“You takebets!?”I gasped, shooting a flabbergasted look to Jay, but he was clearly doing everything in his power to keep himself from laughing.
“Who do you put your money on?” he asked Skyler, and she blushed before tilting her head toward me.
“Milo. He’s usually a sure thing. I almost never have to pay for drinks at the Memory Tap anymore.”
Jay’s eyes were literally sparkling with mirth.
“Is that so? Hear that, baby? You have me so whipped that you’re single-handedly funding the MTR floor’s drinking habits.”
“You’re notwhipped!”I protested as Jay slid forward, wrapping his hands around my waist and tugging me in for a soft kiss.
“I’m a little whipped,” he murmured against my ear, and I shivered, using every ounce of focus I had to avoid getting an inappropriate work boner.
Thankfully, Skyler and Grayson slipped away while Jay shamelessly showered me with what should probably have been considered an inappropriate amount of workplace PDA. Somehow, no one seemed to mind. Our little displays of affection were consistently celebrated and encouraged by our staff.
Apparently, they thought we were‘cute AF,’and one of the culture teams had even started a‘kiss cam’contest where the best snap of the Neurovance CEO’s kissing on campus got to take their birthday off without using a vacation day.
“Anyway, did you really want to change before we go? I can make a call and let Daniel know we’re going to be a little late.”
“No! We can’t be late. Not for this,” I cried, and Jay nodded in understanding.
“For what it’s worth, I chose this outfit with the grand opening in mind. I think you look perfect.”
“Yeah, but you always say that,” I sighed, finally finding my bag and slipping it over my shoulder. I shoved my glasses higher up my nose and moved to head out when Jay stopped me with a gentle hand on my arm.
“One sec, your laces…” He dropped to one knee and tied the leather laces of my loafers up for me.
“Ohmygosh, thanks. Jeeze, knowing me, I would have tripped right through the ribbon before we even got a chance to use the big scissors.”
Jay chuckled softly, and I glanced down to find him staring at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“What are you…”
He glanced pointedly down at my shoe, and I followed his gaze, frowning in confusion at a glint of gold that hadn’t been there before.
“Jay, what…” I squinted and adjusted my glasses, thengaspedwhen I realized what it was.
“JAY REYNOLDS! IF THAT’S WHAT I THINK IT IS, I SWEAR TO EINSTEIN?—”
“It’s exactly what you think it is.”
“Well, now we’re definitely going to be late!” I wailed, before crouching down to untangle the gold ring he’d tied up in my laces.
My eyes immediately welled with tears, and my hands shook as I examined the band. The inside had a little engraving of a chilli pepper, and the words‘I’m not going anywhere, baby.’
“Jay…”
He reached up, still on his knees before me, as he carefully took the ring out of my trembling hands.
“Give me your hand, please,” he ordered softly, and I held out my left hand to him, shivering with anticipation as he brought my knuckles to his lips, kissing them gently.
“Milo…” He cleared his throat, looking like he might be holding back tears himself. “Milo… there was a time when I didn’t think we would ever get here,” he whispered, his voice low and full of a deep aching pain that sometimes still cropped up on cold, quiet nights. I sniffed and squeezed his fingers as I waited, wanting more than anything to hear what he had to say.
“You’ve seen me at my lowest, and you’ve seen me at my best… but no matter what, the thing that matters most… is you’ve alwaysseenme.” He reached up and gently straightened my glasses on my nose. “Even when I didn’t want you to.”
My lip quivered, and that tender smile of his widened.
“When you erased me that day… I thought you were running from me. I thought you’d just had enough and realized that I wasn’t worth all the baggage I came with… but… it’s so clear to me now that you weren’trunningfrom me. You were trying tosaveme…”
