“Why would I ever want to?”
They kissed and cuddled until their breathing returned to normal.
Exhausted to the point of slap-happiness, they cracked stupid jokes and laughed until sleep overtook them.
“Darling?” he asked her the next morning.
She sat at his breakfast bar, wearing one of his T-shirts and chuckled. “Yes, dearest?”
“Come home with me for the holidays. I want you to meet my family.”
“What about meeting mine?”
“Name the day.” Jason reached for a frying pan and hoped that making her breakfast would put her in a conciliatory mood.
“Um… Christmas? I have to do the cooking.”
“Is that carved in stone? Anyone can cook. Look at me.” He poured some oil into the pan and lit the burner. “I’m cooking right now.”
“Christmas dinner is a little more difficult than scrambled eggs.”
“Please. It’s important to me. Important to my family. They’re all dying to meet you.”
Merry smiled. “You’ve talked to them about marrying me?”
“And little else.”
She sighed. “I know we should both get to know each other’s families, but the time crunch makes it hard. In anormalrelationship, there would be plenty of time for getting acquainted.”
His mood plummeted. “I’m aware of that,” he said and turned his back. How many times would he have to listen to everything being different in so-callednormalrelationships? He broke an egg a little too hard and bits of shell dotted the bowl.
She remained silent while he fished the pieces out with a spoon. He didn’t hear her slip off the stool or come up behind him, but her arms glided around his waist, and he whirled around to meet her upturned face.
“I’m sorry. I hate to keep reminding you that our relationship isn’t typical. Maybe that’s a better word than normal.”
He smiled. “Much better.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “It’s not all that unusual for professional athletes, though. Unless they marry their high school or college sweethearts, they have precious little time to date. Most women would find that difficult.”
“I guess I’m not most women.”
“Are you saying you wouldn’t miss me for two whole months?”
She frowned. “Of course not. I’d miss you like crazy.”
Frustrated with this no-win conversation, he had to change the subject. “So, Christmas. All relationships require compromises. Even typical ones.”
“That’s true…”
He sensed a “but” coming so he tried to derail her.
“How do you like your eggs? Wet, dry, or in between?”
“You see? There’s still so much for us to learn about each other.”
Jason braced his hands on the counter. “Merry, I can’t take this.”
“Huh? Can’t take what?”
He couldn’t see her face, but she sounded genuinely surprised. Didn’t she know how much anxiety she created each time she spoke of slowing down or delaying? Just as he was about to admonish her, his cell phone rang, thank God.
