Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

After Bex had parked, they took the elevator up to her apartment. The elevator kept going up and up and up, and Faith looked at Bex suspiciously.

"Where exactly do you live?" she asked.

Bex mumbled something about having the top floor and Faith stared at her.

"A penthouse? You live in a penthouse?!"

"No, not a penthouse. But, well, a really lovely loft." When Faith kept staring, Bex clarified. "Look, the consultancy firm I work for really wanted me to move out here and set up a new branch because they liked what I did in the UK. And I held out long enough for them to find me an incredible apartment to rent at cost."

"I bet at cost is still really expensive," said Faith. "Bet it's more than a potter could afford." She was joking, but there was a kernel of truth in her words. Back at Rawhide Ranch, they'd been the same, equal, and she'd forgotten that out here, in the real world, that wasn't quite how things worked.

Bex pulled a face. "I mean, it's still pretty pricey, but I go into businesses and boss them around until they do what I say and then make a massive profit. They can afford to pay me pretty well. But I can't do what you do—create something out of nothing. And then there's all that outreach work you do. You make a big impact on the world, rainbow girl."

"Do you like your job?" Faith asked.

"Sometimes," said Bex. "Sometimes I just want to yeet, um, throw them all out a window. But the firm has said I can take on one pro bono client a year, so it's worth it, just for that. It's not working with trans and enby kids one on one, but I help make sure the charities and programs that work with them are as efficient as they can be."

Faith smiled. "Why is it that your English sounds so much more fun than my English? I'm definitely going to be stealing some of your slang even if you threaten to yeet me out the window," she teased before slipping her hand into the crook of Bex's arm. "As far as our contributions, don't belittle what you do as being less important than what I do. We all do what we can."

But when the elevator doors opened onto Bex's loft, she stood there, slack-jawed for a moment or two.

" This is your apartment. This." When you walked to the windows, you could see out across the entire city to the mountains beyond. "Oh. That's stunning."

Bex had hurried in and was sweeping paperwork into haphazard piles when she heard Faith. "Yeah, the view's pretty good."

"Pretty good?" Faith was flabbergasted. "Stop tidying up for a moment and come and have a look."

The city stretched out beneath them both, and Faith got a glimpse of her city from the sky. She'd never seen it laid out like that before, and it made her smile.

Her fingers itched and tapped on the window.

"You want to make art." It wasn't a question.

"Yes." Gods, the art she could make in this space. She longed for her potter's wheel, to turn it and keep turning. She grinned at Bex sheepishly. "You've got a nice place."

Bex grinned back. "It'll do. Come on, I'll lay out some blankets and we can picnic on the carpet."

Tay had done a great job once more, and Chef Guilia's ice cream was a delicious way to end their picnic adventure.

Leaning back against the couch behind them, Faith sighed. "I don't remember the last time I had a weekend this good."

Bex was nestled up next to her, all soft curves pressed against Faith. "Me neither."

Looking down at Bex, she was filled with a warmth. "This is good," she said. "So good that I want to say I'm falling for you too. Falling, fallen, I don't know. All I know is that time with you makes me happy."

Bex reached up and pulled Faith down to kiss her. "You're my perfect rainbow girl. You'll stay tonight?"

"I'll stay," said Faith, and kissed her again.