Page 108 of Devilry

“Before you open it, I need you to know, I wanted this for us when I bought it and I still want it now. But I can accept that things have changed, and things may be different between us.”

“I promise you, there’s no way I won’t love whatever this is.”

He blows out a long breath. “Just open it. Then decide.”

I slip my finger under the sealed flap of the envelope and pry it open. Sliding out what’s inside, I see two plane tickets to Chicago.

Chicago.

I look up at him incredulously. “You want me to come home with you?”

“I’m going to surprise my mom for her fiftieth birthday this coming weekend, and I thought you could come with me.”

Overwhelmed, I try to organize my thoughts. This isn’t some last-minute invite. I’m trying not to focus on how overwhelmed, and a little upset, I am that he spent this money on me. Instead, inside I’m reeling, realizing thatthis is something he wants. With me.

“Are you sure your family won’t mind?”

“I’m going to surprise them,” he says with a smile.

“Cole, no.” I shake my head. “That sounds like a terrible idea.”

He leans over me till I’m lying back down and he’s straddling me. “Trust me, you’re the best surprise anybody could ask for.”

23

Cole

When I invited him back home with me, I wholeheartedly wanted him to come; I just had no idea how much it really meant to me until I stuck the key into my mother’s front door.

I didn’t tell them I was bringing someone because I wanted the shock and excitement of such a monumental occasion as a distraction from the questions that would inevitably come.

He and I just managed to scrape on through what I was sure would be the end of us, and I’m not willing to risk a repeat of that any time soon. If he could win them over, which I had absolutely no doubt he would, the rest of the differences between us would be easier to ignore.

And even if they’re not convinced we make sense, I’m too far gone to care.

The week leading up to this weekend was crazy busy. Elijah started a new job, while juggling his usual schedule, and I’ve been stuck in my office till nine pm every night working on exam templates and mid-semester grading.

We’ve had little to no time to see one another, so the timing of this trip couldn’t be better. It didn’t hurt that the second we left Georgetown and headed to the airport, our walls slowly started to come down. We didn’t have to be those people who secretly worried if anybody saw them staring at one another for too long.

Instead, we got to be the couple that held hands in the Uber, cuddled on the plane, and kissed like nobody was watching in the terminal. And even here, in front of my family, I’m about to proudly introduce him as my boyfriend. Mine. Cole Huxley’s boyfriend.

When I unlock the door, I notice Elijah move out of the doorway, hiding out of view. “What are you doing?” I whisper.

“Panicking,” he supplies.

I hold in the chuckle, because I don’t want to make fun of how nervous he’s been. No matter how many times I tell him it’s unnecessary, he continues to send himself into a frenzy.

When I texted Megs to tell her I’d arrived, she offered to come and get me from the airport, but seeing as I want to surprise everyone at the same time, I managed to convince her an Uber home wasn’t going to kill me.

“Well, you better stop panicking if you want to give my mom the flowers you insisted on buying.”

“You can’t just go to someone’s house empty handed,” he says defensively.

“You never come to my house bearing gifts.”

“And here I was thinking you liked my dick.”

We both swallow our laughter as we pass the threshold. I slip my hand into Elijah’s and give him a kiss on the temple. “I promise it’s going to be okay.”

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