve limited yourself, and those around you have contributed to the thoughts in your mind that have kept you small. But you’re capable of whatever you put your mind to, Theo.”
Warmth spreads through my chest, and I find myself blinking away emotion from his observations. “And you know that, how?”
“You have shown me how strong you are, not only in mind but in body. And may I remind you, I’m a god. I can see past the facade humans put on to protect themselves from hurt, especially when it comes to love.”
“And you think that’s what I’ve done?”
“You tell me.”
I stare into his blue eyes, his pupils expanding and retracting slightly as he looks at me, as if he’s looking straight into my soul. Maybe he is.
“Say you’re right, what then?”
“Again, you tell me.”
I stare at the places where our bodies are joined. One of our hands locked together, while my other is trapped under the one resting over his heart. We’re still nude, no barriers between us. His words from earlier echo in my mind, telling me to settle into the sensations, and trust him.
I absorb the warmth of his body and the beating of his heart. The smell of his skin, and the way I feel more like myself when I’m around him than I ever have before. I take a moment to imagine what it would be like if I left. If I went back to my job tomorrow, and pretended I never met him. My heart breaks—no—it shatters at the idea.
I swallow the lump in my throat and stare back into Eros’ pained eyes. As if he’s imagining the same thing, and feeling exactly what I just felt.
“Eros, I—”
“I know,” he says gently, when I can’t finish my thought. “This is a lot to take in.”
“It is.”
“If it’s all too much. If you’d rather go back to your life, I will walk away. I’ll wipe your memory and you can move on with your life as if this night never happened.”
I blink at him. “You’d do that for me?”
“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Theo.Nothing.”
“What would happen to you if I chose that? Could you forget?”
