Page 121 of Engulfing Emma

He looks at Brett, who gives him an encouraging nod, then takes Cheerios from my hand and puts them in the donkey’s mouth. He turns the tail and giggles when a Cheerio comes out, along with a “hee-haw.”

“Poopy donkey,” he says as he fills and empties the toy over and over, eating the Cheerios as they emerge.

Brett whispers, “My kid is eating donkey crap. Thanks, teach.”

I smile every time Leo giggles. Then something amazing happens. Leo takes a piece of donkey crap and hands it to me. “Why, thank you. It’s so nice of you to share.” I pop the Cheerio into my mouth. I make a mental note to thank Evelyn.

“And now my girlfriend is eating crap,” Brett says.

“I think your daddy needs some,” I say to Leo.

Leo gives the tail a few more turns. “Here, Daddy. Donkey poopy.”

Then Leo gives some to Bonnie. And the four of us sit around the coffee table eating donkey poop until it’s time for us to go.

On our way out, Leo hugs my leg, and I have to hold back a tear. I don’t want to do anything to scare him, like try and pick him up, so I ruffle his hair. “Bye, Leo. See you soon.”

~ ~ ~

Everything about tonight has been amazing. I’m twenty-seven years old, yet I feel like this is the first date I’ve ever actually wanted to be on. Yes, I’ve been out lots of times with lots of guys. But only because that’s what adults do. They go on dates in search of the person they hope to end up with.

Me—I didn’t have to do that. I had to get taken hostage in a storage closet.

I shake my head thinking of all the time spent on needless dating rituals.

I pick at my potatoes. “I’m glad Leo finally warmed up to me. I thought it was going to take a lot longer.”

“You bought my kid a toy that craps Cheerios,” he says, laughing. “I think that makes you the coolest girlfriend ever.”

“You have Evelyn to thank for that. She picked it out.”

“Leo doesn’t know that. To him, you’ll always be the woman who gave him the pooping donkey. I bet we’ll still be talking about this when we’re old and gray.”

I make a face.

“What? You never thought of us in the long term?”

“Brett, I just accepted the fact that you’re my boyfriend. You’ll have to give me a while to work up to old and gray.”

“That’s bullshit,” he says. “When you know, you know.” He gestures between us. “This is happening, so you’d better get used to it.”

“Can we at leastpretendto go through the motions?” I ask, knowing that on some level, I’ve always felt the same way.

He winks. “Oh, I plan on going through a lot of motions with you.”

My heart skips a few beats when I think of being with him again. It’s been so long.

I put down my fork and push my plate away.

“You’re not done, are you?” Brett asks. “You still have half a steak left, and you haven’t touched the bread. Is everything okay?”

I smooth the front of my dress knowing that I’m not necessarily stopping eating because I’m full. I just don’t want to feel stuffed and uncomfortable later when we’re together. And I might just be a little nervous, which is ridiculous considering we’ve had sex on numerous occasions. “The food is fabulous. I just don’t want to eat too much.”

He gives me a scolding stare. “You mean you think you’ll look fat when we get naked later.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” He laughs through his nose. “You forget I saw how much you can eat when we were in Germany. I know you can put away a lot more than this. Plus, I’ve seen you naked lots of times. You look amazing.”

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