You matter to me.
You’re home.
I love you.
It isn’t the crackers in the cabinet or the key lime pie on the counter that make my house a home. It’s the person I’m eating them for. The person I share them with. The whole reason I make the pie in the first place. I have to tell him.
As I eat, I design my battle plan. I will stay until closing, and when he comes to walk me home, I will tell him on our doorstep. We’ll kiss, and I’ll have my happy ending.I deserve it, after all I’ve been through.
I stay at my corner table, watching customers come and go as the hours do, and Jae flies in and out of the kitchen. He knows the restaurant like the back of his hand. By the time he’s finished cleaning, and while I offer to help, he forces me to sit and to draw on some copy paper. It's nearing 10:30 when he finally sits down across from me and lets out a monstrous sigh.
“Long day?” I ask.
“You have no idea.”
“It looks really busy. That’s good, right?”
“It is, but I’m still exhausted by the end of it.” Jae folds his hands and rests his chin on them. “But you know what would make me feel better?”
“What?” I ask. “Is there anything I can do?”
“A kiss.” He points to his lips.
I lean in across the table to place a delicate kiss on his puckered lips. “You smell like fish.” He smells worse than a fish.
“No kidding.” Jae lets out an uproarious laugh and pulls up his collar to get a whiff. “Yeah, it smells like fish,” he confirms.
We look at each other for a beat, our eyes reading one another’s faces like words on a page. We say each other’s names at the same time.
“You first,” he offers, leaning back in his chair.
“I have to tell you something.” I say to him, feeling the blush creep up my neck into my ears.
“I have to tell you something too.”
“Really?” I smile and cross my arms. “You first.”
He breaks our eye contact and looks away while taking my hand.Oh, fuck.
“I talked to Stuart. I’m breaking the lease on the apartment.” He sighs.
“Oh,”is all I have to say.
He holds my hand tighter. “My new apartment is in Gramercy Park. It has three bedrooms. And a beautiful, spacious living room. And a den. It’s better for my ma.”
“Did you talk to her?” I asked.
“Yes, she called me just before I came to you.”
“What did she say?” I ask.
“She thinks it would be a good idea if she moved out of Izzie’s apartment and in with me.”
The words are caught in my throat. I don’t want him to leave.
“Can we still see each other every day? Gramercy is far.”
“Nothing will be closer than two floors above you, Riley. But it’s not that far.”
