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“That sounds amazing.” I looked at Jesse and nodded enthusiastically, giving him a thumbs up. “But sixty months seems like a long time. Are we committed to staying that long?”
Jesse grimaced, obviously sharing my concern about locking in for five years for an untested business.
“No, not at all,” she explained. “You’ll be on a month-to-month lease, so if you need to leave sooner, you can. But the reduced rent will be locked in for sixty months, with the option to renew after that.”
I covered the microphone and turned to Jesse. “The new owner is offering to give us some kind of a growth grant. All we have to pay for is tax and utilities and our own renovations. For five years. But it's month to month so we can leave if we need to. What do you think?”
He looked as shocked as I was as he held up his hands. “Yes. Definitely yes.”
I smiled and spoke into the phone again. “Yes, we’ll take it. What do we need to do? Can we sign the contract today?”
“My office is open until five. If you stop by today, you can pick up the keys immediately.”
“We’ll be there. Thank you so much.” I barely hit the end button before I was jumping up and down, hugging Jesse like we’d just won the lottery.
In some ways, we had.
This business could be our own version of a lottery ticket. At least for me, it was my ticket out of poverty. I’d scrimped and saved my whole life, destined for greatness, though never quite achieving it.
Things were certainly turning around.
We finished up with the cakes, deciding on three layers with three different fillings. It was all delicious, and I couldn’t wait to get a huge slice on the big day.
“Now I’m even more excited for your wedding.” I nudged Jesse‘s shoulder with mine.
“Because of the cake?”
I shrugged. “Well, yeah.”
He laughed. “Thanks. Wait till I return all that love and support when you and Tony tie the knot.”
My steps faltered at that comment. “That man is too smart to marry me. He doesn’t even want to fuck me.”
Jesse grabbed my arm and stopped me. “That’s not true. He’s a man. He definitely wants to. He’s just being… Gentlemanly or some shit. It’s a good thing.”
“A good thing? For who? My right hand is getting calloused from all this waiting.” I blew out a breath, knowing I was preaching to the choir. Jesse went through something similar with Harris when they were early on in their relationship. “Sorry, I just really want him to…want me. And I’m not sure that’s ever gonna happen.”
“It will. It has. Just be patient. These guys are old fashioned. They like to get to know us and learn what we need so that they can give it to us.”
I scoffed. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear what I need. But enough about that. We have a contract to sign and we still have to finish off your wedding errands if you plan to make an honest man out of that Daddy bear of yours this weekend.”
Jesse smiled and his eyes got a little glassy. “I can’t believe he actually wants to marry me. I didn’t know it was possible to be this happy.”
“I’m really happy for you, man. You deserve all the love you have.” And he did. He was the sweetest, nicest person I’d ever met.
And that’s why I was grateful to be going into business with him.
9
TONY
I rarely dressed up in a full suit, but with several hanging in my closet, it was nice to have an excuse to pull one out. The last wedding I attended was for my lab assistant, and that was several years ago.
Harris had assured me that it wasn’t formal or black tie. But Jason was excited to get dressed up, and I wanted to look good for him. Even though it was just a simple backyard wedding with friends and colleagues in attendance, I hoped that the night might end with a real make out session. No more of the sweet pecks and gentle kisses.
I wanted to really taste him.
As long as he was ready. Though, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to objectively judge if he was or wasn’t ready. But in the weeks we’d spent getting to know each other, we had a pretty good idea of who we were and that we could be compatible in the bedroom.
