Page 95 of Yard Sale

I made it to the end of the driveway, then started to reach for my phone when I remembered the thing he’d shoved into my pocket. I’d avoided it at the office because I believed him when he said not to take it out in public, but now I wanted to know what it was. My fingers came into contact with something soft yet rough, and I knew immediately what it was.

Pulling out the panties, I held them close to my face and saw they were the same ones he’d stuffed into my mouth on the ferry that first day. To anyone else, it might seem like a weird, maybe even insulting gesture.

But I knew what this was. It was a reminder of our beginning. Of a bit of spilled cheese and a bold, calculated, brave move to close a gap between us that should have never been there in the first place.

I shoved the panties back, then pulled out my phone and went right for his contact. He answered after the second ring.

“Hi, honey.”

I smiled, my chest warm. “Can you come get me now? I need you.”

“Ten minutes,” he promised.

I took a breath, then pointed myself toward the top of the street and set my cane in front of me. “Meet you at the end of the road?”

“I’ll be there,” he promised.

And I absolutely fucking believed him.

“So, we go to San Francisco,” I said slowly. Against my chest, Aravind nodded. In his hands, he was holding his little elephant seal Ferris had crocheted for him. Snoot the Boop, he’d called it. He was walking it up and down my stomach. “And we stay there for…?”

“As long as we want, I think. My dad will probably fund us to live there permanently with how bad he feels.” Aravind lifted his head up, and I reached down to touch his cheek.

I had my eyes closed. A headache had taken me out from the stress of seeing my parents, and even the tiny bits of light I could see were too much. But it was nice to have his weight against me and to feel the rough, just shaved curve of his jaw against my fingertips.

“I don’t think I want to live there, but a vacation that we plan would be nice. And it wouldn’t hurt to hear your dad’s friend out.”

Aravind hummed and grabbed my arm, wrapping it around himself. “I guess.”

“Look, if I’m going to wait for radiology results to decide my future, you can go talk to this man and see what the job entails. And like I said, I’m in this. So whatever you want to do, we will make it work.”

“I think I’m starting to believe you.”

I tried not to take that personally. I knew Aravind’s trust issues weren’t my fault, and he’d been doing his level best not to take it out on me. But sometimes it was hard to know that he was still keeping me at arm’s length.

“Whatever you need me to do to prove it.”

He shifted away, probably to put Snoot back on the nightstand, then crawled onto my legs and kissed me. “You don’t need to do anything. Just be you. Eventually, I’ll stop flinching at the thought of disaster waiting around every corner.”

I breathed in the scent of him as he nuzzled close and laid his face near the side of my neck. He liked this. He liked being held. For all that he was bossy and domineering and powerful when we were fucking, the rest of the time, he liked to be treated with extreme tenderness.

And that worked for me. My job had been adrenaline and violence for so long, and I never had anything quiet or soft to come home to when it was over. The few relationships I’d had before Aravind had come along had all been sharp edges and drama, and this was anything but.

So yeah. I was willing to fight for it. For him.

For us.

“Well, if you’re cool with it,” Aravind said after a long while, “I’ll get our tickets booked and let my dad know. My aunties are going to want to throw a big goodbye party, and Ferris might be sad we’re taking off so soon.”

“Let’s make sure we see him and Quinn when we get back to Boston,” I told him.

I could feel the curve of his smile as he pressed it against my skin. “Yes.” He took a deep breath. “I know things sucked with your family, and I’m fine if you don’t want to talk about it, but I need you to know that mine will always be involved with us.”

I laughed in spite of how I was feeling. I was still raw from walking away, though I knew I wouldn’t regret it in the end. But I wasn’t ready to dredge up all the details. It was nice though, knowing I could have this. Knowing that I had a place here with people who treated me like I belonged, even when I wasn’t sure I did.

“Wherever we end up,” I told him, “we’ll make sure we have several rooms. Enough for everyone.”

“And in Boston,” he added, “at least one floor between us and the rest of our guests. So I only have to stuff your mouth with panties when it sounds fun.”