Page 73 of Structure of Love

I sensed insecurities lurking. “Why wouldn’t you celebrate it? Sweetheart, you’ve worked yourself into the ground foryearsto be able to buy that building. You’ve sacrificed, dreamed, saved—all to have a place of your own. That’s absolutely worth celebrating.”

His eyes met mine, and for a second, he seemed overwhelmed, the look in his eyes that of a lost child. “Is it? I thought stuff like that was taken for granted.”

“Absolutely not.” I had a feeling his bastard parents were behind this attitude, and I mentally aimed a kick in their direction. “When we finally got done renovating our office, wethrew a massive party, had friends and family from all around join in. It was tremendous fun but also an acknowledgment of how hard we’d worked. Logan, there’s nothing wrong with celebrating your success.”

“I know, I’m not saying otherwise.”

Yeah, my encouragement didn’t have the impact I wanted. I worded it differently and tried again. “Don’t chase success so hard that you forget to take joy.”

My words stopped him dead in his tracks. He paused, right there, and slowly lifted his head to look at me. “Take joy. Is…is that what I’m doing? Forgetting to actually enjoy what I’ve worked to achieve?”

“Seems like it. You wouldn’t be so flummoxed over a party otherwise.”

“Ha! You’ve got me there.” His brows furrowed into a pensive line. “Damn, maybe I need to call my therapist back up, work through that. I just realized this is very much a holdover from my upbringing. If I got good grades or a trophy from a sport, that was expected—the least of what I should be doing—and I was always kind of ignored no matter how well I did. I think the only one who ever celebrated me was Grandma.”

It wasn’t enough to mentally aim kicks at his parents. I started wishing other things for them instead. That they’d perpetually step on Legos, their noodles were always soggy, and their steak was always burned to a crisp. May they be as miserable as they deserved for the rest of their lives.

“Fortunately”—I drew him in closer, hugging him to me—“you’re surrounded by people who love you to bits and want to celebrate your wins.”

“Yeah.” His voice sounded a touch hoarse as he leaned in, resting his forehead on my shoulder. “Fortunately, I have the best friends in the world, and a boyfriend to give me a gentle slap on the back of the head when I need it.”

“Was that what my words were? A gentle slap to the head?”

“Felt like it.” He sighed gustily and settled in harder. “Some cages don’t have bars, you just carry them around in your head. Your advice kicked one of the bars out.”

“Good. I’m glad it helped.”

“In that case, I’m definitely going to party it up on Sunday.” His head came back up, and this time his smile was tender. “And show you off. Finally found me a man who’s a keeper, and I’m going to show the world how much I appreciate you.”

“You taking joy with me, eh?”

“Yup.”

The strength this man had awed me, his ability to recognize where his issues were. Look at him, he wasn’t even letting it slow him down. He’d just bulldozed past the insecurity, not letting his hang-up from the past drag him under. I felt sure adjusting his mindset wasn’t easy, and he’d likely need therapy to work through the issue more, but he was game to.

“You amaze me,” I murmured, carding my hands through his hair, just because I knew he loved the sensation. “You don’t let anything hold you back. Not shitty parenting, not mistakes, nothing.”

“As someone once said to me, the best advice in the world is to go on. All advice, at its root, boils down to those two simple words. It stuck with me. I’m not interested in dwelling on things that made me unhappy the first time. I’ll work through it, or around it, but I’m not wallowing in the past.”

Resilience. That was what he was—resilient. I thought that was also in his DNA, along with the stubbornness. Thank god for both. Otherwise, I doubted I’d ever have met him. He’d have been as fully lost to darkness as Cooper was now, and our paths would never have crossed.

I kissed him, soft and gentle, and felt him smile into the kiss. “Thank you for being you.”

“My line, Gage,” he said hoarsely. “That’s my line. Thank you for being you. You take me as I am, shortcomings and all.”

“Just don’t try to princess carry me again and we’ll be fine.”

He busted out laughing. “You really hated that, didn’t you?”

“It felt soooo uncomfortable. I do not get why girls like it. I think I prefer picking people up over being picked up.”

“I’ll remember that for next time.”

“Wait, why is there a next time?”

“We’re not going to do more photoshoots? I had a blast.”God help me.

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