“That is a much better reason.”
“My father and I finally discussed it.”
“Discussed?”
“He said he never actually asked me to take it.”
I began laughing.
“I know.”
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
“You knew?”
“Your father told me.”
“Of course he did.”
“He also admitted that he has spent thirty years making requests sound like commands.”
“That is the most self-aware thing William Kane has ever said.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I would help choose someone else.”
“And?”
“He told me I was becoming difficult.”
“Meaning?”
“He was proud of me.”
I smiled.
Adrian looked toward Mia’s closed bedroom door.
“And there is one more reason I’m staying.”
I waited.
“This is where I want my life to be.”
My heart beat once, hard.
“With us?”
“With myself first.”
His answer surprised me.
Then it made me love him a little.
Maybe more than a little.
