“I’m looking forward to seeing the country and spending time with you. But I’m nervous about everything else. I know we talked a lot about it, but I’m still nervous,” I admitted.
Russell took hold of my shoulders and turned my body to face him. He wrapped me up in an embrace and rubbed roughly on my back, jostling me until a smile appeared on my face.
“Please trust me that things will be okay and not like Nikki’s parents.”
He was right. I needed to trust him and not let my worries or things from the past take control. I got dressed without giving in to thoughts of his folks, and once I stopped worrying, I realized how hungry I was.
“Can we stop and get pancakes for breakfast?” I asked as I pulled on my long-sleeved navy t-shirt.
Russell stood beside me in the large walk-in closet and had pulled on a black sweater over a black t-shirt. I looked down at my t-shirt. This was okay for the drive, wasn’t it?
“Of course, my boy. I want to make sure we’re not just eating convenience store donuts for our trip.”
“Those are good, though. The mini powdered ones are my favorite,” I offered up when I was back in the bedroom putting on my running shoes. “Though, I also like the chocolate ones too with the yellow inside.”
“The waxy chocolate?”
“Yeah. I never really thought of them being waxy, but you’re right. It’s probably not really great chocolate.”
“It’s probably not chocolate at all.”
“Bite your tongue. Hostess and Little Debbie wouldn’t lie to me,” I teased.
Slumped against the loveseat in the room, I lazily watched Russell gather up the rest of our bathroom things. He shut the light off in the bathroom and then walked into the bedroom, carrying both of our bathroom bags. I took a deep breath and stood.
While Russell put our bathroom bags in the suitcases, I went to the entryway and got my jacket out. I looked at the several jacket options he had. Both of us had warmer winter jackets that were packed, but I assumed he wanted a light one to have in the car. I knew I did. I hated being cold.
“Which jacket would you like?” I hollered while I pulled on my charcoal fleece jacket.
Russell appeared beside me and smiled when he saw I already had mine on. I felt like I should explain.
“The weather app said it’s only forty-nine degrees out right now. I know we’ll be in the car, but it’d be cold going from the car into the pancake place. I couldn’t risk my nipples getting hard from the cold and then the waitress staring at me,” I teased.
“Ryan, if you hadn’t put the jacket on, I would have told you to.”
He picked out his black jacket that was almost exactly like mine, except mine had a hood. Russell put his jacket on too.See, he didn’t want to be cold either.
“Take our suitcases out while I grab some bottled water and things,” Russell instructed.
When I got into the garage, I smirked at his Mercedes SUV. He already had it running so it would be warm inside for me. I wheeled the suitcases to the back of the SUV and arranged them in the cargo area. I quickly took a pic of the suitcases in the back of the SUV and sent it to April and Kim.
Ryan: We’re leaving soon.
April: Send lots of pictures!
Kim: Do you guys have matching suitcases?
I frowned. Did we? I looked at them as they sat side by side. They were both black. I had been so worried and stressed this past week I hadn’t even noticed I suddenly had a suitcase. It just appeared last night while we were packing.How had I missed him buying me a suitcase?
When the door from the house opened, I pressed the button to close the back hatch and walked around to the front of the quietly running vehicle.
“Did you buy me a suitcase?” I asked.
“You needed something to put your clothes in.”
“So that’s a yes,” I said, taking the four bottles of water from his hands as he put a grocery bag in the backseat. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything or thank you for it earlier. It just suddenly became apparent to me.”
He closed the door to the backseat and rubbed his hands up and down my arms.
