Stone looked at her. “I do, actually.”
“Why?”
“Because I’d like to take this”—he waved his hand between the three of them—“to the next level.”
More silence. More discomfort.
Again, Nico cut through it. “Whatisthe next level?”
Stone heard the confusion in his tone. It matched the expression on Stevie’s face.
“Forever,” he stated bluntly, then held his breath, waiting for either of them to say something.
They didn’t.
And then they still didn’t.
“Or maybe I’m jumpin’ the gun,” he drawled, suddenly self-conscious about bringing it up.
Stevie looked at Nico.
Nico looked at Stevie.
“Okay, now it’s just awkward.” Stone shifted to move Stevie off his lap, prepared to leave so they could talk about whatever they needed to talk about. Obviously, they weren’t on the same page as he was.
Stevie moved quickly, putting Jäger on the cushion between them and Nico. She resisted his efforts to move her off his lap.
“You don’t get to run away, Stone.”
“I’m not runnin’.” He exhaled heavily. “I’m just … tired.”
“Good.”
His eyebrows rose. “Good?”
“Mmm-hmm. Because there’s nothin’ you need to do but sit down.”
“Mentally tired,” he clarified.
He knew building a business took effort. It took hard work and dedication. Stone had never expected it would be easy. But he also hadn’t anticipated that merely getting to the point where he could possibly start a business would be so taxing. He’d spent the past two weeks coming up with a projection for the future. At this point, it was conjecture, and he had nothing to show for it except for a fucking PowerPoint presentation. He’d only had seven boxes to check off and hadn’t even completed that task. Perhaps he wasn’t cut out for this like he thought he was.
“I can’t speak for Nico,” Stevie said, her tone soft, almost comforting. “But I’m in this with you. If that’s still what you want.”
Stone attempted to relax, placing his hands on her hips when she straddled his legs, facing him. “More than anything.”
But he wasn’t talking about the business plan. “I want it all, Stevie.”
Her eyes implored him to continue.
“I want to build a future with the two of you.” He glanced at Nico. “I’ve wasted too much time already. I’ve missed out on fifteen years because I was too stupid to realize everything I wanted was right in front of me.”
Nico continued to stare, not speaking. Hell, Stone wasn’t sure the guy was even breathing.
“If it feels too fast”—he looked at Stevie—“you need to tell me.”
“It doesn’t.”
He pressed his fingertips into her hips. “Are you sure?”
