Russell shook his head as he smiled, then he kissed my lips.
“That’s not accurate at all. You’re my pride and joy, and I’m proud to have you by my side. Hardly to be kept in a secret room,” he murmured against my mouth before he kissed me again. “I’m completely fine with having a secret room to do kinky things to you in, though.”
“That would be cool … oh, wait, you already have that,” I said enthusiastically.
Russell playfully slapped the side of my arms as he pushed himself away from the couch and upright.
“Eat your cookie and listen now,” he said as he walked to my desk.
He turned to face me and leaned against it while his hands loosely rested against the wood. Even though I was somewhat nervous about whatever it was he wanted to talk to me about, I went ahead and took a small bite of the cookie.
“I want to take you to meet my folks in Indiana, Ryan. The holidays are right around the corner, and I want them to have a chance to meet you.”
What did he say?
Though I heard it, or thought I’d heard it, none of this made any sense. It wasn’t the first time Russell had said something that didn’t make sense to me. He could talk circles around me and twist me up. I thought it had become a hobby of his.
I put the partially eaten cookie on the plate and leaned back against the couch while I tried to digest his words. Suddenly, I became aware of the chill that had washed over me as I considered his words more carefully. Russell was still leaning on my desk but had his arms folded across his chest and one hand gripping his bicep now.
The sunlight streamed into the room and glinted off the metal band that hugged his finger. Too much flooded my mind, and I drifted back to the day I gave him that metal band.
After April and Kim threatened me, I made sure I put on a long-sleeved, button-down shirt. They’d advised me not to wear jeans, but I thought they were just out of touch. Nowadays people even wore jeans to weddings. At least, I thought they did.
Probably.
Possibly.
Maybe.
I set my car fob on the counter and went back to put on a pair of itchy black pants. I hated these pants. Within a half hour, I approached the intimidating Tiffany’s. In my sweaty hand I carried a piece of paper I had printed off from the website with the ring I’d picked out for Russell. He had given me a bracelet to represent my collar, and after much discussion with April and Kim, I thought maybe he’d like to have something to show that he meant something to someone too.
As I got closerto the store’s entrance, I could tell there weren’t many people in there. I wandered in and instantly felt out of place. There was another customer in the store wearing a suit. Thank fuck I’d changed into the itchy pants. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand at the same time my stomach gurgled. This would be a terrible store to fart in. Suddenly, I had to bite the inside of my mouth to prevent the laughter from spilling out. April and Kim would be horrified by the news of me farting in Tiffany’s.
“Hello, welcome to Tiffany’s,” a friendly voice greeted me from behind a counter to my immediate left. I turned on my heels in that direction and forced my feet toward the smiling woman.
“Hi,” I said back and then quickly held out the paper I’d printed at home.
“I’m Erica, how may I help you?” she asked and took the sheet of paper from me.
“I’m looking for this ring to purchase, please. I saw it online.”
She looked over my paper and then made eye contact with me. Her smile was warm and didn’t seem fake. Though, that wasn’t to say it wasn’t fake. They must do extensive training of the level of fake smiles with their associates.
“We have this ring over in our center display,” she said and gestured in the direction of where we were heading.
I followed her to the display case and noticed all the gems and shiny pieces of metal. It was probably part of the ploy here: blind the customer with the jewelry so they don’t see the comma on the price tag. Unknown to her, I was already well aware of the comma in this thing.
“This is a beautiful ring. You’re going to love it,” she promised as she slid open a small door on the display case. “Is the ring for you, or is it a gift?”
Ugh. I could feel myself starting to get warm. It’s a gift. Don’t judge. Before I could stop myself, it tumbled out.
“It’s a gift.”
“It’s sure to be a gift that he will love and cherish for years to come,” Erica offered.
He better. There was a fucking comma in this. And I put on itchy pants to come get it. She handed the ring to me so I could feel it. Holding it between my fingers made me feel like I really actually meant something as special as a ring would represent. I started to get woozy.
“This ring is a very popular choice. It’s a fabulous mix of masculinity and elegance,” Erica explained as I turned it between my fingers.
