“Well, at least you’re using it correctly this time,” he murmurs.
I give him a dreamy smile. “I’m so happy, I’m not even gonna take offense at that.” He chuckles again. “But do you realize something?”
“What?”
“Conrad and Wyn are gonna be in New York too.” I hop up and down. “You can play all the soccer that you want with him over there.”
Because that’s where we’re going. Along with Wyn, who’s going to start art school in the city, and Conrad, who’s going to be the coach for the New York soccer team.
Now that summer school is over and I’m a high school graduate — yay! — I’m moving to New York to start community college. And he’s going with me. Mostly because he doesn’t want me to go alone, but also because I don’t want him to live here. In this town. In the same mansion that contains so many bad memories for him.
So we’re starting fresh.
Which means he’s also quitting his job at Middlemarch College so he can get something in New York. And while he’s already got offers lined up — everyone wants to snap up Professor Marshall — he’s not in a hurry to accept any of them. He wants to work on his book for a few months before committing to a college.
Plus he wants me to travel with him.
That’s another one of the things that I found out about him.
Alaric loves to travel. He traveled a lot when he was in his graduate program, mostly on grants to all these historical sites, and so he wants to share that with me. And of course, I’m all in.
Actually I can’t wait.
Living with Alaric — not in my old town house though; Alaric hated that idea and found a place for the both of us which I don’t mind at all — traveling with him, studying fashion at some point in the future, learning all the new and old things about him.
Nothing could be better.
Plus all the things that I was worried about turned out to be okay.
Like people at school finding out about our relationship. Not that it matters much now, because not only have I graduated but also Alaric isn’t the principal anymore. But still I worried, when he came to pick me up from the dorms on moving out day, that people might raise their eyebrows and blame him. Well, they did raise their eyebrows but mostly it was because I was in love with the man that I’d hated for years and years and very vocally.
And secondly, the fact that Mo wholeheartedly approves of our relationship.
She’s so happy for us and has mentioned many times that she loves to see Alaric and me smiling and being happy together.
Although she did have the talk with me about the birds and the bees and all that. I think she frowns upon the fact that Alaric and I not only share a roof over our head but also a bed. Alaric thinks it’s none of her business, but I did try to put her at ease. I mean, she’s the only mom figure in my life and I can’t have her worry over me like this.
So all in all, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.
“We’re gonna have so much fun in New York,” I continue.
He brings his hand up to cradle my cheek. “Is that what the fortune teller told you?”
“I didn’t have my future read.”
“Why not?”
“Because I know my future.”
His thumb skims the bottom of my lip. “Yeah? What is it?”
I go up on my tiptoes. “You.”
“Me.”
“Yeah.” I nod. “And I know that as long as I have you, I don’t need anything else.”
He presses the pad of his thumb on my lips, parting them slightly. “Fuck yeah, you don’t. Because I’ll give you everything.”
My heart skips a beat. “Why?”
“Because you’re my baby.”
“And your little queen.”
“And my little queen.”
God, I love him so much.
So so much.
“You’re my king too, you know?”
“Yeah?”
“And so I’ll always thank you for everything you do for me.”
I stare into his eyes.
He stares back.
I bite my lip.
He clenches his jaw at the action.
“Alaric?”
“Poe.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
And then he bends down to kiss me. And I finally let go of my hat and kiss him back.
I feel the hat fly away in the wind and he breaks the kiss for a second to maybe go back after it. But I fist his hair and bring him back.
Fuck the hat.
Fuck everything.
I wanna kiss my soulmate.
And I want my soulmate to kiss me back.
But a few seconds later, I break it myself and whisper, “So speaking of corruption, what would you think about having sex with no condoms?”
He stiffens. “What?”
“You know,” I begin hesitantly. “I never liked condoms and I was just thinking that one time that we did it — although it was a bad move — felt so good. And so amazing and —”