“You’re a good man, Caleb.” I push at his chest. “Now make me food. I’m famished and you’re on my shit list.”

“What?”

“Oh yeah, you’re still in trouble.”

“I am?”

“Yep.” I nod. “But you’ll be able to make up for it with lots and lots of nights spent in bed…or on the couch. The kitchen floor, the shower, the table…”

“But we don’t have a table.”

I shrug. “The counter works too.”

“Are you trying to have sex with me, Zoe?”

“Not right now. Right now, you’re going to finish making me breakfast.”

“I thought you were the breakfast queen.”

“Yeah, but it’s part of your punishment.”

He squints at me, not trusting my words. “Okay…”

“Great!” I clap my hands together. “Now strip.”

“Excuse me?”

“Did you fart?”

He falls into a fit of laughter. “I’m going to regret teaching you that, I just know it.”

I snap my fingers. “I don’t see any stripping.”

“Are you being serious?”

“As a fucking heart attack.” I sweep past him and down the hallway. “I’ll be taking my breakfast in bed!”

I hear the click of the burner being turned off and grin.

“Oh, me too,” he promises as his footsteps thunder behind me. “Me too.”

Me: DID YOU SERIOUSLY GHOST ON ME AGAIN?

Me: AFTER SEX?

Me: AGAIN?!?!

Caleb: Yes.

Me: And, pray tell, what is so damn important this time?

Me: Huh?

Me: CALEB! You have two minutes to answer me and then I’m getting up and leaving this bed and and…

Caleb: And what?

Caleb: Nothing? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Caleb: Now hush.

Me: Caleb!

Caleb: SILENCE!

I fume, but don’t text him back.

It’s not even thirty seconds later when I hear the door open. I listen as Caleb moves around the living room, setting his keys on the table. I hear something land on the counter in the kitchen and then the rustling of a bag.

What the…

Then the familiar thump thump thump of bass blasts through the speakers in the living room.

A grin overtakes my face as the sounds of DMX filter through the apartment.

“There’s the beats…” I mutter.

“I am walking down the hallway!” Caleb shouts. “I am entering the bedroom!”

I laugh at the smartass announcements and am pleasantly surprised when he walks in holding a box of hot, fresh Duck Donuts.

He crawls onto the bed, moving until he’s resting against the pillows and headboard next to me.

“And there’s the breakfast,” I say.

“There’s the breakfast.”

I glare up at him, crossing my arms over my chest, just now realizing I’m only wearing a very thin white shirt. “I thought you had left me again. I woke up in a panic.”

He sets the box of donuts on the bedside table and turns to me. He pulls at my arms until he uncrosses them then leans in close. His hands cup my cheeks and he tilts my face, bringing my eyes to his, making sure I’m paying attention and soaking up every word he’s saying.

“I told you, I’m done running back to them. I’m here now. They don’t have any hold over me anymore. I want this life, with you. I want to be here, to be your boyfriend, your roommate. Just…yours, here, now.”

“Here now,” I echo on a whisper. “With breakfast.”

“And beats,” he insists.

“And beats. You’re something else, Caleb.”

“And you like it.”

I lean into him, my lips hovering over his. “I do. I really, really do.”

Epilogue

Ten months later

“Explain to me again why I’m doing this?”

“Because I’m cute and you adore me.”

“Fuck,” he mutters. “It’s cold as shit out here.”

“Shit is hot.”

“What was that?”

I turn around. “I said shit is hot, like me.”

“Did you just liken yourself to shit?”

“Oh.” My mouth drops open. “Well, whatever. You know what I mean!”

He chuckles. “I d-d-do.”

“Oh my gosh, stop being a big baby. It’s not that bad out here.”

“Says the girl who’s completely bundled up right now.”

“You have a coat on too.”

“A coat, Zoe! A coat! I am wearing nothing but a pair of gold fucking booty shorts under this oh-so-warm coat of mine.”

I grin. “And who’s fault is that?”

He lets out a string of curse words. “Mine. I should have lied, should have said it was the worst damn meal I’d ever had in my entire life.”

“You can’t lie to the ones you love.”

“I’m really starting to question just how much I love you.”

“Because it’s so much more than you imagined, right?”

“Sure, we’ll go with that.” He shivers again. “Seriously, are these doors opening soon or not? My dick is about to fall off.”

“Quit being so dramatic.”

To be fair, we are standing outside in about thirty-five-degree weather and Caleb is only wearing a jacket over his “booty shorts”, but that’s what happens when you bet your girlfriend she can’t cook you a decent meal and she wins said bet.

“I cannot believe you made me dress up as Rocky.”

“Should have asked the terms of the bet before agreeing and shaking on it.”

“Seriously, you are so fucking lucky you’re cute, and can deep-throat.”

I smack at his chest. “Caleb!”

“What!”

“You are such an ass!”

“But you love it.”

“So! Wait, I mean no!”

He waggles his finger at me. “Ah, ah, ah, I heard that. No take-backs.”

“You keep this up and I’m divorcing you.”

“We’re not even married yet.”

I lift a brow at him. “Yet, huh?”

“You’re going to hold me to that, aren’t you?”

“Probably.”

He brings his lips to my ear. “I’m going to marry the shit out of you one day, Zoe. Just wait.”

“Can you guys please stop? This is absolutely disgusting to watch.”

“Yeah. I’m on the verge of vomiting, and I’m so ugly when I vomit.”

“Everyone is ugly when they vomit, Zach,” I tell him.

“Whatever. Just tone it down a notch, huh?” He turns to Delia. “How come you don’t deep-throat me?”

Caleb and I burst into laughter as Delia starts smacking at him. “You are such an—”

“Ass! Say ass, Delia!” I encourage.

“ASS!”

“See?” Caleb says. “I’m not the only one.”

“You’re so annoying.”

He grins down at me. “But you love me.”

I can’t help the smile I return. “But I love you.”