I’m about to make memories on this stool.
“Yeah.”
He pecks my lips. It’s not until Melvin squeals that I remember we’re in front of an audience, inside a packed bar, telling our business.
“It’s likethat, Maid Miriam?” I conceal my face in the crook of Antonio’s neck at Bread’s smile. “Why you hiding? We saw you.”
“Sure did!” a woman yells from the back of the room. “Tongued down with words of affirmationandaftercare? Where can I find one?”
“With two-day shipping!” someone else shouts.
“Not two-day shipping,” I say through a cackle.
Antonio’s laughter rattles his chest. He pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head.
“Alright, alright.” Melvin shushes the crowd. “For the sake of time, we’re moving on.”
A chorus of boos fills the room.
Guess I’ll keep my sexual fantasies for a rainy day.
By the end of the night, Antonio and I clean house.
Our quirks and habits.
Our favorite ways to relax.
We know it all.
The event raises thirty thousand, plus an extra ten grand for the community center. I’m pretty sure Antonio fudged the numbers, but who am I to correct his math? An audience member approached us before we left, saying they were interested in becoming a donor for the center after hearing about our work. My knees almost gave out when I heard the pledged monthly donation.
It’s around ten when he drives us back to my house. The ride is smooth in buttery leather seats heated for my comfort. Tonight proved that our relationship wins fancy Italian dinners when putto the test, and that I can kiss in public without making a run for the door.
Once I got used to being in a fishbowl onstage, I was calm. Settled. It was the perfect night. I should be relaxed like Antonio, who’s strumming his fingers on the steering wheel to whatever R&B mix he found on the radio.
Except I’m not.
My eyes haven’t moved from the Polaroid a volunteer handed me before we left. It’s a picture of us smiling with our trophies. Only I’m looking at the camera, and he’s looking at me.
A fluttery sensation spreads from my fingers to my toes at the evidence that’s been in front of me—clear as day, waiting for me to take notice.
Antonio has been in love with me for some time.
Every act, every display of affection, has come easily. There are slips and accidents, but it’s pure. Just for us.
I feel like an idiot. Here I am, declaring I’m ready to date and that love will come when the time is right. Love never needed to find me; it’s been here all along.
His SUV rolls to a stop in my driveway. The steady hum of my pulse and the scent of cedar with tobacco thicken the air.
“I’ll walk you to the door.”
I’m on him before his hand reaches his seat belt. My fingers dig into the short hairs of his beard, and my lips crash to his.
“Mir—”
This man has every right to be afraid. I would be too if someone mauled me in my car like they were possessed. Once I stopped thinking about all of the reasons we’re not right for each other, desire took over. And she wants a word.
Antonio’s eyes flare before he pulls me over the center console to straddle him. My winter coat traps my skirt from riding up my thighs. He widens his legs, focusing on stretching mine over his frame. A heat stroke might be in my future with all these extralayers, but for now, I throw caution to the wind and hump him in my driveway for all to see.
