It was last night. Sleeping together. Holding him. Taking him whenever I wanted him. It was the bath at the hotel. Feeding him. It’s having him around and taking care of him, showing him that I can be a good man—and that I can be a good man tohim, another man—despite what people think. It’s the way he looks at me, like I can do anything.
I get stuck in traffic for far too long, and Cassius is at my house before I am. I hurry inside and find him in his room, sitting on the bed. I knock on the door, though it’s open. I told him I would never bother him in here unless he allowed me to, and that still stands.
“May I come in?”
“Yeah,” he says with a small smile.
I sit beside him on the bed. “Thank you for returning my keys. You didn’t have to go all the way there for that. I have other cars.”
“Of course you do,” he says with quiet laugh. “But that’s not why I went there. The lawyer had me go by to sign the papers for Chrissy. It’s official. I have custody of her.”
“Oh, Cassius, that is amazing news. I’m so happy for you.”
I’d love nothing more than to hug him, but I’m not sure the time is right for that.
“Thank you,” he says with a slight nod. “It’s… unreal, honestly.”
“I can imagine it would be. It feels too easy.”
“We’ve been fighting to survive for so long, I…” He sighs, turning to look at me. “I like the way I feel when I’m with you. I love the way you look at me, the way you make me feel seen and understood. The way you teach me and care about me. I likeyou, Harmon, but this is such a difficult situation. You do understand that, right? You see the position I’m in?”
“Of course I do. I just wanted time for us to come up with a solution and—”
“I panicked. Yeah. Self-sabotage, I guess.” He sneaks a glance at me again. “Did you come up with an idea? Because I still can’t see how we will make this work. And I want it to. Trust me, I do, but I can’t do anything to jeopardize my family. I won’t. We’ve struggled for too long, and—”
“Cassius, whoa—hold on.”
I get to my knees in front of him and take his hands. “I would never let you or your family struggle. Ever. I’ve told you this many times since we’ve met. I understand how badly you needthis, and I would not do anything to put you in a bad way. If there is anything I need you to believe, it’s that.”
“I want to,” he says, eyes shining. “It’s hard to trust people, you know?”
I smirk. “Yeah, Cassius. I do know.”
His gaze stays on the floor beside me, not wanting to make contact.
“I do have a solution. One that would work for both of us.”
“You do?” he asks, his gaze finally coming to mine.
I nod. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you all day. I had to come up with something. I think I did pretty good.”
“Well, what is it?” he asks impatiently.
I shift on my knees, moving forward more.
“Instead of working for me here, you work for my company.”
“How would I do that? I have no experience.”
“I’m the CEO, Cassius, I make the rules.”
There’s a bit of hope in his eyes. A lot of curiosity.
“What would I do?”
“I haven’t gotten that far. We need to figure out where you would fit in, because I know you wouldn’t be okay with me putting you down as an employee while you do nothing.”
“No, I couldn’t do that.”