Page 72 of The Marriage Policy

I can tell by the way he’s tapping his fingers against the steering wheel that he’s nervous.

“What’s wrong, D?”

He pulls up in front of his childhood home. “Aren’t you nervous at all? It’s different now, and what if they can tell we’re…whatever we are? And then they think it means more than it does?”

My instinct is to get my feelings hurt a little at what he says. Does this not mean as much to him as it does to me? But then I acknowledge that I don’t know how to put a name on this either,so how can I expect him to know? “We’re still us. No matter what, we’ll always be us. That will never change, so there’s nothing to be worried about.”

He sighs. “Why are you the best person I’ve ever known? You always make me feel better, even when my head is still a mess.”

“Why is your head a mess?”

“Because we have no idea what we’re doing?”

“We’re husbands—”

“It’s a marriage policy. We’re married for insurance.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t change that we’re husbands. And best friends. Who have sex and like to cuddle. We have the perfect relationship, so why are we freaking ourselves out to put a name on it?”

His eyes close for a beat too long. “Because I—”

“Maggie! They’re here!” Mom shouts from somewhere behind me.

“You what?” I ask.

“Nothing. We should get in there. Your mom looks excited to see us.” Donovan gets out of the car and walks around to my side.

He and Mom get there at the same time, and I’m distracted by their hug. She loves him like I do—well, not exactly like I do, or that could be awkward. But Donovan is like a son to her, and that makes me feel warm and mushy inside.

Maggie and Calvin, Donovan’s parents, come out of the house. Donovan looks a lot like his father. The same kind, brown eyes, the same bighearted smile. He has his mom’s shorter height, though, and his dad has always been bigger and more muscular than Donovan.

I open the door, and Donovan immediately offers to help me. “I got it.” I grin at him, feeling it deeply inside myself, to the parts of me that only Donovan can reach.

“Oh, come here. Give me a hug. I missed you so much.” Mom pulls me into her arms.

“Hey, Mama. Happy birthday. I missed you too.”

“Good to see you, son.” I watch over her shoulder as Donovan and Calvin embrace.

“Good to see you too, Dad.”

“Then why don’t you get your ass home more often?” Calvin cocks a brow, and Donovan holds his hands up.

“I know. My bad. We’ll try and make it home more often. I mean, I will.”

“Hey. You’re not allowed to come home without me.” I throw an arm around him and can’t help but take in his scent. He smells so fucking good, he almost gets my dick hard.

“My turn,” Maggie says. She’s a tiny little thing, one of those people who don’t put weight on them no matter how much they eat.

I pull back so Donovan can give her a hug too. He lifts her off the ground, and she laughs. When he’s done with his mom, he comes to mine. “Happy birthday, Mama S.” He kisses her forehead.

“Thank you. And thanks for taking care of my boy. I can’t believe he broke his ankle.” The group of us walk toward the house.

“I’m not doing anything. Eric is good at taking care of himself. He just lives with me and helps with my rent.”

Way to try and sell me as being more independent than I am, while not seeing how awesome he is.

“Don’t let him fool you,” I say. “He’s always trying to take care of me. If he had anything to say about it, I wouldn’t lift a finger.”

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