Chapter Twenty-one

“Wait. Am I doing this right?” Raven grimaced as he looked down at the baking pan in front of him. He looked over at the skillet I was placing on the stove, strips of beef spread around its surface. “Do you want to trade?” he asked, nodding toward the pan. “How about I take over making the Korean stir fry and you can take over making dessert?”

“You want to trade? When I’m pretty much done with the dish?” I chuckled. “Doesn’t seem like a fair trade to me, Raven.”

“Uh, it’s totally a fair trade. If you cook everything, we both get to have a delicious dinner. But if you let me burn the cookies, we both lose,” he argued.

“I would hate biting into a burnt cookie,” I admitted as I walked over to him. I moved the pan away from him and placed it on a separate counter. “But if I’m cooking everything, you’ll need to at least keep me entertained.”

“Oh, I can keep you entertained.” He winked, starting to playfully shake his hips back and forth.

I chuckled again as I grabbed for a wooden spoon, smoothing out the dough in the pan.

Things had been like this with Raven ever since the wedding. It felt like we’d been wrapped up in each other, the days starting to blend one after the next. I didn’t know the last time he had been back to his apartment, and I didn’t care.

Because I wanted him here. Because I always wanted him here.

Tonight, we were cooking dinner together. Or at least, I was cooking dinner. Raven had suggested the idea when we’d been cuddled up on my couch. He’d said that it would be healthier for us than ordering another plate of takeout, and I couldn’t disagree. Even though, the only reason we’d been ordering so much takeout was because he always got a little impatient when it came to our time spent in the bedroom, claiming that making meals from scratch was going to cut into our time together.

“You’d be hot as a chef,” he said with a huge grin on his face.

“Sorry, what? Am I not hot enough for you as a remote team manager?” I faked a horrified expression.

“Don’t even go there,” he sighed before he leaned into me, pressing his lips against mine. “You know exactly what I meant.”

“I did, but maybe I just wanted you to kiss me.” I grinned.

“Yeah? Well, the joke’s on you, because I wanted you to kiss me first--”

Just then, my doorbell rang out, loud and clear.

“One second,” I murmured to him and walked out of the room, heading straight for my front door.

I quickly pulled it open, already wanting to get back to Raven and the kitchen.

But I was surprised, when I saw my cousin standing right in front of me. “Eddie?”

“Are you sure?”

“What?”

“This thing with Raven…” He took in a deep breath before he spoke again. “Are you sure?”

“I’m pretty sure, Eddie,” I answered.

“But… how?”

“How what?”

“How do you go from liking girls to liking guys?” he continued. “I mean, do you even still like girls, at all?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it,” I admitted. “Honestly, the only person I’m thinking about right now is Raven.”

“Yeah, I know.” He sighed. “You’re not even thinking about yourself right now, Sky. You’re not thinking about your future--”

“Was there anything else you needed?” I interrupted him. “Or did you just come here to lecture me about my life choices?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t come here to lecture you. I promise.” His tone softened. “I just… as long as you’re happy. Are you happy, Sky?”

“Happier than ever before.”

“Good. Then, that’s all I care about.” He smiled. “As long as you’re happy.”

* * *

My happiness was short-lived.

A few hours after Raven and I had finished eating our stir fry and dessert, I’d received a cryptic call from my father, the kind where I knew something was wrong, but I also knew that he wasn’t going to tell me any details until we talked in person.

Those phone calls were always nerve-wracking.

And as I rode in the elevator, going up to his hotel room on the penthouse floor, a million thoughts flooded my mind.

What if my dad was losing the business?

The breakdown of Easton’s Exchange wouldn’t have meant much to me, but it would’ve ruined my father. His self-esteem was so tied up in the business doing well that if the company had a bad day, then that meant that my father was having a bad day, too.

I was still wondering what awful news my father had to share with me when I finally arrived on his floor. I was greeted by my father as he leaned against a nearby wall. He was wearing an expensive-looking robe and sipping on what looked like a glass of gin.

“Sky! My favorite son in the world. How’ve things been?” he started.

“Good?” I was confused by how casual my father seemed in the moment. “I just came to talk to you about that phone call--”

“Sit down.” My father tilted his head toward an armchair in the corner. “And then, we can talk.”

I followed my father’s instructions and plopped down against the chair’s fabric. “Anyway, about that phone call--”

“It’s time, son.”

“Time for what?”

“It’s time for you to become the man I always knew you were meant to be,” my father went on. “It’s time for you to marry Irene and merge the family businesses.”

“Dad, I told you. I don’t want to marry her--”

“Why not?” My father scoffed. “Is it because of that boy? The one you kissed at Clarissa’s wedding?”

“His name is Raven,” I clarified. “And yes, it is very much because of that boy.”

“Ah, you can always have your fun on the side, son.” My father bent down toward me and clapped me on the shoulder. “But marrying Irene? That was always the plan.”

“You mean, it was always your plan.” I kept my voice flat.

“Look, Sky, this isn’t something you get to choose.” My father moved his hand away from me. “Besides, Irene’s been waiting for you. If you don’t end up married to each other, you’ve wasted a young woman’s prime child-birthing years--”

“She doesn’t want to marry me either, Dad--”

“But she will, if she listens to her father!” my dad snapped. “And how dare you try to back out of something you were born for? The Easton’s Exchange is your birthright, and you’re going to piss it all away on some boy next door?”

“It’s been nice talking to you, Edward.” I used my dad’s first name, wanting to emphasize how much of a stranger he felt like to me right now. I rose up from the armchair as I turned back toward the elevator doors. “Same time, next year. Right?”

“Sky! Don’t you dare walk away when I’m talking to you! Sky!”

But all of my father’s words were now being drowned out by the closing of the elevator doors before it descended back down the shaft.

* * *

“What’s wrong? You’ve been pacing all over the apartment,” Raven said as he eyed me up and down. “Did something go south with your dad?”

I stopped pacing, looking over at him on my couch. “Yeah. Something went south.”

“What happened?”

“He told me that it was time for me to marry Irene,” I replied. “And he made it sound like it wasn’t optional.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Well, it’s just that…” His words trailed off. “We always knew this was coming, right?”

“We always knew what was coming, Raven?” I asked as I placed my hands on my waist. I was trying to keep myself calm, not wanting to take anything that had happened with my father out on Raven.

Because he didn’t deserve any of that venom.

“You’re going to marry her,” he replied. “And then, you’re going to take over for your father and claim your inheritance. And really, Sky, I’m fine with it--”

“You shouldn’t be fine with it!” I was exasperated by his response. “Don’t you want me? Don’t you want to be with me?”

“I want to be with you more than anything,” he answered, tears springing to his eyes. “But I’ve been here before, Sky. I know that when push comes to shove, if you have to choose between me or having the perfect wife and the perfect future for your future kids, you’re going to leave me behind.”

After he spoke, I felt all the venom dissipate from my veins.

He really thought that I was going to abandon him, didn’t he?

“Raven, I’m not going anywhere,” I promised as I took a seat beside him. “It doesn’t matter what my dad wants, okay? I want you.”

“Yeah. I’ve heard that one before, too.” He sniffled and looked away from me.

My heart sank to the floor.

How could he not believe me?

After everything we’d been through together, after how much time we’d spent all over each other, cuddled under blankets, looking up at the stars, holding hands on car rides...

How could he think that I was going to leave him behind?

“I’m not going anywhere, Raven,” I repeated, as I pulled him into my arms. “I’m not going anywhere.”

And I felt Raven slowly nod his head against my chest in response.