Page 23 of The Little Black Rose

“What?” blurts out of me before I can stop it.

“As roommates,” he clarifies before I can spiral any further. “I feel like I’m missing out on this whole journey, Ava. I want to be there for every second of it, and a simple text message once a day isn’t cutting it. I’ve been thinking about this all week, and I really think this is the best option for us. My apartment has two bedrooms, or if you feel more comfortable staying in your own home, we can live together there.”

I sit frozen with my mouth hanging open, my mind spinning his words over and over as I try to make sense of them. He wants to live together? As roommates?

“Don’t answer right now,” he says, when the silence becomes unbearable. “Just promise me you’ll at least think about it.”

Our food arrives before I can answer, and we eat in silence as my thoughts spin in a mass of confusion and doubt. The idea is preposterous, isn’t it? Zeke can’t just leave his apartment and move in with me. And I’m never leaving my home. It’s the biggest physical link I have to my parents, and I want my children to grow up there, filling it with new memories.

But even though it sounds insane, Zeke seems desperate to play a bigger role than part-time father, even before the babies are born. How can I turn him down when he looks so hopeful, like he’d be devastated if I say no?

“Okay,” I say after setting down my half-eaten sandwich and swallowing what was in my mouth. “I’ll think about it.”

“You will?” he asks, that puppy-dog light of hope shimmering in his hazel eyes again.

“No promises,” I say firmly.

“I can accept that,” he says, giving me a firm nod. “And if you say yes, I promise to do most of the housework and bring home sweet treats from the shop every day.”

“Oh,” I say, one corner of my mouth ticking up, “you play dirty.”

He stares at me for a moment, then lowers his chin to give me a pointed look.

“No. I play to win.”

Chapter11

Golf & Stuff

Zeke

It’s been a few days since my lunch with Ava, and she still hasn’t given me an answer. It’s taken every ounce of will power I possess to not bring up the topic of becoming roommates on a daily basis, and so far, I’ve managed to resist. It hasn’t been easy.

It’s Saturday afternoon, and I’m on the golf course with Sam and Jared. We’ve turned this into a monthly thing, the three of us meeting up at various courses to play a round. I usually have a chill, relaxing time with them, but today, I can’t seem to unwind. It doesn’t take long for Sam to notice.

“Hey, man. Are you okay? You seem off today,” he says after I slice a tee shot into a nearby thatch of trees.

“I just have a lot on my mind,” I say, sighing as I slide my driver back into my bag.

“Of course, you do,” Jared says. “You’re going to be a father. Totwins.”

He shivers in exaggerated fear, and a laugh barks out of me. Sam elbows him in the side, and Jared grunts before rubbing a palm over the spot and frowning at his best friend.

“It’s not that,” I say, regaining their attention. “I’m ready to be a father. So ready, in fact, that I asked Ava if we could move in together.”

“You did what?” Jared asks, his voice echoing around us.

“As roommates,” I clarify, seeing exactly where his mind is going. “There’s nothing romantic about it. I want to be a full partner to Ava in this, and I can’t do that if I’m living across town from her.”

“Wow,” Jared says, his expression thoughtful. “That’s…really awesome. A lot of guys would run in the other direction as fast as they could.”

“Zoey would never let him get away with that,” Sam adds with a smirk. “She’d kick his ass if he tried to abandon Ava withonebaby, much less two.”

“She could try,” I say, puffing out my chest before deflating. “But I don’t want to run. I want to be there for every moment, and I feel like I’m already missing too much.”

“And what did Ava say to that?” Sam asks.

I shake my head. “I had to convince her to even consider it. She promised she’d think about it and get back to me. That was four days ago.”

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