34. Chapter 34
Chapter thirty-four
Lance
Two Months Later
Me:
Did you know that the Etruscan shrew is the lightest mammal on the planet?
Also… sidenote, did you know that you’re going to be late if you don’t hurry the fuck up?
My Forever:
They’re kind of ugly and cute at the same time.
We’re fine.
I’m on the way now, pretty boy.
Me:
Did you just stop to google them?
My Forever:
Obviously.
See you in a second.
I love you.
Me:
I
LOVE
YOU
… just more.
I chuckle to myself as I shove my phone into my pocket.
“That’s so cute that it’s disgusting,” Ollivander says from behind his desk.
I ignore his stupid comment. If he’d get his head out of his ass, then maybe he could have the guy he wants too.
“You’re sure that this is going to work?” I ask as I shift in my seat uncomfortably.
“No,” he replies boredly. “I didn’t discuss it with him, but I think it’s a great idea.”
“Okay…. great. That’s good.” I murmur to myself.
I didn’t know what Maven planned to give us as payment for doing the stateside mission, but I was hoping for a new clause on our contracts.
Ollivander confirmed that theory just a few weeks ago, at which point I had already forgotten about the whole arrangement.
Between my recovery and spending time with Roman, it had completely slipped my mind.
When Maven asked us to take on this mission, my hopes were that I could use an extra favor to have him bring Blaine to Blightridge when he went to get Gatlin, but…
I obviously don’t need that anymore since they’re both wandering around here somewhere.
It took me entirely too long to think of something else that I could ask for, but one night I was sitting on Roman’s couch reading when he nonchalantly joked that I should ask for a job.
Not just any job; a librarian. It was like a lightbulb flicked on, and suddenly it was all I could think about.
I’ve been planning, organizing, making lists, you name it.
I’ve got all the information I could possibly need.
I had Ollivander look over it a few days ago, and I was hoping for some input, but all he said was “If you’re going to run an operation of this scale, then you need to be confident in your work. ”
Asshole.
He did help me by giving me the floorplans to one of the empty commercial spaces on the first floor. It’s the closest empty one to my apartment, too. He even snuck me in there a few weeks ago so that I could look around and take a few notes. I think it’ll be perfect. I just have to convince—
“Maven,” Ollivander says as he nods and stands from his seat.
Roman trails behind him, stopping to help me from my seat and placing a kiss on my forehead. “Ready?” He asks with a smile on his face.
“I thought you were in a meeting with the security team?” I ask curiously as I glance over at Maven before turning my attention back to him.
He smirks at me playfully. “I said I was in a meeting. I never said with whom I was meeting, pretty boy.”
He starts to head toward Maven’s office, and I follow on his heels. “Well, you only ever meet with the security team and Maven, so excuse me for making a plausible assumption. What were you two actually doing?“ I whisper.
“You’ll see, Lance. Come on.” He orders as he gestures to the chair right in front of Maven.
I’m hesitant as I take my seat, glancing to Ollivander for a boost of confidence. He’s too busy pouring Maven a drink to give me the bravado I need though.
“You should both be aware of what your payment is.” Maven starts as he shuffles aside paperwork on his desk. “Let’s hear what you have, Lance.”
God, this is going to be way too expensive. I should’ve thought of something more reasonable. He’s definitely going to say no, and I don’t have any other ideas.
“Right…” I start as I open the folder in my lap. “I… Um.” I stammer out as I nervously glance up to Roman. He nods with a gentle smile, giving me the strength I need to get this out.
I pull out all the floorplans, budget sheets, and design concepts I’ve been tirelessly working on, and hand them across the desk to Maven.
“I want to run a library.”
Maven eyes me stoically as he pulls the papers in front of himself and starts flipping through them. “And how many people will it take to run a library?”
I clear my throat as I shift forward in my seat.
“After everything is set up, it won’t take many.
Someone to check out the library books, one or two people to shelve returns.
I’ll be there behind the scenes most days.
Pulling names for past due books, researching new literature to add, getting those organized in the system, things like that.
I can always help out if things get too busy. ”
He pulls out the floorplan I drafted and puts it on top of the stack. He eyes it before looking up at me. “What am I looking at, Lance?”
I scoot forward more, pointing to everything as I explain.
“Well, these are shelves, obviously. They’ll be organized by genres, similar to most libraries.
This will be the checkout desk in the center.
There’s a return bin for when the library is closed, some tables and chairs for people to lounge at, a few private conference rooms in the corner for meetings or celebrations, and um…
” I pause, looking up at Maven. “And an office.”
His eyes meet mine. “That’s an office? It’s bigger than mine.”
“It’s uhh… it’s for both of us,” I reply quietly.
“Both of who?” He asks with a confused head shake.
“Me… and Roman.”
He looks to Roman, Roman looks to me, and I look to the floor. Did I ask Roman if he wanted an office in the library? No. Should I have? Probably.
Whatever Maven sees, he gets the answer he’s looking for. He gathers all the paperwork and shoves it back across the desk to me.
No. No, no, no. Panic immediately grips my chest, suffocating me. I worked so hard on this. I can’t just let it go that easily.
“Wait… There— There’s more.” I stammer out as I shuffle through the paperwork looking for the spreadsheet.
“We can always change the floorplan. I think it would be a great place for people to unwind after a long day, and I have a suggestion box for people, and… and…” when my eyes cut up to Maven, he’s sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed just…
smiling at me. I halt all my movements as I look to Ollivander for guidance.
He’s purposefully avoiding my gaze as he smiles off toward the wall.
Roman’s hand moves to my thigh, a comforting weight that somehow manages to calm my frantic nerves.
“What?” I ask in confusion.
“It’s a great idea, Lance. I approve.”
“Really?” I ask in shock as I turn to Roman. He’s wearing a gentle and proud smile that makes relief settle in my gut. I did it.
I let out a sigh of relief as I plop back in my chair. “Thank God.”
“Roman, we’ve discussed… the other thing. Ollivander has made it abundantly clear that isn’t an appropriate payment since we agreed to it before I even asked about this job, so please tell me that you have something reasonable to ask for.”
“Of course I do,” he replies with a mischievous smirk.
We all stare at him, waiting on him to spit out his request, but apparently, he gets off on keeping us in suspense. Maven rustles his wrist and looks down at his watch impatiently. “You have three minutes before I kick you both out,” he says, his voice laced with irritation.
“All I want is for you to move Devlin and Cain.” Roman replies boredly.
Maven’s brow raises inquisitively, “Move them? Where?”
“I want you to move them to another apartment.”
“Ahh,” Maven hums. “You want to room with Lance.”
“Yes, but his place is on the first floor. It’s closest to where the library will be, where our office will be, and he also has a whole backyard set up. I don’t want any apartment. I want that apartment.”
I literally choke on air as I spin in my chair to glare at him. Did he just… ? He definitely did. Sweet Jesus. Are we moving in together? Holy shit.
My eyes dart to Maven, who is currently scrolling through something on his computer. “Devlin and Cain aren’t even roomed together.”
“They should be,” Roman mutters under his breath, earning him a glare from Maven.
He points to something on his screen and turns back to Ollivander. “Have them moved to Roman’s old room and put Devlin and Cain here. Alone.”
Ollivander nods as he jots something down on a notepad that he pulls from his shirt pocket.
“And one more thing,” Roman interjects.
Maven pinches his eyebrows together in annoyance before he glares at Roman knowingly. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t be that easy.”
“Lance has to crawl out the window to his patio. I want a door put in.”
That’s fucking brilliant.
Maven rolls his eyes but leans over and pulls a piece of paper from his drawer. I already know that it’s an approval slip because I’ve seen him write them before.
I’m nearly bouncing with excitement. Today has been fucking incredible.
Maven scribbles on the piece of paper and slides it across to me.
“You’ll have to take this to the maintenance bay since Roman isn’t officially assigned to that room yet.
Axel is still getting everything settled over there, and it’s been chaotic, so be patient.
It might take him a while to get this done. ”
I grab the paper from him and smile over at Roman as I fold it up and tuck it in my pocket. I can’t believe this is happening right now.
“Holy shit,” I murmur to myself as I stare down at the pile of paperwork. For the first time in my life, I feel like everything is going right. I have the man of my dreams, I’m about to be doing a job I love, and I get to have a door to my patio.
Just kidding.
I get to live with Roman. All the time. No more lugging shit back and forth between our apartments.