to that for a bit.”
“Can we make some sort of arrangement, then?”
“What kind of arrangement?” I glanced around us. “Can you get the lights. I want to see you while we’re talking.”
“One moment.”
He scrambled off my lap and strode over to the wall. Soft light flooded the balcony, and he walked back over to me, then knelt on the lounge chair beside me.
“Just something where on weekdays I sleep with you and weekends maybe you stay here. Something like that.”
Now I could see better how desperately he needed order in our relationship. I knew a part of his therapy had focused on him keeping his routine.
“Sounds good.” I could give him an inch. “And as time passes, we can talk again about living together. Fair enough?”
“I say you should move in now, but okay, I’ll live through a couple of months.”
I didn’t bother to argue that this might need more than a couple of months. We could always talk about it again.
“Now you’ve gotten all that off your mind, let’s get back to bed?”
“There’s just one more thing.”
“You sure it’s one more.”
His cheeks went red. “Yeah, but this one is big.”
“Bigger than asking me to move in with you?”
His eyes widened as he nodded.
My mouth went dry. “Ashton, you’re not about to propose, are you?”
He grinned at me. “I thought about it but decided you’d say it was too soon.”
I growled at him. “And let me do the proposing, damn it.”
“I’ll give you six months from today.” I wasn’t certain if he was serious or joking. “And then I’ll pop the question. Of course it’s better for you to do it because I’ll probably do something ridiculous.”
“Like that flash mob you had for my birthday?”
“I’m just sorry I missed it.”
“Baby, we’re getting sidetracked. If it’s not a proposal, then what is it?”
He inhaled deeply and released the breath. “You know how Mario’s been improving bit by bit?”
I cocked my head at him. What did Mario have to do with anything now?
“Yes. He responds well to you.”
His face went soft at my words. “I know. And I’ve been thinking. Can we take him here on the weekends when you’re here?”
“What?”
Other than traveling from New York to Ohio, Mario always stayed within the walls of whatever nursing home he was in. I’d never once even thought to bring him to my apartment, but it seemed Ashton had given it a lot of thought.
“I checked, and it’s completely allowed if you give your consent,” he said. “I think it’ll be nice for him to get away a few days from the home to be in a new environment. I’ll take care of him. And if you don’t trust me to do that, I’ll hire a part-time nurse for when he’s here.”
“Ashton—”
“Please don’t shoot this down,” he rushed to say. “You don’t have to give me an answer right now. Just promise me you’ll think about it.”
I waited until he was finished, then took him into my arms. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“Yeah, but I don’t mind hearing it again.”
“Why do you want to do that for Mario?”
He placed a hand over his heart. “I don’t know. I just see the way he reacts to me, and I think he understands more than he can say. Because I had the opportunity to get better, which he no longer has, but I still want him to live the best life he possibly can. And because of you. Because you still feel responsible for what happened to him, even though that’s not the truth. I want to help ease that burden from you.”
I tightened my arms around him and tucked his head under my chin. What could it hurt? We could try it out, and if it didn’t work, then we could go back to the way things were—visiting him once per week.
“All right,” I gave in. “We’ll try it one weekend and take it from there.”
“Yes!”
His lips smacked onto mine in an exuberant kiss. “You won’t regret it,” he murmured. “I know I’m not perfect but—”
Before he could continue, I kissed him again to effectively shut him up. Perfection, when it came to people, was impossible. It was useless to strive for it. All I needed him to be was the best possible version of himself, and from what I could see, he was working toward it.
That was enough. We were both works in progress.
Epilogue
Ashton
“Daddy’s home!”
Ashton’s jubilant cry rang across the pool area when he spotted me walking across the