Page 54 of Embrace

After my shower, I returned to the kitchen where Suvi finished making my plate. The steam coming from the food made my mouth water and stomach growl.

“Damn, bae. You threw down, didn’t you?”

“I did a little something.”

I held both of our plates in my hands while she grabbed the drinks. We went to the living room and dug into our meal on the couch while we talked about our next steps.

“We’re obviously going to have to hire movers. We have to consolidate both homes and figure out what we’re taking and what we’re buying fresh.” Suvi bit into her chicken and smiled.

“We have to get new bedroom furniture. Things that fit both of our personalities. I know you’re going to probably want to keep your current office set up.”

Suvi nodded. “I am. I don’t want to get anything new when all of these things are barely a year old.”

“Cool. We can get a new living room set up as well. I don’t mind selling my furniture.”

Suvi hummed. “I want to keep the coffee table and recliner, though. I love those.”After a pause, she continued. “I’ll probably spend a few days at my place and start sifting through what I want to keep and want I don’t mind selling or giving away.”

My lips turned down into a deep frown. “What do you mean? You want to spendnightsaway from me?”

She laughed. “B, you know we can survive a night apart, right?”

“I don’t know about all of that, though. Why we can’t do it all together? We’ve done great balancing time at each home. We can do the same with packing up, too.”

Suvi giggled. “You gon’ have to toughen up.”

I smacked my lips. “We gon’ see what happens.”

Suvi tilted her head. “Yes, we will.”

After signing the deed to the house a week later, both of our homes were in disarray as we began to organize our future home together. We would be moving in July first, so we had a lot to do in a short amount of time. Over the last few days, we’d divided and conquered. Suvi would complete all of her orders early in the morning then spend the rest of the day until dinner packing.I took half days at work, so I’d join her in the afternoon until dinner.

Tonight, Suvi ended up falling asleep at her apartment, and I decided to let her rest. She’d been all gas and deserved a break from packing. I’d been fine during dinner, but when night came, I found myself unable to fall asleep.

Eleven turned to twelve, and twelve turned to one o’clock in the morning while I tossed and turned in the bed alone. It didn’t surprise me that I couldn’t sleep without Suvi in my arms. Unable to continue the fight, I pulled myself out of bed and slid my feet into my slides. I threw on a hoodie and grabbed my keys and wallet. The roads were empty which I was grateful for because it turned a usually twenty-eight-minute drive to a ten minute one as I pulled into the parking lot of Suvi’s apartment complex.

I used my key to unlock the door and made sure to lock all the locks before I treaded down the hall to the bedroom. I removed my slides, hoodie, and shorts before I slid into the bed beside my wife.

She stirred in her sleep and turned to look at me.

“Blaze?”

“Yeah, it’s me, baby.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked in a voice drenched with sleep.

“I can’t sleep without you next to me,” I admitted. I pressed my lips against hers.“I’m sorry I woke you up. Go back to sleep, beautiful.”

She smiled and snuggled closer to me. “Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight, baby.”

Sleeping next to Suvi brought me a peace I hadn’t knew existed until she became my wife. We’d shared beds plenty of times as best friends, but nothing compared to now. Once we were all moved in, we’d be inseparable, for real.

Women made jokes about wanting to live in their man’s skin, and I’d never related to something more. If I could live in Suvi’s skin, I’d happily do so.

She smelled of fruits with a hint of somethingspicyto the nose. Her skin was soft, and her touch was my weakness. If being in love felt like this, I was glad she was the one who awakened the feelings.

Her warmth lulled me to sleep within a few long moments.

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