Madison snickers as the camera flashes again.
I merely shake my head at Ezra’s antics, glad we’re almost to the parking lot. “The only actor who’s friendly with the paparazzi.”
Ezra shrugs, unlocking his vehicle for the three of us to get in. “If I’m nice, they get my good side.”
“You have a bad side?”
Ezra acts astonished, looking at Madison in the back seat. “Did you know your dad is such a charmer?”
“You two are ridiculous,” she says, although she’s smiling.
“Me, yes.” Ezra checks both ways before pulling out onto the road. “Your dad, on the other hand, is an unfortunatepassenger in my ridiculous life. I’ve kidnapped him, I’m afraid. And I’m loath to let him go.”
“A poet,” I tell him. “Such beautiful words.”
He all but cackles before his voice falls soft and solemn, as if reciting verses. “‘The strongest affection and utmost zeal should, I think, promote the studies concerned with the most beautiful objects. This is the discipline that deals with the universe’s divine revolutions, the stars’ motions, sizes, distances, risings and settings…for what is more beautiful than heaven?’”
I stare at Ezra, shocked. “Did you just quote Copernicus? He was an astronomer, you know. Not a poet.”
Ezra’s smirk is devastating. “And yet his words are poetry to you.”
I can’t deny it.
When I glance in the back seat, Madison’s gaze is out the window. But her expression is pensive.
Once we get back to Ezra’s house—ourhouse—I give Madison a hug. “Be safe,” I tell her. “I love you.”
“You, too, Dad.” She squeezes me tight before letting go. “Mom will come around.”
I nod. “She will.”
Not that Camilla’s opinion of how I conduct my life has any bearing on my happiness. Not anymore. But I don’t want our relationship to end up any more strained than it already is. For Madison’s sake.
Ezra gives Madison an equally hearty hug. “Remember, I know boys are pretty, but if he won’t wrap it, he’s not worth it.”
“Oh my God,” Madison groans, shoving Ezra away as he laughs. “Gross. Bye. Don’t call.”
“Love you.” Ezra’s shout is followed by Madison shutting her car door. “Kids.They grow up so fast.”
I shake my head, a pang in my chest as Madison drives toward the gated exit. “She’s not going to appreciate the extra bodyguard we assigned her.”
Ezra makes a thoughtful noise. “Maybe not. But it’ll be temporary. Dying stars, remember? We can only shine for so long.”
I hum, but I don’t think there’s a star out there with as strong a gravitational pull as Ezra. When he goes out…the blast will be felt worlds over.
Ezra hits the button to shut the garage door, and I follow him inside, looking around the house that’s now my own. The spacious, open-concept living space, tall windows and ceilings, state-of-the-art appliances and tech, and a well-concealed backyard with a heated pool.
It’s extravagant, yes. But it’s also home. Every inch of this place was decorated by Ezra himself, with my help. There’s the antique Hepplewhite sideboard the TV sits atop. The beautiful bronze oval mirror that hangs in the entryway just behind me. The blues and light grays of the furniture, drapes, and pillows that are both comfortable and comforting.
I’ve always felt at home at Ezra’s. Now I really am.
“All right?”
The question comes from Ezra, the man himself vaulting over the back of the couch and landing in a sprawl. He grunts immediately afterwards, regretting, I’d bet, the move at his age.
“Fine,” I tell him, walking toward the wall of windows at the back of the house. The pool glimmers darkly in the evening light. “It’s just…odd. This is the point in the evening where we’d usually be on a video call. Assuming we weren’t already hanging out.”
Ezra shoots me a grin I can see in the glass. “Now you have me all to yourself any time you want, and you’re wondering how you managed to get so lucky.”
