“Are you blushing?” It's cute, but I have to tease him. This isn’t something I can let pass by.
“I'm standing over a hot stove,” he defends.
I nod in pretend understanding. “I'm sure that must be it. Roman Maddox would never blush.”
“You're enjoying this way too much,” he says sardonically.
I wriggle my shoulders in a little dance, taking another sip of my coffee. It's a quiet morning; we woke up to snow outside. If I listen hard, I can almost hear the world trying to knock at our door.
I'm choosing not to listen. For the first time in a long time, I feel completely at peace and that's a scary feeling to have. But like I said, I don't have anything to be afraid of as long as I have Roman with me.
This was never temporary, Lavinia.
Now I'm the one who's blushing. We’re two flawed people, trying to navigate a relationship.
Because that's what this is now. We're in a relationship.
“Do you think we're doing things backwards?” I ask.
Roman plates the eggs and turns off the stove. He sets one plate in front of me with a slice of bread and a glass of green protein shake.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we flirted, then we got married, and now we're dating?”
Roman looks at me from under his lashes. “We're not dating, Lavinia. We’re married. You’re my wife. I'm surprised you actually thought I was ever going to let you go.” He grabs the back of my chair and pulls me closer towards him until our thighs are pressed together under the table.
“Can I ask you something?”
It’s been in the back of my mind since I saw it. There’s always something or other that stops me from asking about it, and when I get the opportunity, I’m hesitant. What if he has voodoo dolls of me or something? Maybe I do need to cleanse my timeline of the supernatural.
“You can ask me anything.” He takes a minute to wipe down the counter before he sits down to eat breakfast.
I eat a bite of eggs followed by the protein shake. It's all delicious as I was expecting. I keep my eyes on the plate as I ask him the question. “Last month, I was in your apartment and you were at practice. I decided to explore and I came across the room where you keep your boxes.”
Roman stiffens next to me. I peek up at him through my lashes and find him staring at me flatly. He knows that I saw the box, I can see it clearly on his face.
“Why do you have a box with my name on it? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I really hope you will because the curiosity is too much.”
He exhales a deep breath, reaching up to push a hand through his hair. “It's a box. It doesn't have to mean anything.”
His words cause a strange ache in my chest. I know I offered him an out, I didn't expect him to take it. Not after last night. It occurs to me that it must be really bad, whatever’s in that box. Because Roman’s been open with me about other things.
“Why do you even have those boxes?” I ask.
“It's all of my stuff, everything I own other than my clothes,” he explains.
“Why do you have it in boxes? Why not put it out?”
He doesn't say anything. He doesn't have to tell me his deepest, darkest secrets if he doesn't want to. In a lot of ways our relationship is still new, and newer to him still because this is his first relationship.
“You're going to think this is crazy,” he says suddenly. “It might be a little crazy.”
“Is it your secret Polly Pocket collection?” I ask.
Looking at me through narrowed eyes, he seems to come to a decision. Setting his fork down, he turns to me. “Do you really want to know what's in the box?”
Reaching up, I cup his face. “Only if you want me to.”
