The Force of Gravity(71)

He brings his eyes back to mine and stares at me for a moment. “I want to share my closet with you,” he says, but his voice sounds off to me.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

He nods, and I hesitate before unzipping a bag. I take out a small stack of random shirts and timidly step into his closet as he watches me. An entire wall has been cleared out, and my heart melts. He’s giving me two full rods and three shelves.

“Oh, I forgot to bring hangers,” I realize out loud.

“I have extras,” he calls from the bedroom.

I set my shirts on an empty shelf and just as I’m about to exit, a glimmer above me catches my eye. I look up and see a silver key dangling from a red ribbon on the empty rod above my head. I take in a sharp breath as my brain attempts to comprehend the situation.

Elijah appears in the doorway of the closet with a stack of hangers.

“Here,” he says softly.

I drag my gaze from the key, locking my eyes onto his.

He glances at the key, then back to me. “Are you freaking out?”

A moment passes before I can respond. “W-what is this?”

“It’s a key to my house . . . if you want it.”

I try to speak, but the words don’t come.

“Kay,” he says, setting down the hangers. “You don’t have to take it if you don’t want it. I just wanted to offer. You can come over here whenever you like.” He clears his throat and continues. “Or . . . you’re welcome to stay here until you get your own place. Instead of Emily’s.” He pauses. “Or you can just . . . move in.”

“Move . . . in?” My mouth suddenly feels like it was just stuffed with cotton. “Are you asking me to move in with you? Like, permanently?” Clearly, I’ve misunderstood, and he’s going to explain himself.

He rubs his jaw and chuckles nervously. “Yeah, I am. If you want.”

I can’t breathe.

“Slate,” I say, moving around the tiny room. “Are you insane? We’ve barely—I mean, it’s only been—that would be crazy . . . right?”

He laughs, clearly amused.

“What?” I say, a little too on edge.

“You’re literally pacing, Kaley,” he says. “Come here.” He grabs my hands and pulls me close to him. “It’s okay if you don’t want to.”

I hesitate. “Well . . . it’s not that I don’t want to; I just don’t think it would be smart.”

“Why?”

“Why?” I didn’t think it required an explanation. “Because it’s too fast. And because you’re friends with Mr. Bentley. What’s your family going to think? What’s my family going think? And what about your career? There are a million reasons,” I say, panicked. “This isn’t exactly being cautious, Slate. What if you lose your job?”

“I won’t,” he says, his tone unconvincing.

“What if you do?” I demand.

He shrugs. “Well, then I guess I’ll go work at Daddy’s law firm,” he says, his mouth almost twitching into a smile.

“Be serious.”

His caramel eyes pierce into mine. “I am serious.”

I pull away from him, wrapping my arms around myself. “You would seriously go to law school after just completing your master’s degree in education.”

“I’d get ten degrees if it meant that one day I could call you my wife.”

The air sucks out of the room and my vision pinholes. I shuffle back a few steps and grip the edge of a shelf.

“Kaley,” he says, carefully stepping forward. “I didn’t mean to say that . . . I know that’s heavy, I’m sorry.” He rests his hands around my shoulders. “But it’s the truth.”

My limbs go cold and I try to step back, the narrow space closing in on me. “I can’t marry you.”

He smirks. “I’m not asking you, my darling.”

“I’m serious, Elijah. My parents got married at my age—I can’t.” My mind races as I pull my hands through my hair. “I don’t know if I’ll ever want to get married. I don’t want us going through what they did. It’s not worth it. I love you; I don’t want to end up hating you.”

“Kay.” He steps forward, causing me to back into a row of his neatly pressed suits. “Your parents got married because of a baby. There are no obligations holding me to you—just an insane amount of love that I never knew existed.”

I meet his eyes and take a deep, steadying breath. “So, you’re telling me you want to marry me . . . but you’re not asking.”

A smile plays at his lips. “Exactly.”

Silence fills the small space as I stare back at him, dumbstruck.

“I don’t understand.”

“Kay, I knew I wanted to marry you after these past two weeks of hell—I’ve never experienced agony like that. It changed my life forever. You changed my life forever. I drove to your house yesterday because I knew I was making the biggest mistake of my life. I had to take a chance. You are the only thing in my life I have no doubts about. When I told you that I’ve never felt this way before, I meant it. . . . I’ve never wanted to marry anyone before.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Never?”

“No. And if that scares you, and you want to run away screaming, I’ll understand—it’ll kill me, but I’ll understand,” he says, chuckling softly. “I know I’m saying this prematurely in our relationship, but I almost lost you, and I need you to know where I stand. I know this is fast, baby, but this entire thing between us has been fast, and it’s been out of my control from day one. I mean, I thought I’d experienced love before, and I guess I did on some level . . . but nothing like this. It’s like the force of gravity, Kaley. You can’t fight it, no matter how hard you try—it’s scientific fact. It can be challenged, sure, but it can’t be stopped. And the heavier something is, the stronger the pull. And I’ve never experienced a pull like this. I’m done fighting it.”

He pulls my hands to his chest, and I feel his heart pounding. “You’ve made me impulsive, Kaley. . . . You make me feel alive. You inspire me; you make me want to strive to be the best man I can be. I want to be the one you call on, the one to protect you. . . . I want to start a life with you.” He takes a breath. “But I’ll wait until you’re ready.” He releases my hands and kisses me on the top of my head. “And listen, I don’t want you feeling trapped or anything. If after you start college you decide you’re not ready for all of this, I get it. Just be honest with me—that’s all I ask.”

“Are you nervous about me starting college? You keep mentioning it.”

His eyes soften. “I want you to go to college, Kay. I want you to experience a full life. But I’m well aware that we’re in very different places in our lives right now. I’ve been where you’re at before. I know what’s it’s like. I don’t ever want to hold you back.”

I shake my head. “I don’t see it that way. I don’t care about parties, or boys, or the college life—I never really have. I’ve always wanted something more, but I never knew what it was.” I pause. “That is, until I met you. I just want to get my education and live my life . . . with you.”

He smiles, relaxing his shoulders.

I glance up at the key. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Was that her key?”

He belts out a laugh. “No, baby. I had the locks changed the very next day. Even had to pay double for a rush appointment. Actually, I just had this made for you while you were at your house grabbing your clothes.

“Really?”

“Really,” he says.

I clear my throat, fidgeting with the drawstring on my sweats. “So, you’re not asking me to marry you.”

He smirks. “No, Kaley.” His face grows serious, and he cups my chin. “You’ll know when I’m asking you.”

Holy hell.

I swallow, glancing up at him. “Okay . . . but you are asking me to move in with you.”

He reaches over my head and unties the key.

“Yes,” he says, dropping it in the palm of my hand.

I stare at it, twirling it around, as memories of our journey together flash through my mind. He’s right. . . . Everything spun out of control the morning I walked into his classroom. And no matter how scared I am, life will never go back to the way it once was . . . nor would I want it to. His love has pulled me in so deep—I never want to come up for air.

I clutch the key in my palm and gaze up at the man who has dramatically changed my life, releasing a long exhale. “And you do know that this is completely insane, unwise, and utterly crazy, right?”

“Yes,” he says, his eyes laced with anticipation.

I slide my arms around his neck as a slow grin stretches across my face. “Then I’m in.”





EPILOGUE



Slate



THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF probabilities in the world. There’s the theoretical method, my personal favorite, which is solved by dividing the number of ways an event can occur by the total number of possible outcomes. It’s basic. Straightforward. Black and white.

I like black and white.