“Leo,” I whispered against his lips.
He pulled back, his hand stroking down my long hair as he held my gaze. “Kai told me it’s okay. He’s still learning to forgive us, but we can keep seeing each other.”
I nodded quickly. “I talked to him last night.” Like Leo said, there was still more to figure out, and I knew I had to earn back his trust, but the fact that he gave us his approval meant everything.
If Kai saw what was good about Leo and me, then I knew we had a real chance of making it together.
Leo slipped his hand into mine and started toward the theater. I turned and smiled to the man working behind the counter, who shot us a big grin.
“How did you get his permission to change the marquee?”
“Money,” Leo laughed. “I’m giving him some free promotion services through the firm. And I explained that I fought off the man who was trying to buy the theater, which he appreciated.”
I stopped. “You saved the Ringhouse?”
“Of course,” Leo said, more than a little smug. “Where else am I going to catch a matinee?”
He pushed a door open to an empty theater, and I followed him in. I couldn’t stop giggling to myself. I couldn’t wait to see what he had planned.
“Putting your emotions on a marquee for anyone to see?” I teased. “That sounds like the kind of thing you’d criticize a client for doing.”
Leo laughed, then gestured to a seat. A bag of popcorn and some candy was waiting in my favorite seat, which I guess I must have told him about at some point. “It’s like Kai said—you must have worn off on me.”
I wiggled my eyebrows as I sat. “I’ll be happy to wear off on you more later.”
Leo laughed and tossed his arm over my shoulder. “Shh,” he hushed. “I want to catch this preview.”
The screen flickered. Leo grabbed some popcorn from the carton in my lap, and we rubbed our legs together. A second later, his face popped up on the screen. It was a video taken at the office, probably with his laptop, and I could see the view from his office window, spread out behind him.
“Hey River,” screen-Leo said, his deep voice rumbling through the theater. I shrieked and grabbed his leg, laughing with pure glee as I stared up at the screen.
I couldn’t believe he had done this all for me. It was almost too much. Except from Leo, it was exactly right.
“I’m just sitting here at the firm. Everyone else has gone home, and I should be wrapping up my work, but I’m thinking about you again, just like I do every night.”
I squeezed his leg, and he tightened his grip around my shoulder, pulling me close.
“Now that Kai knows about us, I realized there’s nothing stopping me from asking you the question I’ve wanted to ask you for weeks now. But first, I need you to do something for me. I need you to tell me what you think of this…” He paused and pointed right above him with both index fingers, and a rectangle appeared in the corner of the screen. A picture of an old brick apartment building filled the rectangle, and a moment later, the pictures started rotating, images of what I assumed was the interior floating by. “It’s a pretty nice apartment, don’t you think? And right by your new campus. Do you like it?”
For a second, the Leo on the screen stared at me, and when I realized it was a real question, I sat up. “Um, yes,” I said loudly, still laughing. “I like it!”
Screen-Leo shook his head. “Don’t tell me, silly! Tell him,” he said and pointed out at the audience.
I turned to the real Leo, who was grinning at me. “Um, yes,” I said, kind of confused. “It’s a great apartment.”
Leo rummaged in his pocket, then pulled out a key. “Good. You can wait until we see it to decide, but here.” He pressed the key in my hand, his eyes shining. “I put a deposit down yesterday. It’s yours if you want it.”
My heart jumped. “You got me an apartment? But Leo, that’s so much money.”
He held his hands up. “No pressure,” he said. “It’s your apartment if you want it. But like that movie star on the screen said, I wanted to make sure you were all set up for your new life before I asked you the next question.”
I nodded. Tears were already starting to leak, and it took me a second to make words. “What question?”
“Will you be my boyfriend, River? I want to make a commitment to you, like a real commitment. I want to be there and support you. I want to pick you up at your place and take you on dates and celebrate all the little wins with you. And I want you to have your own life, too. I want you to have all the independence that you want.” He sucked his lip between his teeth, uncharacteristically shy. “And through all of it, I want to know that you’re mine and that I’m yours.”
I threw my hands around his neck and spun to kiss him, crushing his lips against mine. “Yes, yes, Leo,” I said. “I want to be your boyfriend. And thank you. Thank you for everything.”
I crawled over the divider between the seats and pressed my body against his. We kissed and wriggled together, laughing as we tried to find a comfortable spot in the seats. Everything was falling in place, and it felt so good to see a life in front of me that I had chosen, one that I wanted fiercely.
