Page 124 of Dirty

He shrugged. “Will you live with me?”

I wiped the tears from my cheek. “I’d live with you in a cardboard box,” I said. “Or under the freeway.”

“Too late,” he said with a smile. “I already bought this place.”

“So, it’s really yours?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s ours.”

It was too much. Comprehending living in such a place was impossible, but I tried. Regardless of my lack of ability to grasp what was happening, I knew one thing, and I knew it for sure.

I was done looking at the garage, and I didn’t give a shit about another car.

If the house was truly ours, there was one thing, and one thing only that mattered.

It needed to be christened.

And, it needed to be christened immediately.

While I looked out at the ocean.

EPILOGUE

Lex

I gazed out at the horizon. One thing about living in southern California was that all the views of the ocean were from facing west, allowing a perfect view of the sun setting on the sea.

And, it was about that time.

It seemed funny seeing him in swim trunks, but I was getting used to it. I liked it much better than the modified jeans he’d been wearing, that was for sure.

He took a few steps back. We were celebrating the removal of his cast, and much to everyone’s surprise, he didn’t limp. Despite the doctor’s claim that he’d never walk without a pronounced limp, Adam was proving them wrong.

He was that kind of person. Stubborn. Bull-headed. And, determined.

I liked those things about him.

“You sure you don’t want a beer?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “Not tonight.”

He glanced at the grille. Smoke was beginning to bellow out the sides. “Shit. Food’s ready.”

The only thing sexier than watching Adam cook was having him fuck me.

Getting both on the same night, at the same time, was a dream come true.

“Are you going to lay down?” he asked over his shoulder.

I took off my swimsuit, laid on the blanket he’d positioned beside the pool, and then waited while he took the food off the grille.

He took off his shorts, picked up a few small pieces of the grilled fruit, and then sat down beside me. As we sat side by side naked, he poked a piece of pineapple into my mouth. And then, a piece of mango.

He reached for the champagne.

I took a breath, held it for an instant, and then exhaled. “I don’t. I don’t feel like drinking.”

“We were going to have champagne,” he said, his voice conveying his disappointment.