❁ Junie❁

Disher suggests I won’t fear the view from Asher’s penthouse as much if I’m barefoot rather than skating. He swears exposure therapy will help me. When a person faces their phobias in short controlled bursts, they can build up a resistance to the feared stimuli. So I take his advice—grudgingly—and take off my skates during a visit to Asher’s place.

“Is it working?” Asher asks, fighting a smile when he finds me sitting on the floor next to the living room’s wall of windows

I smile back at him. “A little. I should probably stop looking straight down and instead focus on the outward view, but I can’t help wanting to see the edge of where the building ends and my death would begin.”

“These windows are as secure as possible.”

“And the stink of people at the Farmer’s Market is no threat to you. Rational thinking doesn’t particularly help when someone’s feeling irrational.”

“True,” Asher says, sitting next to me on the floor.

“Your place is growing on me, Ferrer. It reminds me of you, and we know how I feel about you.”

Asher wraps his arm around my waist and kisses my shoulder. He and I watch the world go by outside his windows.

“I want you to talk to my mom again,” I say, and Asher tenses next to me.

“Sure. When?”

“Next time you’re over, we can knock on her door and scare her again. I’m hoping after enough visits that she’ll let you inside. My hope is to have Thanksgiving at her place.”

“That gives you six months, which seems like plenty of time.”

“You’d think, but I’m uncomfortable with making my mother uncomfortable.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“Remember that positive thinking when your family comes over for dinner.”

Asher’s smile disappears instantly. I decide this moment is a good one to apply positive experiences to my fear of heights.

“Few people look as gorgeous as you when they’re frowning,” I say, turning in his embrace and kissing him.

Pressing Asher back on the hard floor, I straddle his hips and smile down at him. “We’ll take everything step by step. No sudden changes. All happy endings.”

Asher might be gorgeous when he frowns, but my words put the best smile on his handsome face.

‧:❉:‧ ♂ ♀ ‧:❉:‧

❁ Asher ❁

Junie spends half of the week at the guest apartment she’s decorated with Mallory. The living room design is almost entirely imagined for me. A Mesa throw blanket on the gray couch and colorful abstract print over the bed are the main Junie flairs. I feel guilty that she gives up so much of herself to make me comfortable until I realize the second bedroom is a replica of her living room.

“Oh, I moved in basically while you were in a meeting,” Junie says, shutting the red room. “Are you mad?”

“That you moved closer to me?” I ask, wrapping her into my arms and shuffling us to the bedroom. “Are you planning to stay here permanently or will you still live in the apartment?”

Junie’s ass bounces on the mattress and smiles brightly. “I’m moved in except for what doesn’t fit in here. Oh, so beware my colorful dishes in the kitchen.”

Caressing her jaw, I study her warm eyes. “One day, I plan to ask you to marry me.”

Junie reaches down and yanks the ties on her skates so she can slip out of them. Once she crawls onto the bed and pats the spot next to her, she gives me a coy, little smile.

“And one day, I’ll say yes,” she says and wraps her arms around me as I join her. “No rush. I don’t need a ring or piece of paper to tell me I’m happy.”

Kissing her, I roll her onto her back and pin her against the mattress. “I need to send Garrett a thank you gift. If he hadn’t ditched me, I never would have gone to the Flamingo Exit Diner and seen you.”

“I’ll shop for something tomorrow. Now let’s stop talking about nerds while I’m trying to get worked up here.”

Laughing easily, I’m especially aroused by the thought of her moving into the apartment a floor from me. Every night she isn’t with me, I can’t sleep. I wonder if I’ll ever find a way to relax without Junie nearby. She talks about traveling with Mallory, and I know I couldn’t go so long without her. I suspect I might want to buy a private jet to make all those trips less stressful. That’s a question for another day during a session with Disher and not when I have Junie’s legs wrapped around my hips.