Page 28 of Unbreak Me
He cleared his throat, but it wasn’t that obvious to me. Grandpas or not, we actually signed it! I needed it explicitly stated; assuming anything would be risky. My gaze wandered toward him, and I could see he was having a hard time talking about it.
"But first, I need to clear up this whole silly household chores thing. Honestly, I don’t think I could stand being idle inone place, so I’ll just do everything like I normally would," he muttered, gesturing with his hand as if it were a given.
But I still felt I needed to delve a bit deeper into it.
"You know, I accepted this contract because I’ve always taken care of everything myself anyway—cleaning, cooking, all that stuff. I even like this aspect of Eternal because the classic deal, where people are obligated to fulfill duties from A to B whether they want to or not, feels too… scripted, too forced. I’d rather things happen organically. Whatever you want to do willingly, you’ll do it—no pressure."
I paused to clear my throat and glanced at him. Our eyes met.
"I—I meant what I said in the booth. I live alone, and I really want someone to talk to every day, someone to share problems with…" I trailed off, feeling like I was repeating myself.
But Day was listening carefully. He nodded and said, "For Nolan, that might’ve sounded a little strange, but not to me. Honestly, this type of deal feels more natural. I agree with your view on it."
I held my breath. Now that we had that out of the way, it was time to get back to theimportantthing.
"So, I’ll ask you directly," I whispered slowly, trying to choose my words carefully. "Within this contract—are you open to something more than just friendship between us in the future?"
Day’s cheeks flush.
He turned to look out the window and was silent for a moment, like he wanted to carefully think about his response.
"Well. I do want children, and that would mean we’d inevitably have to be closer than just friends." He snorted lightly. "That said, I appreciate the space this contract gives me right now. It lets me set the pace for how I’d like our relationship to develop."
"I got it." I nodded firmly. "There’s no rush. It’ll be a lot more comfortable if we just let things unfold organically."
I felt almost relieved. The idea of quickly transitioning from this formal arrangement with a total stranger to something more intimate was overwhelming. For now, I couldn’t even picture it.
Silence filled the car as we drove on, both of us staring at the road ahead. At this point, I think we’d exhausted all the ‘necessary’ topics we needed to cover given our situation. I thought about telling him a little about my house or my family, but those could wait. Besides, we were already nearing his place.
The house where I parked turned out to be pretty elegant, though the yard looked a little neglected. Maybe it was just my professional bias as someone who also worked in garden design, but it definitely needed some love. From what I understood, even though Day had bought the house, his parents couldn’t really afford to maintain it. At least, that’s what I’d gathered.
"Are your parents still working?"
"Only my omega dad. He’s still an elementary school teacher. My alpha father is on disability after a factory accident."
"Keeping up this house must cost a lot, especially with that big yard."
Day let out a loud huff. "Yeah, you can tell. I cover all the costs, but my savings are running out. I don’t want to use the money I got from you on this, so I’m gearing up for a serious conversation with my parents—to convince them to sell the house and downsize to something easier to manage."
"That’s a good idea," I murmured, unsure what to do next.
We were still sitting in the car in their driveway.
Talking about yard maintenance costs felt kinda forced, so I didn’t say anything more. Also, it wasn’t the best idea to criticize his parents, but from what I understood, they’d been leaning on him for years—while he’d been a surrogate. By my assessment,they’d taken advantage of his kindness, piling on costs and expenses, that’s how it looked.
Day bit his lip before speaking quietly. "In a normal situation, I’d invite you inside to introduce you, but my parents don’t know I participated in the fair. My alpha father’s always been against stuff like that. I’d rather not expose you to his temper… plus, he might not be sober."
"No problem, I understand," I said quickly, still not exactly mentally prepared to present myself as somebody’s ‘husband’. "I didn’t expect this turn of events either. I’ll get a room ready for you tonight."
Day sighed in relief. "Thanks for understanding. I’ll explain everything to them and pack up tonight. When you come tomorrow, we’ll see if I can introduce you. If not… I hope you don’t mind if I just pack everything into the car, and we leave."
"Sure, sure."
Silence again. Day glanced at my hand like he wanted to take it, his heartbeat picking up slightly, but then seemed to change his mind. Straightening up, he opened the door and hopped out of the car, tossing a quick parting remark over his shoulder.
"So, see you tomorrow around 10:00, okay?"
"Yep. Take care, and good luck, Day."
