“We’ll watch them, but make sure they run and play so they’ll be tired. I’m going to bed early tonight, and we’ll have to drop them off early tomorrow because Hunter and I are flying to California,” Adam says. We’re celebrating his birthday by the ocean, even though he said multiple times he didn’t want to do anything. I won’t let that slide; he should know better. I’ve been trying to think of the perfect gift, and I think I’ve found it. It’s been hard to hide the secret, but I don’t think he knows at all. I feel like Tom Cruise when he did theMission: Impossiblemovies, a true spy flying undetected.
“Deal.” Kian raises his voice to tell his husband that they have a babysitter for the night. I laugh because I know exactly what they’re thinking. The same thing that Kian said last time he stopped by the bookstore. He let the twins play with their blocks on the floor while we sipped iced coffees, and he told me his…needs. Way too in-depth for me, but if exhibitionism is what they’re into, I’m not going to judge.
We hang up the phone, and Adam reaches his hand out to palm my thigh the rest of the way to Trent and Kian’s house.
“Uncle Dum!” Oliver yells, the little boy running on two stubby legs full speed at Adam as soon as he shuts his door. Harley, his sister, is right behind him, walking much calmer in a pair of pink princess heels and a purse on her arm. Every bit of Kian, that much is obvious.
“Ah!” Adam says loudly, capturing Oliver and tossing him into the air. His long, curly hair flows in the wind and whips around his face.
Harley comes up to me while I’m unbuckling her cake in the backseat.
“Uncle Hunt,” she says primly. I squat down to her height, and she raises her arms. I hoist her up and prop her on my hip.
“I like your dress, it’s so pretty.” She preens under my compliment and shuffles her body until I set her down on the cement. She does a twirl for me and then a curtsy. I clap loudly for her, and her smile is wide, her baby cheeks on full display.
Adam comes up with Oliver on his hip, and Harley does the same technique that she did for me. He hoots and hollers for her, and Oliver joins in. His loud, joy-filled, childish laugh attracts his parents to come outside.
Trent claps Adam on the back, and Kian comes up to me and wraps me in a hug with one of his arms.
“Help me get the cake?” Kian asks, and I agree, letting Adam and Trent talk with the children while Kian and I go inside. No one is here yet besides us.
When Kian gets the cake situated in the exact spot he wants, he whirls around on me, his hair is shorter now, but his curls are still there.
“You haven’t slipped yet, have you?” I look around to make sure Adam hasn’t come in yet.
“No! Keep your voice down, I’ve been working so hard to keep this secret, and you’re not going to ruin it for him now,” I hiss, feeling my blood pressure rise. The ring is in my safe box at the bookstore, safe and sound away from prying eyes, and to keep Adam from accidentally finding it. For a month, I thought I lost it. I just misplaced it, but I had Kian over every day, scouring my house for that thing.
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure.” I start to say something else, but Adam and Trent walk in.
Adam walks up and gives me a kiss while the twins run into the backyard to play.
We stay like that through the whole party, holding onto each other and soaking in the love around us.
ADAM
Ihave to cough into my hand to cover up my laugh. Hunter is patting his pockets furiously, looking for the ring he’s been doing a horrible job of hiding. We’re standing in line at TSA, and he’s behind me, trying to figure out what to do with it before he goes through. If he had put it in the suitcase, I would have found it, but I bet it’s dawning on him now that he’ll have to take it out of his pocket.
At first, when he started acting secretive, I thought something else was going on. Not that he was cheating, but that he was losing interest in me. In our relationship. When he started constantly calling Kian and asking him to come over, I thought they were brainstorming ways for Hunter to leave me.
But one day, when I came across a black velvet ring box underneath the sink in our bathroom while I was looking for a replacement blade for my razor, I had to hold in my gasp of surprise. He was lying in bed, relaxing before he had to go to work. I calmly put the box back in the drawer and covered it with a spare loofah.
When he left for work, I tucked it under his boxers in his underwear drawer, hoping that he would think he just misplacedit. And that night, he looked happier and more carefree than he had been for a month. He must have thought he lost it.
Now we’re on our way to California, we’re staying in a condo on the beach, watching the sun and moon on the water, and enjoying each other’s presence. I wanted to propose to him first, but now I’m going to let him have his moment. I still have the ring I want to give him, but I keep it on a chain, and it’s tucked into a fold in my wallet, hidden behind the picture of him from two years ago, when he was telling me a funny story about a customer. He looked so perfect in that moment, I knew I had to capture it and keep it forever.
Our plane lands,and I navigate us through the airport while Hunter looks around and talks to me about all the different stores he wants to visit while we’re here. When he says Burberry, I know my wallet is in danger. Just kidding. I wanted to give him a black card linked to my account, but he wouldn’t go for it. Now he just trades sexual favors in turn for using my money. I have more than enough, and he knows that. The only thing besides him that might make me go broke is Trent and Kian’s twins, those two know how to sucker me into anything. Even if Kian taught them to call me Uncle Dum, but since they’re cute, I’ll allow it.
The car is waiting for us in pickup. I throw our suitcases in the back while Hunter scrolls on his phone. Hopefully he’s looking up something for dinner, because I’m starving, and the snacks they give on the plane are never enough to satisfy me.
We get to the condo, and I park the car in front of the garage door. If we’re planning on leaving for dinner later, there’s no point in putting it up now.
My phone chimes in my pocket, and I reach in and grab it. Hunter lets the two separate group chats know that we made it safely. There’s a chorus of ringtones, and I flip the switch on my phone so it won’t bother me anymore. I love my friends and my future in-laws, but after a long day, I need a break. My mind is at capacity.
“Pizza for dinner?” Hunter asks, stopping beside me in the kitchen and resting his hip against the counter.
“Sounds great,” I say, exhaustion lacing my tone. He smiles at me and wraps me in his arms. I tilt my chin up so I can rest it on his head, smelling his coconut and honey shampoo, the one smell that relaxes me.
“Good, because I already called it in while you were off in lala land.” He kisses my Adam’s apple, and I hold back the shiver of pleasure that wants to course through my body.
