“Requirements?”

“Your best friend. No asking questions. You said.”

My cheeks hurt from my smile. “You’re right,” I said right before a yawn tore its way up my throat from out of nowhere. “Speaking of questions, did you read those books?”

His laugh warmed my heart. “I watched them on marathon with my sister once on holiday.”

“Ah.”

He chuckled again.

So I went for it. “How would you feel about saving hotel money and coming to stay with us the rest of the time you’re here?”

Honestly, it sounded like he dropped the phone, or himself, but he was back on the line so fast, I wasn’t sure. “Stay? At your house? With you?”

“There are three more people here than just me….” I trailed off, still stunned by my grandfather’s offer.

“Are you sure?” he asked with so much hope it hurt. “Your granddad—”

“Is the one who brought it up,” I cut him off.

It sounded like he dropped his phone again, and that time I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Granddad Gus told you to invite me?”

“Yeah.” But he still had no idea just how much trust and respect went into the invitation.

But he would know soon enough. Because he needed to know so that it wasn’t a shock.

“You don’t have to say yes if you’d rather stay at a hotel.”

Jonah laughed. “Give me a chance to answer, Lenny. Yes. Yes. I would love to. Wow.”

I smiled and decided to fuck with him. “But you’d have to stay in my room with me.”

There was a pause and then, “I will?”

“If you want to.”

He let out another cute little laugh. “Sweet as. Was that your granddad’s idea as well?”

“No. Mine.” I pulled in a breath through my nose and knew I needed to go ahead and initiate him. “Jonah, I want you to know that you’re being invited into the final circle of trust in the DeMaio family.”

“Awesome… but did I imagine you saying there were three?”

“I lied.” All right, I could do this. “If you’re planning on staying with us—”

“I am.”

I smiled. “There’s something I need to tell you so that you aren’t surprised.”

“All right.” He made a noise. “I know you snore sometimes. We did spend several nights together, Lenny. That isn’t a surprise, and I think it’s adorable when you do. You don’t need to warn me.”

I smirked. “You snore too, and that’s not what I’m talking about.” There was no doubt in my mind that this was going to go well. I knew Jonah, and apparently so did my grandfather, otherwise he never would have approved of him coming over. “There are only very few people who know this, and it has to stay that way, okay? It’s… a secret, and it wasn’t mine to share, that’s why I never said anything. They have good reasons for keeping it in the family and the circle of trust, and I trust that you’ll never say anything to anyone. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Part of me braced for his surprise and all the questions that might come. When I’d finally gotten the clearance to tell Luna, nine years into our friendship, she’d had at least… thirty. So it was totally saying something that we were months into this and it was happening.

I went right into it. “My grandpa and Peter have been in a relationship for the last twenty-eight years.”

My body prepared….

And all Jonah said was, “Yeh, I know.”

What?

“What do you mean you know?”

“I know. I assumed,” he said easily, not sounding even the slightest bit surprised. “They live in the same house together, share a room, always sit next to one another. I’ve seen how they look at each other. Those comments your granddad’s ex was hinting at helped too. I hoped you would tell me when you were ready. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be for them to keep it a secret, but I understand why they’ve had to. It made me a bit sad the first time I thought about it, Lenny.”

How observant was this son of a bitch?

It really didn’t throw him off at all, because the next thing I knew, he said, “I’m excited to be part of this circle finally.”

I was too stunned to reply. But okay. If he wanted to brush this off and go with it… great. Perfect. All right.

It was amazing he’d figured it out, but okay. I wasn’t going to make a big deal about it if he wasn’t. Their relationship was the single most guarded secret I had ever known, and Jonah had taken it like nothing.

I wasn’t imagining the love that pulsed through my chest as I thought that over. I wasn’t imagining it at all. I really did love this wonderful, intuitive, easygoing man who took things and rolled with them.

He kept on going like we were talking about the weather, forcing me to do the same. “Can I make a booking to stay with you starting two days from now when my mum and sister leave?”

I pumped my fist, but managed to keep my voice casual as I asked, “So soon?”

Jonah chuckled. “I can hear your heartbreak, and, yeah, Dad asked her to come back.”

“Why? Is everything okay?”

“Good as gold, but I may have asked him to make the request.”

Not that I wasn’t grateful, but… “Why?”

“To get to spend more time with you and Mo,” he answered easily.

And my brilliant-ass answer? “Oh.”

“Did you mean what you said, Len?”

“About what?”

“About supporting me with whatever decision I make?”

Did he have to sound so hopeful? I rolled my eyes. “Yes. Duh.” And just as quickly, my heart started beating fast, and if it was mostly just over the idea that he was going to have to leave eventually—sooner than later according to what his mom had said—well, it wasn’t like I hadn’t known. “Do you know what you want to do?”

“I thought I did,” he answered, voice softening again. “But you gave me something to think about today.”

Yeah, that was my heart beating fast. “And what was that?”

“That most blokes would kill to have the opportunities I do, and mostly… if you and Mo will be supportive of wherever I go, then….”

I was happy for him. I really was. I wouldn’t want him to do anything else. Give up his dream. Or at least cut it off so early. But…

He’d still leave.

But that’s how shit worked sometimes. Some people had loved ones in the military who got deployed. Some people had loved ones who worked in transportation and were gone all the time. You had to do what you had to fucking do, and I wasn’t about to make him feel guilty.

“I’m calling my agent tomorrow, finally, and having a chat with him. See what can be done,” he let me know. “Makes me feel heaps better now than I did earlier.”

I squashed my dread down and got myself to ask, “What was wrong earlier?” Wait. “Noah? Or your mom?”

“Both I suppose, but that arsehole more,” Jonah replied. “Most difficult thing I’ve ever done, sitting there, watching you talk to him,” he admitted, sounding genuinely pretty put out about it.