Page 42 of The Price of Forever

“Let me know if I did it right.”

The coffee steamed lightly. He’d chosen one of the mugs I’d unpacked from my apartment: POKÉ-SLUT.

I rolled my lips inward, trying to stem the sudden urge to cry. “Thank you,” I forced out.

He turned back around. Mugs clanked again, then he held his own steaming cup, a tea bag sticking out. His mug read FUCKBOI.

“Cheers.” He lifted his mug.

I dissolved into laughter, my body shaking helplessly as I clinked my mug against his. “Excellent selection on the coffee mugs today.”

“You have quite the collection.”

“You could call it a passion of mine.”

He blew on his tea for a moment, then set it down untasted and went back to food prep—grating cheese into a bowl. I took an exploratory sip of my coffee—way too hot, which I knew it would be—and resumed my search on the tablet. After a few underwhelming search results that featured crumbling infrastructure and a definite lack of security cameras listed in amenities, I heaved a sigh.

Seven’s gaze flicked up to me for a moment. “So why don’t you accept your brothers’ offer to buy you a place again?”

Some of my vehemence about this topic had dissipated over the past week. Maybe their little brunch with me the day before worked its black magic on me. I hadn’t exactly been friendly with them, but it had also been…nice. To see them. To talk to them. To just be around them.

Even though I was still pissed about a lot of things, it felt surreal to be with blood family again. I just hoped Kaylee could appreciate that from the afterlife.

“It’s important to me to make it on my own,” I said. “I’m all I’ve got. I’m all I’ll ever have.”

“But you let them give you a bodyguard,” he said with a smirk.

I swallowed hard. “Well, it turns out, you’re pretty handy to have around.” The news that Dustin had been spotted coming toward Black & Brewtiful yesterday was an unexpected wrench in my return-to-independence plans. I’d thought Seven had scared him off for good, but part of me wondered if Dustin’s appearance was just a fluke. Maybe he’d been going somewhere else.

Would I have to worry about Dustin forever? My brothers were just as spooked by his appearance as I was, and I hesitated to imagine how any of these recent events would have gone down without Seven in my life.

“You’re still against roommates?” he went on.

“Forevermore. Unless it's Ranger. I’ve earned my solitude and my stability.” Tender and painful memories thrashed around inside my heart, desperate to escape. I never opened up to anyone about my past. But something about Seven told me he’d be gentle with my hard truths. Maybe it was the fact that I’d already cried into his chest once. Or maybe this was simply a consequence of my outrageous attraction to him. Whatever it was, I kept talking.

“I spent my entire life sharing rooms and houses with people that didn’t give a fuck about me.” I dragged my fingertip along the perimeter of the tablet as I spoke. “Supposed caretakers that made fun of me, locked me in closets, hid food from me. Then later on, roommates that gaslit me, used me for sex, stole my money.” I looked up at him, finding his warm gaze focused only on me. “I don’t want another living soul in my space or in my heart. And that’s not going to change. Even if it makes financial sense to find a roommate, I won’t have one.”

His gaze dropped, and he continued working on the meal. My words pounded in the air between us. I didn’t even mention that while I’d been starved and beaten up, Kaylee had been forced into sex trafficking and eventually died from her addiction. And that was because of the people paid to look after us.

Despite how true my words were, there was an important addendum.

Even just four days in with Seven, I knew I could probably live with him for the rest of my life without a single issue.

I’d never experienced that. His mere presence calmed my nervous system. And as much I pushed and poked him, the fact that he didn’t use it as an opportunity to further his own agenda was like an Earth-sized sigh of relief.

Seven was safe.

I’d been looking for safety my whole life.

I nibbled on my lip, the tears threatening again. Why the fuck was I so emotional this morning? I really needed to get my sass and glitter back in place.

“You’re going to need to pull in some more money,” he finally said.

I swallowed hard, nodding. “Yeah. I’ll figure something out. I might try picking up an extra shift per week.”

Seven headed back to the fridge, returning with a package of mushrooms and a fistful of scallions. “You already work damn near seven days a week.”

“Well, I’m young. Now’s the time.”

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