Page 89 of Love Expert

“For me?” My eyes water in spite of my willing them not to. Emotion thickens in my throat and burns my nostrils. “I don’t need your money, cutie. It’s yours.”

“But Molly’s mom gets taken care of by her dad, remember? This is my first tooth that fell out since I was telling you that, so maybe you forgot. I’m gonna take care of you now, too.”

“You’re such a sweet, sweet boy.” I wrap my arm over his shoulder and pull him in as close as two separate chairs allow. “I have never in all my life met such an amazing boy.”

“Really?” He inches back and searches my eyes. “The most amazing of them all?”

“Of themall. But honey, I want you to save your money.”

“I am?—”

“For yourself.” I carefully place his tooth back in his palm and gently close his fingers around it. “I know you want to take care of me, because you’re justthatamazing, but I don’t need to be taken care of. I’m all grown up. I work, I have a house, and money in the bank. I’m doing just fine, sweetheart.”

“But—”

“It would make me a million times happier to see you save all your money for yourself.” I lean a little closer, conspiratorially lowering my voice. “You know the house next to mine on the other side? The Smiths?”

His bobs his head in confirmation.

“Well, how cool would it be if you saved all your money and bought that house when you were a grown up? You could live next door to meforever. And even though I bet your dad will be sad when you move out someday, I just know he’d be less sad if you only moved two doors down.”

“You really think so?” He twists in his seat and peeks toward the Smiths’ house. “Are they dying soon?”

“No!” I bark out a cathartic laugh. “They’re not dying. But someday, eventually, they might want to sell. Don’t you think it would be a great idea if you saved all your money between now and then, so when they’re ready to sell, you’ll be ready to buy?”

“But what if they sell in a year or two?” He drops back into his seat with a harrumph. And when that isn’t good enough, he climbs across and drops onto my lap instead. He gives me no choice but to hold his weight, his ear on my shoulder and his long legs dangling over the side of thechair. Gripping his tooth in his hand, he opens his fingers and peeks at his metaphorical nugget of gold. “What if they sell too soon and I’m not ready?”

“Then… maybe I could try to borrow on the equity of my house.”Yeah, right, Magnolia. You have no equity, stupid. “Or maybe I could talk to your dad, and he would borrow on the equity in his. Or, who knows,” I add with a bright smile, “maybe my business will take off and no one will need loans. Maybe I’ll be insanely rich and famous and I can just give you the cash, since I’ll obviously have loads of it anyway.”

“Obviously,” he snickers, curling comfortably into my side. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take care of you? Buying a house later isn’t the same as taking care of you now.”

“I’m definitely sure.” I brush the inch-long locks of hair off his brow and press a kiss to his chilled skin. “I’m playing the long game here, handsome, and my long game means keeping the Smiths healthy for another ten to fifteen years so they’re not tempted to sell too soon. Once the time is right, we’ll make our move and get you into the real estate market. That way, when you’re all grown up and you fall in love with someone really special, you’ll be able to take care of them exactly how Molly’s dad takes care of Molly’s mom.”

He scoffs, dropping his gaze and studying his tooth. “I’m not gonna fall in love with someone else, silly.”

“Why not? Falling in love, and being loved, is the whole point, isn’t it? I know my life feels amilliontimes better now because you’re in it. Because I love you and you love me.” I kiss the tips of my fingers with slow, exaggerated movements, then I press them to the middle of his chest. “Loving a boy or a girl our own age feels pretty special, but loving a boy or a girl who is a kid, your own kid, feelssooooomuch better. You’ll see someday.”

“How do you know? You don’t even have kids of your own.”

“No. I don’t.” My head aches from days of overthinking. From days of hurting and wondering, doubting and denying. Because I’m in love with Billy Caster, too, but he doesn’t want more children. “I’ll have my own someday,” I rasp. “When I fall in love with someone else. I’m gonna have lots and lots and lots of them. And in the meantime, I have you.”

His eyes flicker up to mine. “Me?”

“Mm. It doesn’t matter to me that you didn’t come from my tummy. It just matters that I love being around you. I love seeing your face, and I especially love baking desserts for you to eat, even when we’re not together. I love hearing you laugh, and I even love the thud-thud-thud of your tennis balls on my fence when I’m trying to work. If I could makemyself tiny and live in your pocket,” I poke his hip and elicit a fresh giggle, “then I totally would. I bet there’s a lot of dirt and fluff and all sorts of craziness in there. But I would still do it.”

“Do you think you’ll love your real babies more than you love me?” He nibbles on his bottom lip. “Since they would come from your tummy and I didn’t.”

“Nope.” I keep my response easy. Confident. Even though his question hurts my heart. “On the contrary. By the time I grow babies in my own tummy, I’ll have hadyearsof loving you. That’s a huge head start you’ll have on all those other stinkers. Plus, you’re the first kid I’veeverloved, and I think that’s kinda special.”

“But you loved my dad. When he was a kid,” he adds quickly. “Sohewas the first kid you ever loved.”

“Well…” I stroke the bridge of his nose and luxuriate in the way his lashes come down with each pass. “This is true. But I was a kid, too. Which makes him the first boy I ever loved who was the same age as me. You’re the first boy I ever loved who isn’t.”

“Do you still love my dad?” He forces his eyes open and stops on mine. “Can you falloutof love? Because if you can, then maybe you’ll fall out of love with me, too. Especially when you grow your own baby in your tummy.”

“I have never fallen out of love with anybody. Ever.” I wrap my arm around his hip and hold him close. “I don’t think it’s possible. So you don’t have to worry about that at all.”

“Jeremy.”