“Toby says the same thing,” Hugo says, grinning.
“I know. That’s where I got my opinion.”
He laughs.
I mean to ask him more, but then realize we’re approaching something in the distance. Something big. Like a white wall just randomly set down in the middle of a field. As we get closer, I decide it’s a temporary wall, though I still can’t tell what the purpose is.
“What are we doing?”
“You’ll see.”
He parks behind the wall. This time when he gets out, he doesn’t have anything with him. He comes to my side of the car and waits for me to climb out since I already have my door open. Hugo pulls me to his chest as soon as the door shuts.
I love how he sighs with that happy smile. He’s content. To know he feels like that with me means my heart never stops racing.
His lips brush mine before he takes my hand and leads me around to the other side of the wall. I’m not prepared for what I see, though in hindsight, there’s literally no other explanation for a strange temporary white wall but to be used as a movie screen.
Now that I’m so close, I can see that the frame of the wall is inflatable. The screen is a white material. Maybe vinyl. It’s stretched between the frame so it’s flat. There’s a projector a couple dozen feet in front of it.
Between the two is a blow-up pool filled with blankets and pillows. There are, once again, lanterns all around to offer some low lighting. There’s also a snack bar and popcorn machine, and even a canopy that can be pulled over in case it rains.
“How are you always so sweet?” I ask.
Hugo beams at me. “I was going to take you to the movies, but this sounded better when Egon offered. He even set it up for me. We just have to take it down when we’re finished. I have movies to last all night, so we can stay and take everything down in the morning before we join them for breakfast.”
If I thought the sweet ache in my chest couldn’t get any moreintense, I was wrong. This man somehow materialized a pink, squishy marshmallow-like stuffed dragon, and a bouquet of flowers. I’m speechless as I stare, trying to rein in my emotions.
I take them and stuff my face into the flowers, pretending to smell them while I fight away the tears. In every fantasy, I never imagined the man I ended up with putting so much time and thought into, well, anything. I don’t know why. Maybe because I’ve never known that growing up. I’ve never seen it, nor had any reason to think I’d ever get to experience it.
When I pick my head up, Hugo is watching me. His eyebrows are knit together in concern. “Are you okay?”
So much for hiding it.
I nod. “Yeah. I just… can’t believe you did this for me.”
Hugo’s arm wraps around my waist and he pulls me close. “Why wouldn’t I?”
There isn’t an answer, so I shake my head, resting my forehead in the crook of his neck. “I don’t know.”
“You need to be treated better,” he notes. “I’m going to treat you like a… well, not a princess, I guess. A prince?”
Grinning, I press a kiss to his shoulder and pick up my head. “Thank you, but I really don’t need special treatment.”
“Of course you do. You’re special and I’m going to treat you as such.” He kisses my lips, then my forehead before pulling me into the movie area. There’s a little rug just outside the bed-pool. “Kick off your shoes here and step on the rug so you don’t have to step onto the grass,” he instructs.
I do as I’m told and climb into the bed. There’s a blow-up mattress within the blow-up pool so we’re not even laying on the ground with the blankets. I crawl over to the other side with my flowers and stuffed dragon.
“Oh. Here,” Hugo says, reaching for the flowers.
Handing them back to him, he sets them in a vase that already has some water in it. “I’m not going to unwrap them. It’ll be easier to take them home this way.” With a remote in hand, Hugo joins me in the bed.
I love the way he snuggles in then brings me against his chest. Resting my head on his shoulder, I sigh. Honestly, we could just lay under the stars right now. I love everything about this.
“First movie is a rom-com,” Hugo tells me. “I let Egon choose the movies, so if they suck, we’re blaming him.”
Laughing, I shake my head. It doesn’t matter what we watch.
The movie starts and I’m only partially paying attention. Hugo’s hand hasn’t stopped moving along my back since we curled up together. My eyes drift closed until something loud happens on the screen and I open my eyes.
