The Boyfriend Blog

“It is now. Eat.”

Lizzie smiles, and then that stunning smile turns to a laugh, but not just any laugh, a full-blown belly laugh.

Yeah, I’m head over heels in love with this woman.

When she stops laughing, she pops a bite into her mouth. “Can we go see fireworks tonight?”

“I’ll show you fireworks,” I say, waggling my eyebrows.

She slaps playfully at my chest. “Outside.”

“Oh. Those.” I grin and wink. “We’ll see what we can find.”

“Damnit.” I sit at my kitchen table and study the packet of information in front of me. The packet I’ve been ignoring for the last week and a half.

Ryan came through, he sent me all of the numbers that outline the perks of the promotion I’m being offered, and he’s right, it is too good to be true. It’s the kind of offer men spend their entire lives waiting for.

With a four hundred and fifty thousand dollar a year salary, a corner office in San Francisco, and an all-expenses-paid penthouse a mile from work for the first year of employment, he’s made me an offer that I can’t turn down.

Who could?

No one in their right mind, that’s for damn sure.

A throb in my left temple warns me that a headache is on its way. I rub my forehead and try to focus—try to come up with some way to keep the girl and the job.

Is it possible that Lizzie will want to come with me? That would be wonderful. Her saying yes would be the absolute perfect scenario. But there are so many things to factor in—Edna being one of them.

There’s no way Lizzie will leave Edna. Hell, I don’t want to leave Edna…but I also don’t want to let this opportunity pass.

Christ.

I bury my face in my hands. Ryan was clear during our phone call earlier—the one I used as an excuse to leave Lizzie’s. My time is up. They want an answer by the end of the day tomorrow. More importantly, they want me on a plane by the end of the week. The airline ticket paperclipped to the offer brings me back to reality.

This is real.

This offer is real, and they want me in San Francisco by the end of the week to check out the accommodations and meet with management to go over my new role.

If I decide to take the offer for a job I’m not even sure I want anymore. Not if it means losing Lizzie. But if I don’t accept it, then what? Am I stuck designing video games for the rest of my life? Will an opportunity like this ever pop up again? It’s not like there’s a lot of room to move in the industry.

A knock sounds on the door. I look through the peephole, and when I see Edna, I yank the door open.

“Come in,” I say, placing my hand on her elbow. “What are you doing here?”

“A girl can’t get out of her apartment?” she says, walking into my home.

“Of course, she can, but you could’ve called. I would’ve come to you.”

“I know, but I wanted to get up. I wanted to move. And I needed to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” I pull a chair out at my kitchen table so she can sit down and push my papers aside. “Should I call Lizzie.”

“No.” Edna shakes her head and sighs. “I didn’t mean for that to sound harsh. You know how much I love that girl.”

“I know.”

“But she’s smothering me.”

I laugh. “I know that, too. I’ll try to get her to back off.”