"I'm so sorry you went through these things this afternoon," Jory said between kisses. "I'm sorry I did that to you."
Since I intended to make good on that punishment, the one that wasn't a punishment at all but rather me working out some possessive energy on Jory and him reaping the benefits, I bit his bottom lip and shoved my fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry I reacted this way and busted your surprise. Someday, I won't even blink when I see you hugging a strange guy and getting in a strange car because every single ounce of me will know better than to doubt you're cooking up something good."
"Speaking of which." He tipped his head toward the desk. "The reason I was with Tom and ignoring your texts is he knew of an apartment coming on the market that would be perfect for us. He wanted me to see it today before it was opened up to brokers. And it is, it's perfect for us. Top floor in a triple-decker. The entire top floor! Max, seriously, you'd go crazy for this place. It's two bedrooms which is great so we have can have some extra space for an office-slash-exercise-room or something. It has an updated kitchen and new bathrooms and in-unit laundry. Off-street parking is included in the rent and there's even a little shared backyard."
"Anywhere is an improvement over Mallori's basement but where is this?"
"It's in Jamaica Plain, right between the Southwest Corridor Park and the Harvard Arboretum. Think about all the walks we could take! You might even convince me to jog one of these days."
I smiled at his sparkling eyes. "There's a library in that neighborhood."
"Oh, I know," he replied. "I could walk to the library, Max. Isn't that incredible?"
"You liked it?"
"So much," he answered, almost breathless. "You would too. I'm sure of it. But Tom needs to know tonight if we want it. He said he can pull some strings and waive some broker magic to get our application in first."
"I love you," I said, punctuating those words with a kiss. "And I want to work at being in love with you for a long time. I want to cheer you on at work, and I want to smack your ass at home every night. I need to get better at trust and be better at boundaries." I gestured to my bare feet and the room around us. "As you can see, I have a lot of work to do there."
Jory laughed as he dropped his forehead to my chest. "I want all of that too."
"Then let's call your secret boyfriend up and get us an apartment," I said.
Despite the fact he was laughing, he said, "That is not funny."
"Maybe not to anyone else but we're allowed a second of dark humor, babe." I surveyed the room as he grabbed his phone. "After you're finished with Tom, you're packing a bag and coming back to Mal's with me. I know it's not awesome in the basement but I want to be with you tonight." I cut a glance toward the door. "And I don't want Claude listening."
Jory made a sour face at the door. "Don't mind him. He's just salty because I told him I'd be moving out this summer."
"You already gave notice? Even before telling me about this apartment? Even before getting the apartment?"
He gave a sweet, boyish shrug that cracked my chest wide open and dug my heart out in one scoop. It was Jory's now and that was it. "I knew I'd find a way to make this work, and for once, I didn't stop to bleed over every last detail of it."
"What was that like?"
He tipped his chin up, considering this. "Exhilarating. I'm sure the reason I didn't notice you this afternoon was the blind, terrifying exhilaration of it all. Deciding I wanted to find a place for us and then Tom coming back with an availability before lunch—but I had to act today—was wild. All day long, I just kept saying yes. Yes, science chair. Yes, a yearlong STEAM cohort thing. Yes, an apartment in JP. Yes—"
"What STEAM thing is this? You didn't mention that," I interrupted.
He shook his head. "I'll tell you about it later. It's all good news, I promise, but I have to call Tom tonight. I'll cry ugly, snotty tears if we don't get this place. I've already planned an Earth Day party there next spring."
"Take care of business, babe," I said. "Then I'm taking you home with me. It doesn't matter who hears the pull-out bed squeaking tonight."
Jory snorted as he tapped his phone. "I'll remind you it's a school night and I'm going to crash real soon."
"Then I'll give you the little spoon treatment instead. Either way, I'm winning."
Part V Summer
9
Jory
"I can't believe this is it," Mallori said. She grabbed a fleece blanket from one of Max's laundry baskets and folded it in half, and then folded it again and again until it formed a small rectangle. "I'm going to miss you guys so much."
Moving day was finally here. School was out, I had a couple of weeks before the STEAM collaborative kicked into gear, and we had a bunch of friends coming to help us cart our things to our shiny new Jamaica Plain apartment. The one that was not subterranean, not shared with an anal-retentive demon, and not filled with small children.
"I wouldn't spend too much time with that blanket," Max said as he piled a rainbow of running shoes into another laundry basket. It seemed boxes were not his preference. "I can't tell you the last time it was washed and it's seen a thing or two."
