I sat on her bed, stunned. “Shit, woman, I hadn’t even thought about it. What are we going to do?”
“I’m going to rent a one bedroom,” she replied with finality. I looked to her in shock. “I appreciate you taking care of me these past few years. I love you, but really it’s time for me to leave the nest. I’m getting too old to have a roommate and you and Jayden are practically living together, anyway. Why don’t you talk to him about it?”
“I want him to ask, to make the first move.” Even as I said it, I felt the sad tug that he may be content with the way things were. I knew we were happy, I just wasn’t sure that he felt as certain about our future as I did.
“Ask him,” she said with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes I couldn’t place.
“No way, if we do something like that, it’s got to be him,” I stated firmly as there was a knock on our door.
“He truly loves you, Hilary. I can see it. Hell, anyone with a pulse can see it.”
“Thanks,” I said, making my way toward her door. I paused and looked back at her. “I just don’t want to be the one to ask.”
She gave me another smile and nodded toward our door. “Go check him out. I want your opinion.”
Following orders, I went to open it, introducing myself to her date who stated his name with a kind smile. “Drew.”
“Nice to meet you, Drew.” He nodded as his eyes lit up when Gerri joined him. I took the two of them in, same hair and eye color. Drew was a lot taller than Gerri and together they already seemed at ease. We made a few minutes of small talk and I noted Drew was wrapped up in every word she spoke. I gave her a subtle nod as they made their way out of the door. I was proud of her as she turned back to me with a wink and a ‘goodnight.’
Walking back to Jayden’s house, I couldn’t help feeling melancholy. Had I forced her to move on because I spent all my time with Jayden? I wondered if she resented me for taking myself away from her bit by bit to spend my free time in my relationship. I couldn’t imagine not being with Jayden on a daily basis. She was right, though. We both had lives to live, and apparently she had made a firm decision to navigate her way on her own. The thought of getting my own place didn’t appeal to me at all. I wanted to be with Jayden, and of that I was absolutely sure. My love for him had only grown stronger and he seemed to feel the same, but I guessed I was old fashioned in a sense. I wanted him to be the aggressor in our future making decisions. I wouldn’t push him no matter how bad I wanted to be H.A.M. I would wait my whole life for him and I knew that, too.
I turned Jayden’s knob to find the door locked and went into my pocket for the key. I thought it odd because he never locked the door when he was home. Turning the lock, I opened the door and gasped. Standing in the middle of hundreds of candles stood my love. John Lennon’s Woman was playing as I took in the brown box on the coffee table.
“Come in, baby. Shut the door.” I looked around the room and took a step inside, closing the door behind me. Jayden was dressed to the nines in a white button down shirt and freshly pressed slacks. The constant lump in my throat that accompanied me when it came to Jayden made its presence known. I took another step in and paused, taking in my setting and trying to burn it into my memory.
Lennon serenaded me as I listened to the words of the song prominently whispering across the room.
Jayden walked over to me, wiping the tears from my eyes. “I have a present for you.”
“Jayden,” I croaked, gripping my chest as he turned to retrieve the brown box from the coffee table.
It was the size of the one I’d admired next to it so many months ago. I studied it, knowing this one was made specifically for me. The artwork stenciled on it was stunning. It was covered in symbols of summer: sun, water, wild flowers, lavender, and roses. I looked up to Jayden who had clear emotion written all over his features.
“I thought it was time you took a look at my list.”
“It’s so beautiful.”
“It’s our summer. It’s what I want for us...always. Open it, baby.”
Opening the box, my heart burst when I picked up a tiny scroll. He grabbed the box back, holding it so I could open it. There was only one thing written on it.
Hilary Amanda Monroe. I gasped out his name and looked up at him to see his eyes shining with tears as he sank down on one knee.
“I have a very selfish question to ask you,” he said, taking a ring out of the small box and holding it up to me. “This is the most selfish thing I’ve ever done.” My shoulders began to shake as my world rocked and his words rang out, keeping us connected, his eyes shining with hope.
“It’s not going to be easy. It never will be. But I have to ask you. I have to. You’re my best friend,” he said tearfully, “my lover, my strength, my reason for being, which I never thought was possible. I never thought there was anyone for me.” He was openly crying as I looked down at him.
Sobbing, I covered my face with my hands as he pulled me down to his knee. He waited for me to look over my fingers, my face soaked. “Will you marry me? Be my wife, make summer with me for the rest of our lives?”
I nodded wholeheartedly with my “yes” as I crumbled into his chest. After a few minutes, I looked up at him as he smiled down at me. “You get a ring out of this deal,” he said, taking my left hand and sliding it on.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, staring up at him.
“You’re not even looking at it,” he chuckled.
“It’s so beautiful,” I said, throwing my arms around him as I pushed him to the floor.
“Baby, there’s more”—kiss–“about”—kiss—“box”—kiss–he whispered as I ignored him, planting my lips feverishly all over his face.
“I’m going to be HAM!!” I laughed into his chest.
“What?!” He chuckled, holding me tightly to him.
“I need you naked,” I insisted, tugging on his lip and rubbing him through his pants.
“No objection there,” he whispered back, pushing up my skirt and molding his gentle hands around my ass, dragging me up and down his length. Pushing my tongue along his mouth, he darted his out, meeting mine and then sat up, gently lifting me with him as he brought me to the bedroom filled with the same candlelight. I looked around us, my legs hooked around his waist, soaking it all in. Unable to hold in my curiosity, I finally brought my ring into view behind his neck, admiring it.
“It’s perfect,” I said, noting the oval diamond in an antique setting.
He buried his head in my neck, murmuring to me as he lowered me to the mattress. I watched him undress slowly as he kept his eyes glued to me. I slid my dress over my head and discarded my bra and panties.
Spreading my legs, he didn’t hesitate as he found my mouth and buried his length inside me in one sweeping motion. I choked on the feel of him as he started moving, desperately hungry and completely unashamed as he whispered, “all mine.”
One month later
The consistent slamming woke me as I looked at the clock. It was 5 a.m. With a loud crash, I reached the kitchen in seconds to find Jayden pacing and cursing. He looked up at me with a glare.
“What...what’s wrong?” I stood with a t-shirt on and nothing else as he surveyed the boxes in the kitchen.
“I can’t find anything! Look at this fucking mess!” I noted that the only thing in the way were the two small boxes I had moved in from my apartment.
“Jayden, it’s just a couple of boxes. I’ll unpack them and put them up after work.”
“THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! I CAN’T FIND MY FUCKING COFFEE!”
Recognizing this as the same voice as the night he confronted Randy, I made myself aware this was one of those times and I backed away from him.