“I been along for this ride with you, Rosie.Do you think Imissed that?”
“No, it’s just—”
“I’m totally fuckin’ in love with you.”
I leaned back and stared, a flare happening around my heartthat started to spread throughout my chest cavity.
“Gone, babe.Gone,” he continued.“You’re sweet andyou’re funny and you’re not selfish.How you could think that, I do not know,seein’ as you put your ass on the line to save the soul ofthe man you were living with.”
As much as I was rejoicing in what he’d said to me, I had tolay out where all that was at.
“That wasn’t just for him, Snap, it was also for me.”
“All right, if you tell me there is some form of purealtruism out there, Rosalie, I’ll tell you you’re wrong because it doesn’texist.Even if you getnothin’ outta something goodyou do, you still get the satisfaction that you’re the kind of person who woulddo it.So in the end, that’s getting something.So yeah, part of your angle wasto get something outta that.You also got your face fucked up and your ribsbusted.You knew that was a possibility and instead of getting shot of thatguy, you carried on.So what do you think that says to me?”
“I was with that guy,” I replied.“The wrong guy.”
“No,” he denied, beginning to sound impatient.“It says ifyou care about someone, it’s not about going that extra mile.It’s about givingeverything.Honest to God, I fell in love with your tits and your hair and thatbeautiful voice and the way of you that I’ve learned recently you got from yourmother and that cute-as-fuck skip-walk you gotgoin’on first, Rosie.But after that, all that is you filled in the rest and I don’tgive that first fuck he was there in between.He isn’t anymore.And that’swhere we are now.He doesn’t factor to me.He only factors to you and you’vegottalet that go, Rosie.Because for me it’s alreadygone.”
“I get into this with you and later, it comes back to hauntme, that would not be good, honey,” I pushed.
“It won’t.”
“You can’t tell the future, Everett.”
“When it comes to you, I can,” he declared, all flinty.“We’regonnafinish this conversation and the food.Then we’regonnago upstairs and finish what westarted this morning.Tomorrow, we’regonnawake upand do more a’ that.Repeat for eternity,tossin’ ina couple of kids along the way.That’s our future, Rosie.And just to make thatclear,knowin’ now you’re falling for me, my worldshrank to what’s on this couch the minute we both sat on it but you shouldknow, my world started shrinking long before that.And I’m not only good withthat, it makes me really, fuckin’ happy.”
Right then, I was really fucking happy too.
“I have a feeling,” I whispered, the words uneven from theemotion stuck in my throat, “that you’re notgonnalet me pay rent.”
A smile bloomed on his face, huge, handsome, amazing.
He knew I was happy too, finally allowing myself to reachfor it, and he was right about there not being any pure altruism because healso knew he gave me that, and he got something huge out of it.
Thatwas what made him happy.
The chance at a shot of making me happy.
God, that was all justso Snapper.
“Youwannaexercise yourindependence, we’ll negotiatesomethin’ that makesyou feel easy about that but you can still buy garden furniture.The bed, babe,that’s notgonnahappen since, if shit works out theway it should, I’ll be in it as much as you, so that’s on me.”
“Are you saying that youwanna…” Iswallowed, happy we were there, no…thrilled, but this was maybe too fast, “movein together?”
He shook his head.“Nope.I think you need some time andspace, and we got moregettin’-to-know-you shit todo.But yeah, obviously eventually.Definitely.”
And with that, Snap shoveled in more food.
I called his attention back to me.“Snap, Valenzuela andBounty.”
“Babe—”
“It worries me.”
He gave me a thorough look and I could tell he was thinkingdeeply about this.
It took two mouthfuls of rice and korma with a chaser of abite of tikka masala coated naan for him to come to a conclusion about what hewas going to say.
