Page 121 of Next Time I Fall (Excess All Areas 2)

Jase pouted. “He’s offended. And kind of pissed he has to book time in your busy calendar to get affection.”

Cerys’s laughter filled the space. “He’s already had plenty of time with me today. He’s being greedy.”

“He wants to know if he can book eight o’clock tonight. And maybe nine. Ten if you are feeling up to it. And seven a.m. tomorrow. And maybe—”

“Will you stop?”

“He just needs to see you as much as possible before you move out on him. And me.” Furrows formed in her brow, and he kissed the tip of her nose in reassurance.

“You understand, right?”

“I do. Little Jase is having a harder time with it. When the person he likes hanging out with is wilfully independent and chooses to rent a house rather than moving in with him, it means he now has to worry that they are home safe at night.” He kissed her again, deeper this time. Slow, drugging kisses that had the ability to make his heart race and knees go weak.

“It’s not wilful independence. You know why I needed to get my own place, for now,” she muttered against his lips.

“Yeah, yeah. Only known each other two months. We should live together because we want to, not because we need to, which I do, by the way. You want to move in with Zoe so she can get out from her parents’ house, and you want room for your mum to come and stay. Not fair to Alex for you to be there all the time. Not fair to Alex for me to bail on him partway through the lease, even though we all have enough of a salary to live on our own. Blah, blah, blah,” he recited. “Did I remember everything?”

He hoped the smile in his eyes reassured her he was teasing.

“Yes, you did. It’s not that I don’t like the idea of living with you. In fact, it would be the easiest thing in the world to just merge our lives. Simpler and more cost-effective too. But I also don’t want to rush this. Not because I’m not sure of where it’s going, but because I want to savour every step.”

“Such a sweet thing to say. You’re good with words. But it’ll be tough to find the time to travel to come see you. Little Jase isn’t cut out for a long-distance romance.”

Cerys stepped back and raised an eyebrow. “I’m moving seven houses down the street from you and Alex. You will walk past my front door every time you go to the tram stop or Nan’s.”

He shrugged and grinned. “Feels like a long way when you wake up with a boner and nowhere to put it. And what if I want midnight cuddles and you aren’t there?”

“Would it kill you to pull on some joggers, the grey ones, and take a few steps down the street?”

“You like the grey joggers?”

“And the boner ...”

Now it was Jase’s turn to laugh. “I got you a gift.”

“You did?”

Jase pointed to the mezzanine level. “It’s up there.” And he prayed to God that the company he’d ordered it from, and the landlord, had followed his instructions.

“What did you do?” she asked, hurrying to the stairs. He was happy to follow behind her because her arse looked great in the black denim. “Oh, my God. Jase.”

He came up behind her as she stood and stared at the black and white peg letter board. Not exactly the same as the one in Detroit.

There are two things I couldn’t live without. Music and you.

She spun in his arms and kissed him. “You are such a sweetheart. Thank you.”

“You are welcome. You should also know I intend to mess with whatever you put on there.”

A loud knock sounded on the studio door.

“I guess that’s the contractor,” Cerys said. “Are you going to stick around?”

Jase shook his head and held out his hand as they walked down the stairs to the door. “I need your house keys.” Keys they’d collected that morning.

Cerys reached into her pocket before placing the keys onto his palm. “Here. Why do you need them?”

“What’s the point of having an uncle in the trade if you don’t persuade him to help freshen up the place?”

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