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Over it he’d written, This coupon entitles us to be together. Time, place, manner of your choice. One night or every night. No limits. No expiration. I love you and the only ambition I have is to be wherever you are. Redeemable forever.
He’d call it back if he could. It would only make her sad.
When someone yanked on his arm, he stopped moving. “Excuse me.” He must’ve bumped into them. “I’m sorry.”
“Tom.” Not someone. “There’s no fine print.” Flick still gripped his arm. “That’s too risky.”
“I don’t see it that way.”
“You don’t do spontaneous things like this. You’ll regret it.”
“I spent three months doing spontaneous things with you. Never regretted a moment, except the times I made you feel like you hadn’t become everything to me.”
“You spent thirty-one years being methodical and strategic and disciplined and cautious.”
He groaned. “God, I was a bore. How did anyone put up with me?”
“What if I want to redeem this coupon now?”
He almost lost his footing. Patted the backpack resting on his hip. “I get on the shuttle with you.”
“And then what?” Her attitude was somewhere between severely pissed off and what’s going on here.
“Look for a job. Help you look for a place to live, maybe one we can share.”
“Just like that you’d leave Rendel?”
“I already left Rendel. I resigned before I left home. I booked the shuttle ticket from the cab. Asked Wren to come around and empty the fridge. See, there was a reason for not having pets, and owning a condo I’ll make money on. Told Beau he should give Wren the MD job. She’ll eat it for breakfast and still be hungry.”
Flick choked on a breath intake. “You quit.” Her hand going to her throat.
“I didn’t think of it as quitting so much as going after the life I want.”
She palmed her forehead. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Only if you don’t redeem my coupon.”
“You’ll get tired of me. I’m best consumed in small doses.”
“I will never get tired of you. I want to sign up for an overdose.”
“I’m messy. I’m not ever going to be tidy. You don’t believe in marriage, and we don’t know if we want kids and relationships have broken up for lesser things than that, and you want to throw your whole life over for me.”
He shrugged. “I’ve already thrown my life over for you and it feels amazing.”
She looked down at their feet. “You quit. I’m just. This is.” When she lifted her chin, he saw all the indecision and uncertainty in her. “It’s too much, Tom. Smart people don’t make decisions like this. I don’t make decisions like this. You don’t make decisions like this. You plot and scheme and wait. There are no guarantees for us.”
Flick Dalgetty was made of ants and bees, fear-inducing roller-coaster bends, and gravity-defying Gravitron revolutions. She was the spun sugar of fun-fair cotton candy, and right now standing in front of him, she was made of disappointment and doubt and it was killing him.
“The decision I made was not to let you go. If you agree, it’s the best investment I could ever make.” If she didn’t—if she didn’t...
She glared at him. “You based it on a coupon.”
“A love coupon. One of a kind.”
“What have I done to you?” She took hold of his arms and tried to shake him.
“Made me fall in love.” He took her hand in his. “Made me want to do anything to stay that way.”
