Page 61 of Promised Summer
He shook his head, then confirmed, “I promised you I wouldn’t.”
“Then stay here. Move in with me.”
He hesitated and pulled back to study me. “I don’t want to take advantage of you?—”
“Please take advantage of me! I want nothing more!”
One side of his lips curved up. “I don’t want to feel like I’m forcing you?—”
“Does it sound like I’m being forced? I’m literally begging you to move in!”
He huffed out a laugh, and I knew I had him. Whatever issues he had about staying here, I’d reassure him.
“Karla’s gonna be up in your space all the time. You’re never gonna have any alone time,” he said.
“Then it’s a good thing I love spending time with my baby girl,” I reassured him.
He smiled fully, no words leaving his mouth. “Are you sure, Jones?” he tried one last time, probably running out of excuses to say no.
“More than anything,” I said, brushing the words against his lips. “Come live with me, please?”
He chuckled and finally agreed. “Okay, but I have to talk to Karla first.”
“Yes!” I yelled, picked him up, and spun us in a circle. This caught Karla’s interest, and she came running over to ask for a turn as well.
I picked her up and spun her. Ryan smiled indulgently as he watched us. Our happy laughter filled the room, and I knew there would be many more moments like this in the future.
Chapter Twenty-Two
RYAN
I was worried about how Karla would feel about moving in with Jones. She knew that we’d be moving out of her gigi’s house eventually, but it was supposed to be for a place of our own. Now we were suddenly moving in with someone else.
I really shouldn’t have worried at all. She was already excited to hear that she’d get to stay with her papa every night now if she wanted to, but the deal was metaphorically sealed when she learned we’d be able to keep Lily’s mini-me. Karla probably didn’t even care where we lived as long as she was able to stay with her new puppy.
Taking this chance, I also talked to her about my relationship with Jones. She already thought of him as her papa, but I wasn’t sure if she understood that he and I were together. Her mom had remained single to raiseKarla, so this was the first time she was seeing her parent be with someone else.
I told her I loved Jones just like how Imani’s parents loved each other. She asked if that meant we were going to be a family like they were, and when I told her yes, I’d never seen her smile bigger. And that was that.
Jones’ friends helped spread the word about the other two puppies who needed a new home, and within a few hours, we found two families who were eager to adopt them once they were weaned off Lily.
Best of all, they were friends of friends who lived in town, so it wasn’t like we’d never see these puppies again. All the rumors that got thrown around weren’t my favorite part, but I did have to admit this was one of the perks of living in a small town.
We spent the rest of the night brainstorming a name for the newest addition to our family. As much as Karla wanted to keep the name Puppy, Jones convinced her that since that was already her stuff animal’s name, it wouldn’t be fair for the newborn puppy to not get one of his own.
Karla eventually decided on the name Sunflower to keep with the flower theme. Though I suspected his government name would rarely be used, since both she and Jones were already calling the pup Sunny.
Every time I saw Jones interact with Karla, I fell in love with him just a little more. He was so patient with her andalwaysso gentle. He treated her like his own, and I truly believed that he considered her his.
I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better man to be a part of our lives. And just when I thought he surely couldn’t be any more giving, he stated he was officially going to turn the guest bedroom into Karla’s and give it a makeover.
“You really don’t have to do this,” I tried to convince him the next day. I didn’t think he would be so proactive about the whole thing, but he’d already managed to get his friends over to move the old bed and everything else in the room into storage.
Jones glanced at me, a smile on his lips as he nodded toward Karla, who was currently spinning around in circles, singing about her new room.
“Think it’s a little too late to back out now,” he teased.
“I’ll talk to her. She’ll get over it,” I told him, but he just pressed his lips to mine to shut me up.
