Brad’s jokes toward my current situation with Tanner deepen, and I fear I’m becoming a burden on Tanner. It’s not him surfacing those feelings. It’s me and my own diminishing self-esteem.
Not to mention, I’m not killing it with all these household chores. I washed his down parka after he spilled coffee on it one morning, and I ruined it. I stripped his coffee table of the varnish when my nail polish remover spilled across it. Somehow, the vacuum cleaner started smoking the first time I used it, so I don’t even go near the new one.
Tonight is different though. Tonight, I’m making us a romantic dinner to celebrate our six-month anniversary of dating. It’s probably cheesy and something I wouldn’t do if I weren’t stuck in snow country with nothing to do but please my man.
Taking out the recipe, I give myself a small pep talk to boost my confidence. I can accomplish at least one domesticated thing. During the past few months, I’ve refrained from calling my mom for advice because I want to show some form of independence even if Tanner supports me financially.
After the kitchen is ready to go, I hop in the shower to shave every last hair off my body, except for the ones on my head. As the water cascades down my back, the heat warms my cold skin. My mind drifts to Brad and his quest for Taylor. In the last six months, both our lives have changed for the better.
The press conference wasn’t the end of the ordeal. Some people still point to Tanner, not believing the hard facts of his progress the last two and a half years. They want to believe he can’t be that good without using, but he is, and he seems to be at peace, knowing so. He takes it all in stride just as he has his whole life.
Bayli was sitting in her car, waiting for us, when we pulled up to our driveway. Brad took the beating she gave him after he quietly told her he couldn’t marry her. The rest of us remained in the house, but we could still hear her screaming at him. Needless to say, her parents are trying to bill Brad for the lost money. But he seems happier, and it took him a few months to seek Taylor out and find out where she went after college.
I smile, remembering the Skype call when he located her. The hope in his face had me cuddling up to Tanner a little closer that night in appreciation of having the one I love so close. Now, Brad has to hold tight and not give up since she’s dodging him. That’s not Brad’s strong suit. This time, he needs to channel his fighting instinct he used to have and win her over.
I escape the shower, and I immediately smile. My hand covers my heart as though his words have shot me with Cupid’s arrow.
You’re perfect is scribbled across the mirror in Tanner’s writing.
He has this sense when I’m struggling. I guess I’ve been transparent the last few weeks. Next to his writing, I add my own note on the steamed mirror for Tanner to see the next time he gets out of the shower. My finger slides along the smooth surface, smiling at the thought of him finding my words.
When I’m done, I need you like a heartbeat reads on the mirror.
When I back up to open the bathroom door, I smile as it disappears.
I put on the pink dress from our very first date, which I just found when I unpacked my boxes. I try to even do my hair the exact same way I did over two years ago.
Tossing on the apron Brad gave me as a going-away gift—smart-ass bastard—I take a hefty breath to begin cooking a meal to prove my worth.
An hour later, I’m shuffling between the cutting board, the stove, and the sink. Sweat is dripping in between my cleavage and I’m positive my makeup is streaking down my face.
Glancing at the clock, I have five minutes before Tanner will walk through the door. I rush over to the table, setting it with our generic white dishes and our only two wine glasses. After lighting votive candles in a line down the middle of the table, I toss the flowers I bought in a glass jar since we don’t have a vase. Stepping back, I’m impressed. It looks nice and romantic.
As I’m smiling at the table I accomplished to decorate, Tanner’s key twists in the lock, and I lean against the counter in the kitchen, so I’m the first thing he sees. With my hand on my hip, I deny the urge to bite my lower lip from how anxious his entry makes me.
The door opens, and I’m surprised to find he showered at the center. He’s all decked out in a charcoal pinstriped suit, holding a vase full of flowers in his hand.
My shoulders slump, and my smile widens. “You remembered,” I whisper, my throat tightening.
He takes me in, and then his eyes flick to the table all set for a romantic dinner. “I was going to take you out.” He places the flowers on the table next to my makeshift arrangement. “It looks beautiful.” Wrapping his arm around my waist, he pulls me to him, his face nuzzling in my neck. “Not as beautiful as you though.”
“Aw, aren’t you the sweetest?” My hands reach up, feeling his damp hair.
His hands tighten, and he lifts me off the ground.
“I missed you,” he softly says.
I love the way he makes me feel so wanted.
He kisses my neck and places me back down on the ground. “So, what do we have?”
He walks into the kitchen, and just as I’m about to tell him, I notice smoke lingering in the air.
“Hey, babe?” he asks, opening the oven door. A billow of smoke rushes out.
“Oh my God!” I scream right before the smoke alarm blares throughout the apartment.
Tanner rushes over and opens a window, and as the expert I’ve become in the kitchen, I turn on the fan above the stove, grab a dishtowel, and wave it below the alarm. Tanner calmly walks over, reaching up and pressing the sounding alarm to shut it off.
I freeze in place, watching him take charge. He takes the dish out of the oven, puts it in the freezer, and waves his hand in the air to dissipate the smoke. Looking at the table, the tears well up in my eyes because of another failed attempt. I tried to show Tanner how much I love him. My fingers swipe the few spilled tears on my cheeks, and when Tanner gets the situation all under control, he laughs, walking over to me.
“I guess I still get to take you out to dinner.” He chuckles again.
The misery festers in me and emerges, and tears pour out of my eyes. My head falls into my hands, and Tanner rushes the last few steps toward me.
“Hey.” His arms wrap around me while his head dips down to entice me to look at him. “It happens, baby. I took care of it.”
His sentence breaks me, and my slow trickling of tears turns to sobs gushing out.
“That’s it,” I stutter. “You always take care of me,” I admit the insecurity I have when it comes to our relationship.
“I love taking care of you.” He grabs my hands and pushes them away from my face. His thumb and forefinger cup my chin, and he tilts my face up to meet his. “What’s going on?”
I close my eyes, building up the courage to be honest with him. “I can’t even cook you dinner.”
I wail, and he laughs.
I push him back and stand up. “I’m serious, Tan. I’m a disaster in anything house-related. Brad pokes fun at me all the time about if I’m pregnant and barefoot.”
Walking around the table, I blow out the candles and begin stacking the unused dishes.
“Brad’s an ass, and he should worry about his own life for once.”
When I go for the flowers, Tanner’s hand rests on my forearm. “Baby?” he asks.
I stop. “You go out and swim and work your endorsements, and I sit around here all day, living off of what you make. I feel like a kept woman.”
I slump down in a chair, and Tanner pulls his own chair over to position himself right in front of me.
“Oh, Piper. You sacrificed so much to join me here. You gave up your opportunity back home to teach. I promise you’ll find something out here soon. Just so you know, every day when I get in my car after practice, I’m thankful you’re here, waiting for me.” He takes my hands in his.
“But I’m like a leech stuck to your back, and one day, you’ll want to take a stick and fling me off.” My head falls again.
He shakes his head, a smile threatening to break at my drama. “Jeez, baby, you’ve really got a way with words.”