Page 62 of Wicked Love

“Good night, Grace. And happy birthday. We’ll celebrate it later. I’m glad we had this chat.”

“Me too. Night.”

15

GRACE

I admired the space around me. White walls, high ceilings, and small windows. It was the same apartment Joe shared with his best friend Anderson while attending college and with other roommates afterward. Most furniture was secondhand, but it gave this place its character. My boyfriend had transformed the second bedroom into a workshop for me so I could prepare my portfolio for my college application. He even put DH’s bed in a corner, a sign shaped like a fishbone that said “DH’s room” hanging on the wall beside it.

Standing in the kitchen to grab snacks, I wanted to pinch myself. I was living in an apartment in freaking New York. Part-time, but still.

What meant a lot more to me was that I shared it with my boyfriend. Even to my ears, it sounded far-fetched. The same guy I met in a dive bar a few months ago. I had Philip to thank for enrolling me into Cordera Academy on such short notice. Not my first choice, but it was part of the deal. I didn’t get to have a say about the high school I would attend, and in exchange, I could enroll in the program of my choosing next year in college. Moving here came with another bunch of conditions I agreed to. Nothing too bad or restrictive. At this point, I would have agreed to about anything just to not have to live in the same house as my mother.

She and I hadn’t talked since the night of the accident, almost two months ago. I wasn’t ready to forgive her this time. Eventually, maybe… But she would have to do the work first to deal with whatever events of her past that had turned her into the heartless woman I grew up with.

Joe hadn’t returned to Broadway yet, still healing from the fire’s damage. His hands were better now, and he attended rehabilitation sessions every week.

Scars would remain on his skin, but the doctors were hopeful he would regain full mobility of both his hands.

Since I lived in the dorms of Cordera Academy on the weekdays, I spent all my weekends here with Joe and our fur baby when I wasn’t working at the bookstore on campus. One more step toward the independence I had been craving for so long.

And I had never been so happy before in my life.

“Babe, are you coming back, or do I need to come and get you?” Joe teased from the living room.

“Coming. Want anything else while I’m at it?”

“Nah. You. You’re all I need.”

I returned to his side, and he pressed play on the remote. We’d been playing video games for two hours. I had no talent, but he liked teaching me, so I rolled with it. He said it helped him with his fingers’ mobility, and his doctor agreed. Joe spent most of his free time at home these days, and I knew my presence between these walls made things less sour. I was on a winning streak when he paused the game and stared at me.

“What?”

“I love you.”

I felt my cheeks warming up. “I love you too.”

“No. I’m serious. You’ve been dealing with my sorry ass for two months.”

I pressed my palm to his face. “Your sorry ass makes me happy. I have to pinch myself every day to make sure I’m not dreaming.”

He pinched my side.

“Aw. Why did you do that?”

“So you know it’s all true.”

I slapped his arm away, but seconds later, he lifted me until I straddled him.

“Oh no.” I shook my head, not believing what I just realized.

“What?” His brows bunched together.

“Dick’s Hole. You named our baby Dick’s Hole? Are you kidding me?”

Joe burst out laughing. “Gosh, it took you forever to guess it. I thought it was fitting. It’s where everything began. You, me, our story. Now that bar’s name will have a meaning for us. It won’t just be the crappy place where we met.”

I locked my arms around his neck. “When you say it like that, it almost sounds romantic.”