Page 52 of Hard to Pretend

Seb and Jonas were eager to make those into group plans. I could see my friends being willing to tag along, and Silas said that his best friend, Isabel, would want to come too. I had a feeling that by the time summer rolled around, it would be a pretty big group sharing blankets on the grass. I loved the idea, loved that our groups would all merge so easily. They’d all gotten along at movienight.

After we finished at Dana’s, I drove Seb back to my place. It hadn’t been discussed, but I wanted him there with me that night. I wasn’t ready for our date to end. He didn’t seem like he was ready either. It was really an easy decision, and we both knew that we slept better together.

Besides, being at my place meant that I had the opportunity to give him the last thing I had planned for our date night.

And no, it wasn’t mind blowing orgasms. (Though those were certainly planned.)

We took a shower together, and we did give each other mind blowing orgasms. After our shower, we went to my bed and laid together. “I love nights like this,” I told him softly.

“I do too.”

“I want you to be able to come and go,” I whispered into his ear. He turned in my arms to face me, a smile on his lips. “I have dreams sometimes of going to bed alone and waking up to you climbing into bed with me, because you missed me. I have a few other dreams about other things that happen when you show up, but those are a bit more X-rated.”

He grinned. “You’re going to have to tell me about those.”

“Later.” He groaned. “I’m trying to be romantic.”

“You’re doing it really well,” he assured me, “but I also love when you get to the sexy parts.”

I nudged his shoulder playfully. “I promise that we’ll get to the sexy parts, but can I please finish being romantic?”

He sighed. “I guess.”

I laughed and gave him a quick kiss, trying to get my brain back on track. I should have done this when we were in my living room and still dressed. His naked body pressed against mine was a distraction, especially when he started talking about wanting to hear all of my X-rated fantasies. He tried to deepen the kiss, threatening to drive me to further distraction, and I pulled away. “Still trying to be romantic,” I laughed.

“Sorry.” I couldn’t tell if it was the tone of his voice or the sparkle in his eyes that made me not believe his apology. It was probably a bit of both.

I sighed. “As I was saying…” I started again. My cheeks hurt from smiling. He was ridiculous, and I loved him more with every ridiculous thing that he did. “I want you to be able to come and go whenever you want. I don’t want you having to wait outside in your car on the days you want to see me after work or when you have news.” I reached behind me to my bedside table and felt around until I felt what I was looking for under my fingertips.

“I want you to have this,” I told him, offering a silver key to him.

His brow furrowed as he looked first at the key and then up at me. I could see the alarm in his eyes. “Uh, what’s that?”

“A key,” I explained. “So you can come over when you want.”

“You’re not asking me to move in, right?”

“Not yet,” I assured him. “I know it’s a bit too soon for that. Maybe in a few months, or when one of our leases expire.”

He closed his fingers around the key. “Okay, good. I love you, but I don’t want to rush anything. I think we could last for the long haul, and that means, I don’t have any need to rush.”

My heart skipped a beat in my chest, and I knew that we both shared the same vision for our future.

Me and him.

Forever.

TwoMonthsLater

I was going to be honest.

I didn’t really get Shakespeare. English had never been my strongest subject, and the Old English had always confused me. For that reason, I’d never gone to Shakespeare in the Park, even though I’d been invited on more than one occasion.

But Chris had been talking about it since the day I got hired at Enterprise. He’d taken point on organizing a group outing for it. The moment the schedule was announced, he threw everyone into a group chat to start discussing dates and times, what plays were being performed, everything. He pulled in both of our groups. He managed to get Silas to not only introduce him to Isabel, but also got her number and added her into the group chat. He spent six weeks planning everything.

He even got Matt and Luce together to plan the picnic menu.

When the day of the performance rolled around, we all met at the park. Chris and I were the first to arrive, and Chris staked out an area for our group. We laid out several blankets on the ground, hoping that it would be enough room for everyone. Luce, River, and Matt showed up together, loaded down with food. They recruited me to help carry another load.

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