“Sure am,” she said, pulling at my belt. Was she really gonna get frisky in the In’N’Out parking lot? I was definitely interested, but I also wanted to build some anticipation for the big surprise.
“Why don’t you save it for the coat closet at Guy and Kitty’s?”
After we ate, I got back on the road to our destination.
“Hey, didn’t we just pass their house?” she asked.
“They told me to park down the street,” I said, stomach jumping with nerves.
“But there weren’t any cars out front,” she said, turning in her seat to look back at their house.
“Huh. Maybe we’re just the first here.”
I pulled into a driveway of a house at the end of the cul de sac with a sold sign in the front yard.
“Mikey, we can’t park here!” she started, then cut herself off. Her mouth flapped open and shut. “Why are we parking here, Ben?”
I took a key on an old school hotel keychain out of my pocket. “Why don’t you go find out?”
Her lower lip quivered. “Shut up. Stop it. What did you do?” She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Did you buy a house?”
I pulled back to look at her. “I boughtusa house.”
She held both my cheeks and kissed me, hard.
“Does that make you happy?”
She nodded, crying. “But what if, what if I hate it? Do you want me to pretend I love it?”
I laughed. Of course she’d think of that. “Then I’ll sell it. You wanna go inside and find out?”
“Uh huh.” She opened her door and waited for me at the hood of the car. She gave me a few quick kisses before dragging me to the front door. She unlocked it, but before she could walk in, I scooped her up.
“Aren’t we supposed to do this?”
“I think only if you’re married,” she said.
“Well, I do keep asking you to marry me,” I pointed out. I put her down inside the threshold and she looked around. She touched her hand to a wooden post by the stairs. Guy and Kitty’s neighborhood was mostly midcentury homes, which I knew Jessie liked. She always talked about the cool features in their house.
“Ben, it’s perfect.”
I beamed. “Go look around, hon. It’s ours.”
She turned back to me, narrowing her eyes. “But aren’t you going to be far from the arena?”
I shrugged. “Stelle makes it work. And you’ll be closer, too. It’s a compromise.”
“But like, you make the money,” she objected.
“It’s not about the money, hon. Never will be. It’s about us making a life together.”
She jumped into my arms again, covering my face with kisses. “I love you so much, Ben Miknevicius.”
“I love you more, Jessalyn Welsh.” I swatted her butt. “Now go look around!”
She pulled me with her, looking in all the rooms. “Is this the master?”
I hugged her from behind. “This is our room, yep.”
