Chapter Twenty-One
THEO
“Let me carry your bag.”
“I can handle it,” Renley says as her shoulder bumps into mine while she attempts to lock up her store.
“Are you sure? I’m good at carrying things, like I’ve carried the conversation all night.”
She puts her keys in her bag and turns toward me. “You did not carry that entire conversation. I helped.”
“I’m unsure if you did.”
“Are you really going to start this walk arguing with me?”
“You know, I really don’t want to.”
“Then I suggest you come up with something else to say.”
“You’re right.” I think about it for a second as we head down the main street of town. “Maybe we talk about holding hands.”
“Wine has made you delusional. As if that’s something we’d actually do.”
“It could be. Have you tried it before?”
“Holding hands?” she asks as she wobbles up against me.
“Yes.”
“Of course I’ve held hands before.”
“But have you done it with your future husband?”
“Oh my God, you’re persistent.”
“Unfortunately for you, I am. Come on, just give it a try. Count to ten and then you can let go.”
“Are you going to bother me about it the entire walk home?”
“Absolutely,” I say.
Grumbling, she holds her hand out to me, and with a large smile on my face, I take it, connecting our palms together.
And like that, we continue to walk home. I count in my head up to ten. I do it really fast at first, but when she doesn’t let go, I count again, this time a little slower. When I reach ten and she’s still holding my hand, I count to ten once more.
And again.
And again. Until I realize that she’s holding my hand not because I asked but because perhaps she likes it.
I do use hand cream every day, so maybe she likes how soft my skin is. I don’t blame her. I’ve felt my hands—they’re nice. And as of late, my dick tends to agree as well.
Either way, I’m not going to make a big deal about it, even though I want to. I want to pay for a billboard to point out that she’s holding my hand for longer than ten seconds. I want to send out telegrams, letting everyone know that our palms matched up and it’s magic. I want to put out an advert on the telly, with just the camera zeroed in on our connection and text saying, “Renley and Theo forever.”
Forever…that’s almost comical because do I actually think that?
I mean, I said I’d marry her, but I never thought about the duration. Is there a duration? A few months, years? Would we have children?
Whoa, the wine is obviously getting to me. Maybe I need to slow down on the thinking.
