“I’m cultured, Pips. So what do you think?”
“I think the other couples would hate us.”
“Jealousy looks ugly on them.”
“It sure does,” she says and starts me off with a hum.
“That was so much fun. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Don’t forget, it’s a standing date. Mark it in your calendar,” I say.
“Consider it done.” Her hand tugs me closer to her door. “Want to come in?”
“Dying to,” I say, “but I’m not.”
She pouts, which I think is the cutest thing ever.
“I do have a question for you though.”
She leans against her door and says, “Okay.”
“What is one thing you wish you had spoken up about when it came to Matt?”
Her lips purse to the side as she thinks about it. “Umm, there were a lot of things, but I guess one of them would be that I wish I asked him to be more affectionate, more loving, to treat me as his wife, not his roommate.”
“I can understand that. I’m sorry he wasn’t more affectionate,” I say as I move in close, pinning her against her door. I press my hand to her hip and use my other hand to cup the back of her head. “His loss, my gain.”
Then I kiss her…passionately.
“Comfortable?” I ask as we both take a seat in the front-row seats of the suite that I bought out for the night.
She looks around, taking in the baseball field in front of us, the full stadium, the game that’s already been playing for two and a half innings.
“Uh, yeah. I’m just a little confused.”
“Why?” I ask as I open a box of Cracker Jack. If the prize is a ring, she’s getting it.
“Because you never told me you liked baseball.”
“Oh, it’s okay. Can be boring at times but also thrilling when runners are on the field and there’s a possible chance for a goal to be scored.”
“I think it’s called a run,” she corrects me.
I chuckle. “Sure.”
That makes her laugh as well. “Are you telling me that I might know more about sports than you?”
“Nah, I’m only kidding. I know all the sports. Go, balls.”
She laughs again, and the sound is so sweet to my ears. And considering when I first met her, it’s such a contrast. There was zero joy in her expression. Just worry, maybe a hint of depression. It was as if she was living under a dark cloud the entire time. But now—now it’s different. There’s joy in her eyes. There’s playfulness. She has no problem laughing and no problem getting lost in the day, in the hours, in the minutes…in the seconds.
“Well, I’m excited to cheer for the balls.”
“Because you like balls.”
Her eyes roll. “Your maturity is really showing.”
I press my hand to my chest. “Aw, thank you.”