Page 64 of The Boyfriend Experience

He follows me in and then beats me to the elevator to press the button.

But the little button doesn’t light up. “Oh, my God, did Eduardo forget to turn the elevator back on or something?”

“Nope,” Lawton says. And that’s when I notice there’s a little panel in the stainless-steel button cover. “Now you gotta press a code to even open the doors.”

He presses the code on the keypad, the doors open, and we step inside. Then he repeats the code again to make the penthouse floor light up and the doors close.

“It might be overkill,” Law says. “But it’s a good idea to have too much security rather than too little.”

His concern gives me a warm feeling inside. Like he really is my boyfriend, because this is the kind of stuff boyfriends pay attention to and take care of.

When the doors open again at my apartment he exits with me. “Oh, we forgot to get dinner!” I say, glad he’s still here but afraid he’s just gonna say goodbye and leave.

“No, we didn’t,” he says, shooting me a grin. “I got this. Come on. There’s a little surprise for you on the roof.” He takes my hand and starts leading me up the stairs.

“What? What kind of surprise?” And if his concern over my safety had me feeling all gooey inside, this pushes me over the edge. And I’m glad he’s got his back to me as we walk up the steps, because I have a wide smile on my face.

“You’ll see,” he says, looking over his shoulder at me once we get to the top. We make our way into my bedroom and I grab his old leather jacket off the bed as I pass. Because it’s chilly outside. Because I want to wear it. Because it was his and now it’s mine.

I slip it on and then climb the ladder, wondering the entire time if Law is looking at my ass.

I hope he’s looking at my ass.

Just as I get to the last few rungs on the ladder, I stop.

“Keep going,” he urges with one hand on my hip.

“What did you do?” I breathe.

“Just keep going,” he says. “You’ll see soon enough.”

So I climb those last few rungs and step out onto my roof. Law follows me. Stands next to me as I take it all in.

The entire water tower is lit up with strings of white lights. They glow against the backdrop of night, and the city, and the stars like something out of a dream. And the underside is draped with white mosquito netting. Just the way my dad used to do it for special days.

“What is all this?” I breathe, afraid that talking too loud will break the spell.

“The deluxe package boyfriend pays attention, Miss Ryan. So…” He shrugs when I look at him. “I had Eduardo set this up.”

“For me?” I say, my hand over my heart.

“Yes, of course for you.” He laughs.

“But… it’s not even my birthday!”

“Oaklee,” Law says, turning to face me as he takes both my hands in his. “There are no rules for special. We can make this life as fun, as cool, and as special as we want. Any time we want. There’s no holiday on the calendar called Special Day.”

“But you… we… we’re not even really dating.”

“So? So what? I like you, you seem to like me. And maybe we’re not dating for real, but we’re definitely partners, right? In your game. In my game.” He lets go of my hands and throws his arms up. “We can do whatever you want. And you said this made you happy as a kid, so it took almost no effort at all for me to replicate what you loved.”

No effort? Is he kidding? “My dad never climbed the water tower to string lights all the way to the top. I think the whole city can see this tonight.”

“Well, Eduardo wasn’t happy about that, no doubt.” He laughs. “But that’s how I saw it in my head when you described it to me, so that’s how it got done.”

“Eduardo…” I say. “How did you get him to do this?”

“He and I go way back. We work together all the time. He’s a cool dude and besides, now I owe him a favor, and believe me, he’ll make me do something equally ridiculous when it’s his turn to collect. Besides, he’s gonna overcharge me for this security, don’t worry.”