Page 29 of The Maid

"Naked?" She turned around and looked out and then side-to-side.

"Yeah, your business suit is not going to be comfortable in there."

They were high up and across from his apartment was the ocean and… it was dark and the balcony’s walls were high enough that when they got inside the tub, they'd probably be completely obscured. But still, she had never gotten naked outside before.

Noting her hesitation, once he was naked, he pulled her toward him and answered her pending question. "My parents are still assholes," he said while turning her around and unzipping the back of her dress. "They have a house in Miami, and they visit too often. We're on talking terms now. It took a long time for them to get over me choosing football over the family business."

She looked at him over her shoulder. "That's good."

"Not when they come to town to criticize every single one of my decisions. They're just waiting for me to seriously fuck up. When we won the Super Bowl, they didn't call. But when we have a bad loss, I hear from them immediately."

"What? Why?"

"Because, baby, not everyone has a mom and dad, and aunt, who loves them and just want for their kids to be happy. My parents wanted a lawyer or maybe a politician. Not a, and I quote, "A Neanderthal football player."

She was so saddened and indignant for him, she barely registered that she was butt-ass naked getting into the hot tub until the bubbles began to tickle her nose.

"Wait here," he said, jumping out of the tub, and padding into his apartment dripping wet and just as naked as she was. All his muscles moved like the perfect physical specimen that he was. He walked back into the tub with two flutes and a bottle of champagne.

"What's all this for?"

"I remembered how you loved this pink champagne those few times we took it from my parents’ fridge."

"Oh God." She laughed. "And we would drink it out of plastic cups, remember?"

"How can I forget." He poured her a flute and handed it to her.

"You think your parents ever noticed? I bet it was expensive stuff."

"My parents?" He rolled his eyes. "No, they never took the time to notice much of what was going on around them."

"I don't know why I never realized how strained your relationship was between you guys."

"I hid it well."

"Why would you hide that from me? We were only together for a few months, but we were together all the time. We talked about everything. I told you more than I told anyone, ever."

"I know. I guess I was ashamed. I mean you had the perfect relationship with your parents."

"Ashamed?" She scooted closer to him. "We were dirt poor. I didn't even know what champagne was other than that it was expensive, and you were supposed to pop corks on New Year's. I was just the maid."

"You were never just a maid, Addie. Anyway, I don't want to rehash the past. I can't complain, really. Life has been good to me."

She looked around at all the excess around him. "No, you really can't. You've done good, Gunther. Real good. I'm proud of you." She floated closer and straddled his lap. "Really damn proud of you."

When had his heart began to beat so rapidly? No one had ever said those words to him. Not one single person. Not when he got a full ride to college on an academic scholarship, even if he decided to focus on football once he was in. Not when he was a first round NFL pick at twenty-one- years- old. Not when he won two Super Bowls. His heart soared in a way that he could honestly say he had never felt before. It was as if at that moment the idea of not having this woman in his life made him scared. The idea of another woman right there on his lap made him nauseous. And the idea of this woman with another man made him want to kill someone. It was a primal feeling he could barely keep contained. He took her face in his hands and kissed her like he'd never kissed anyone before.

"I'm keeping you," he declared.

"What?" She asked breathlessly but he didn't answer her because instead, without any precursor, he lifted her slightly and slid inside of her.

"Hope you're on the pill," he said, as he moved her up and down, not caring much whether or not she was because she was his and he wasn't going to let her go and the truth was, having kids with her didn't at all feel scary. It felt...welcomed.

"Are you okay? Health-wise?" She looked concerned. "I mean, God this feels good," She said with a moan. "But you've been with so many—"

"Stop talking. Get tested all the time. I'm good."

"Good. Me too. And yeah, I'm on the pill."

---