“I love you,” Simon uttered. His voice broke—he was seconds away from crying. “Thank you, thank you,thank you.”
“You’re worth it, Simon.” Jayne patted his hair, then pressed his hands against Simon’s chest so he could rise up and peer at Simon through narrowed eyes. “But I swear to god, if I hear you’re having unprotected sex with him and you’renoton the shot anymore, I will fly to goddamn Los Angeles and administer it myself. Right now, the last thing you need is a baby. In a couple years? Maybe. Go wild. Have quintuplets, for all I care. But right now, you’re tired. You need a break from responsibility.”
“You don’t think it’s too early?” Simon blinked tears from his eyes, smiling so hard his cheeks hurt.
Jayne quirked a brow. “Who exactly am I to tell you that it’s too early? I’m not exactly Captain Responsibility, having heat sex with Bastian like I did. Besides, haven’t you known Harlow for a while? I was under the impression that you two were already acquainted when he came through the door and put a dent in your face.” Jayne touched the tip of Simon’s nose delicately. It didn’t sting half as much as it had the week before. “It’s looking good, by the way. I’m very impressed with how it’s healing. Mr. 18D did a fine job setting it. You have impeccable taste.”
Simon’s smile grew wider yet. Was it possible to pull a muscle smiling? Probably. If it was, he was going to find out. “You’re sure it’s not a joke?”
Jayne rolled his eyes skyward. “Do you want to see the confirmation number?”
That was enough for Simon.
“Anyway,” Jayne said. He wiggled out from Simon’s hold and picked himself off the couch, then undid the first few buttons of his dress shirt and stretched. “You’ll probably want to get on that whole packing thing—if you need to rush out and buy suitcases, you’re going to want to do it before the stores close. You gettwochecked bags with Knot’s hoity-toity first-class seats, which is good, because you’re going to want to pack for… what, a lifetime?”
Where sorrow and pain had once rooted, weaving around his nerves like tree roots over rock, joy spread instead. Simon brushed the tears from his eyes, then laughed. A lifetime with Harlow, a shot at a fresh start, a new life… it was more amazing than he could have dreamed.
“So,” Jayne waved a hand in the direction of Simon’s bedroom, “Go on. Get started. We’ll need to leave bright and early—I took the morning off tomorrow to drive you to the airport, and we arenotspeeding with Parker in the back seat.”
