“Sounds good. Thanks, Nate. Bye.”
“Bye.”
When I set my phone down and turn toward the back door, Lola stops me. “Soph?”
Turning my head, I look at her.
“I know this is all a lot. And I don’t know what it’s like to be in your shoes, but please know that there’s no wrong decision here. That man,” she points at the door Ever walked through, “will love and support you no matter what you decide to do. He’s different than anyone you’ve been with before. They used you. He just wants you to be happy. So, when you go to overthink this decision, don’t. Set the pessimism aside and use that big, beautiful, annoyingly analytical brain of yours to weigh your options. You’ll kill it either way.” Her eyes are glassy, but she’s wearing her proud Mama smile that she usually saves for Benji.
“Thanks, Lo. I needed that.” God, do I ever.
Before I make it to the door, Ever walks back in.
“You okay?” he asks, as he walks to me and wraps me up in the kind of hug I only associate with him.
He is my safe harbor.
I catch Lola out of the corner of my eye, and she mouths, “Told you,” before disappearing downstairs to join Jesse and Benji, who are playing a video game.
“I’m okay. I think the shock has passed.” Hugging him, I believe it. “How about you? What did she say?”
He ignores my question. “You gave him your email?”
“I did.” Why does my chest hurt saying those words?
Still in his embrace, he rubs my shoulders. “Ms. Banks was pissed. God, she’s terrifying. She said you have nothing to worry about, and threatening you was a flex to get a reaction from me. She’s going to make a few calls and get back to us tomorrow with a plan of attack. Wanna go lie in bed and talk?”
I nod against his collarbone, because it’s like he read my mind.
Kicking off my shoes in front of my closet, I shut my bedroom door.
Ever’s on the bed already, lying on his back watching me. The tension is melting away for both of us.
“I’m trying to figure out how to tell you to take their offer,” he says.
Slipping my socks off, I crawl onto the bed and lie on my belly, propped up on my elbows so I can look him in the eye. “Why?”
One of my favorite things about Ever is how logical he is. One of my other favorite things is how considerate he is. As always, I’m curious to hear his reasoning.
“Stability. Job security. Benefits. Networking. Hell, just being able to leave work at work when you clock out and not bring it home at the end of the day would be huge.”
“Health insurance and a salary are nice, I’m not gonna lie.” He nods and opens his mouth to say something, but I continue, “But there’s no such thing as job security. I used to think there was, but that was just me being naïve because an unforeseen layoff hadn’t come for me yet. And a director-level job would be demanding. You know me, I don’t stop thinking about whatever I’m working on because it’s five o’clock.”
He reaches out and coils a long strand of my hair around his finger, like he can’t not touch me when I’m this close.
“Fair enough, but insurance isn’t personal.I am. Jess is. That compounds the stress for you. I don’t wanna be a burden. I wanna make your life easier, not harder, Soph. I feel so guilty for dragging you into this. Seeing you scared when you read that letter today about killed me.”
Pressing my thumb against the crease between his eyebrows, I rub it until he relaxes, and then I run my hand through his hair. “Ev, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You make every day better. Period. Did I freak out when I read the letter? Yeah, I did. It was a shock that I needed a few minutes to digest. But you jumped into action, and we addressed it. Together.” Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out my phone and roll onto my back, snuggling up to him when his arm wraps around me. “Let’s play devil’s advocate and look at their offer.”
When the offer letter is open on my screen, I turn my phone sideways and enlarge the image so it’s big enough for both of us to read.
The salary is even more generous than I imagined. “That’s a lot of money,” I whisper.
“It is. How does it compare to what you made before?” he asks.
I do some quick math in my head. “About two and a half times.”
I scroll through the rest, and I’m shocked by the disparity between lower wage earners and upper management. Everything from PTO to health insurance portion paid by the employer to 401(k) matching is significantly higher. The job would require a lot of travel, but I could remain in Colorado and wouldn’t need to relocate to Ohio.
