Page 206 of Paradox
"Hey, I was back in Broadrock on Monday. Maybe I wasn't getting the truck looked at. Maybe I was exacting my revenge."
"So another black eye right where he'd just finished healing wasn't enough?"
"The way he'd spoken to you was still fresh in my mind."
"Haven't you ever heard that two wrongs don't make a right?"
"And haven't I told you to quit pointing out my inconsistencies?"
"I will when you stop having so many of them."
With a,don't you ever change you annoying little shit,expression on his face, Eden leans down to kiss me, and I can't help but wonder if we'll have moments like this back in Broadrock where everyone knows who we are. The way he's holding me is so firm but gentle, and I can feel that he intends to keep every promise he's ever made to me. It makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world, so I don't want to have to hide it. I don't want it to be something we have to save for the apartment, or the truck, or the back room of the shop because other people can't handle it.
"How long before we can come back?"
"You're insufferable. We just stripped the place."
"Just tell me we can come back if things get too much for me."
"Thingsneedto get too much. That's what life is. That's what happens when you make your own decisions, like telling your parents that you're moving in with your thirty-four year old boyfriend and they need to just accept it or they don't get to see you again."
I laugh into Eden's chest at how speechless my father had been. "That felt really good."
"And so many other things will start to feel good if you stop running away."
"But can we—"
"For the love of fuck, Jin. Yes, we can come back. I don't plan on selling the place. But I'd also like to spend some of my days off doing other stuff with you. Once your classes start in June I can drive down and meet you in Seattle. Vancouver is only ninety minutes away, and I've never been to Victoria Island. The world is literally ours, and I wanna give as much of it to you as I can."
"Indonesia?" I ask, looking at him with a cheeky glint in my eye.
Eden scoops my chin up. "Yes, you little prick. We can go to Indonesia with Carey and Tek. You just better hope Reeze can hold things down while we're gone."
"I bet he'll have some help of his own."
"We're gonna need to change the name of the shop from Teken Ink to Broadrock Community Daycare."
"Shouldn't you change it fromTek-Enanyway, seeing as Reeze is a partner now?"
"God, that all happened so quickly. I'm still not sure if he deserves it." Eden only manages to hold a straight face for two seconds before he cracks.
"You are far more insufferable than I am."
"You're the one with his foot still in the door."
I look back inside, then out to the truck. "I'll move it if you put it back inside."
"What are you talking about?"
"The bookshelf."
"Jin—"
"I want it to stay here."
"It's all the way at the back of the tray."
I push the book against his chest. "This is staying here, and it needs the bookshelf to keep it safe."
