Page 35 of Just Watch Me

I shrugged. “I don’t think there’s a timeline for what we feel. Love has to start somewhere, right? It doesn’t go from nothing to an experienced level. Everything starts at a beginning stage.”

“Your brain is so sexy.”

I kissed him. “You’re so important to me. I’d love to go to Orlando. I want to be with you, and I want you to be happy. If that means traveling around, let’s make it happen.”

Sky’s eyes shone as he pulled me close and kissed me deeply. We might not have confessed our love for each other yet, but I felt it in his touch.

When he pulled back, he settled his arms around my waist. “I was thinking about staying in Portland. I had a call this afternoon with an acquaintance who works for another tech company. He reached out on LinkedIn, and I have been seriously thinking about it.” He smiled shyly. “I didn’t think I’d be able to leave you. If that means staying in Portland, I’ll do it. I’m not ready to give you up.”

“You’d stay in Portland for me?” My chest expanded with joy at his words.

“Absolutely.” He kissed me again. “You’d go to Orlando for me?”

“Definitely. Thank you for throwing Portland into the mix, but we’re going to Orlando,” I said in a tone that left no room for argument.

Sky’s sassy grin was my undoing. “Oh, we are, are we?”

I played with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Yes. I initiated the grand gesture here. I already found possible apartments and made arrangements with Ginny. I even put in my notice with the apartment.”

Skylar’s jaw dropped. “You put in your notice? Damn, J. That’s bold. What if this conversation went differently?”

I shrugged. Though I’d known there was a chance he wouldn’t be on board with my plan, the risk had been small, minuscule, calculated, and not insurmountable. Each moment I’d doubted my idea since the afternoon, all I’d needed to do was remember how he looked at me to know he would be on board. But still, me being me required at least one backup plan.

“If you didn’t like the idea of me being in the same city as you, I had three alternate cities planned.” My main goal had been to give Skylar and me a real chance, but if that hadn’t been what he wanted, I still planned to bust out of my comfort zone. “I owe it to myself to get out in the world and explore.”

“You realize you’ll have to fly there, right?”

I gulped. “I do. I already bought a book about flying anxiety. Gotta rip the bandage off eventually, right?”

Sky kissed me again. “I can’t believe you’re willing to go there with me and don’t mind my need to travel.”

I truly didn’t mind. I had a feeling his compulsion to keep moving would migrate toward center as my compulsion to stay put would. We would find a compromise of some sort, but that was a conversation for the future. If he wanted to move to a new city every month, I would happily do it.

“What about your parents?”

“I’ll talk to them when I go to their place for dinner next week. They’re not going to be happy, but tough shit. I can’t keep living my life out of fear, and they can’t keep trying to control it.”

“I’m so proud of you.” He squeezed my knee.

“Think we’ll be able to find apartments that look into each other like these do?” I waggled my eyebrows.

“My little exhibitionist.” He pinched my side. “Or voyeur.”

I grinned. “Both?”

He laughed. “Both. You sure you want separate places? We’ve been sleeping together every night and have been hanging out most days for weeks.”

I’d given that a great deal of thought all afternoon. “I think we should, at least for the six months. If I always sleep at your place, that’s fine. But we’re both independent people, and I want to make sure we have our space if we need it while we’re working out the relationship kinks at the beginning.”

“Kinks. Now you’re talking.”

I swatted his arm halfheartedly. “Perv.”

“Says the guy who jerked off to me fucking someone.” Sky loved bringing that up to tease me.

I loved it, too, because it always turned him on. Ever since he’d admitted that catching me was what had pushed him over the edge that night, our origin story turned me on even more. “Touché. Want to help me narrow down apartment options?”

“I want to eat your ass until you scream my name.ThenI want to help you narrow down apartments.”

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