Before Roman's father died, he left one condition: Jace, his second wife's son, must graduate from college, or Roman loses the rest of the trust. Jace is twenty-one, has a 1.9 GPA, fails classes, skips sessions, and gets into fights—anything but graduating. Roman takes him in, hires tutors, sets rules, takes away his game controller, claiming it's about the money, while quietly standing up for him again and again. Under one roof, the two keep pushing and pulling—from a game controller to a cup of coffee, from being late to waiting up for him at night. Roman finally says "I missed you" when drugged, then asks "Can I kiss you?" when sober. But when Jace stumbles on the trust document marked "must graduate," he believes he was only ever a transaction. Roman gives up his entire beneficial interest, hands the papers to the lawyer, and leaves the choice to Jace. Three years later, Jace slides a ring onto Roman's hand.
