Page 67 of Let It Be Me
“Now, we only have time for the first movie since someone took so long getting dressed,” he explains and I pinch him in the side resulting in a yelp. “But, we can watch the second one tomorrow night.”
“If I’m back in time,” I tell him and press the play button on the remote.
“What do you mean?”
I cover us with one of the many throw blankets, this time a festive throw blanket, which is more like the size of a large tent, and turn to Riley. “Kamryn and Mason are wedding planning. Well, mainly Mason since Kam is busy with the holiday season.”
“Did they set a date?”
Scott Calvin’s holiday work Christmas party fades onto the screen. If the 90’s had a vision for what it looked like, they nailed it.
“Yes. They chose April.”
“That soon?” Riley’s surprised.
“Trust me. These two talked about marriage when we were in college. So this speed is no different. Plus, I think they want to start a family sooner rather than later.” At the time, I wasn’t going to ask him since we were temporary, but now I can. “Would you want to be my date to their wedding?I mean, we can’t sit together during the ceremony since I’m officiating it. But there’s always the reception.”
“I would love to.”
I turn back to the movie with an uncontrolled smile on my face but I feel Riley burning a hole in the side of it with a question ready to fly off his tongue.
“Do you want a family?”
There it is. I lean forward and press the pause on the remote. Turning, I slide my leg over his and give him my full attention. “I thought you wanted to watch a movie?”
“I do. But I think–no, I am curious about what you want for your future. You’re much further ahead than I am in life and I wasn’t sure if that’s something you thought of.” In this moment, he looks much older than his twenty-three years and it shocks me that he could even be thinking about a family this soon into our relationship.
“Momma and I had this talk at Thanksgiving,” I tell him and his eyebrows fly to his hairline and I nod with a closed smile. “When I was with my ex, we were of the mutual understanding that work came first. We were both so–I don’t want to call it power hungry, but that’s what we were. Our jobs were our top priorities, or so I thought. Maybe I was so hellbent on succeeding that I brushed off his little comments about how our friends' kids were cute or how this couple just announced their pregnancy.” I smooth out the furrow in the middle of Riley’s forehead. “That may have been why when he told me the girl he cheated on me with was pregnant, I was in shock. Mostly angry that he did that behind my back. So that day, I pushed away any thought of ever having a family or loving someone. But then you came along and threw everything I thought I didn’t want out of the window. Kids were never in the cards with anyone frommy past. Neither was a future. And maybe that was a good thing. Because with you now I think I can see it all.”
Riley lunges forward and takes my mouth in a burning kiss. He effortlessly pulls me over so I’m straddling his hips. My explanation was more of a silent love declaration and if this kiss means anything it’s that this is it. His tongue teases at my lips and I open. My breath is stolen as he licks into my mouth and Riley’s hands wrap around my waist, holding me in place. This isn’t just a kiss. It’s a declaration that we might finally be on the same page in the same chapter and on the same sentence. Not that we were ever on different pages. But this feels like our story may finally be written and completed at the same time.
I slide my hands through his now almost shoulder-length hair and break the kiss. His eyes are wild and his lips are red from our kiss. “I love you, Riley. I had this big speech planned–”
“I love you too. I remember telling you to let it be me when you decided to love again. I’ve been wanting to say those words to you for weeks. But I didn’t want to scare you away.”
“The only thing that would’ve scared me was you not feeling the same way.”
He leans forward and shakes his head. The tips of our noses brush together and my heart sings. “No, Blue. You wouldn’t have scared me away. But I think I was just waiting for you to catch up.” With a kiss to the tip of my nose, he slides me off his lap but keeps me tucked close as he presses play on the movie.
Is it possible to want to burst from so much joy? This has to be what Kam and Emily felt when they declared their love to Mason and Adam. Because I never felt this with Paul. In fact, he was less of the touchy-feely type.Maybe I’m finally realizing it wasn’t love with him. Just…contentment.
The alarm blaringcauses me to jolt and cover my head with a pillow. “Turn it off,” I groan.
While we finished the movie, we went to bed later than either of us was used to. Riley told me that he had an alarm set for 06:30 but it felt like we just closed our eyes. The sound stops and he slides over me, staying under the covers, and laying his head on my stomach with his arms wrapped around me.
“I snoozed it, so we have ten minutes of extra sleep before I have to head to practice,” he tells me groggily.
His body weight on me is like having a personal weighted blanket that’s also heated. I pull the pillow off my face and tuck it back under my bed. Lifting the covers, I see Riley’s back rising and falling in a deep sleep. How he manages to fall asleep so fast is a surprise to me. Soon sleep pulls me back under. If only for a little while.
It’s only when I’m back to sleep that the alarm goes off again. I reach under Riley’s pillow and turn it off. His breathing has changed so I know he’s waking up.
“Time to get up, baby.”
He holds me tighter and presses his face into my stomach. Rumor has it, is that when couples enter the dating stage, they put on what’s called ‘love weight’ and while I was never overly toned, being with Riley has ensured that I never skip meals. He’s also a health freak during the season so we fit in daily walks as part of his light exercise training. I remember complaining about my extra curves because the fit of my clothes was different and he made me stand infront of the mirror and point out every flaw while I watched as he loved on every inch of my body.
His lips trailing over my stomach pull me out of that memory. If it’s one thing Riley loves is our mornings in bed. He’s especially needy when he knows I have to go back to Cincinnati for the day. My breathing changes when his hands cradle high at my rib cage and I sling my leg over his waist.
“What do you want, Riley?” I ask as he trails up my body and leaves no spot untouched with his kisses.
