Page 73 of Let It Be Me
“Hello to you too,” Sarah teases. “And when you sayshare, you mean…”
I snort and run my fingers through her hair. “Oh, yeah. That’s not what I expected to learn today.”
“Huh.”
“‘Huh’ what?” I ask and lightly pinch her side.
“It’s just weird that it’s the quiet ones who are always the freakiest.” Sarah trails off and I think she’s about to move on from the conversation when she surprises me. “You’ve never wanted to share with anyone?”
“If you’re asking if I want to share you, then the answer would be a ‘Fuck no’.”
“Easy, macho man. I wasn’t asking with me. I was asking more before like in college?”
My heartbeat slows back down. “Um, no. I was very hesitant in college. Like, I was a virgin until my second year. And then I just stuck to the occasional party hookup because it was easier. Once I made it to Columbus I tried to actually date, but that…dating as a pro athlete had its challenges.”
“The money,” Sarah voices what we’ve already talked about when we originally started fake dating.
“Yeah. What about you?” I ask and twirl a lock of hair around my finger.
She adjusts her position and turns her head the other way, kissing me on the chest as she does. “No. I lost my virginity in high school so I wasn’t as reserved as apparently you were. But my first week I met Kamryn, I was out of our dorm more than I was in it. I had a thing for athletes, still do apparently. Plus, I really liked sex. I ignored the labels theother girls would give me because I refused to ignore my own pleasure.”
“So is that where you learned that one trick?”
Her arms slide under my shoulders and anchors herself to me. “Nope. That was a spur of the moment thing. Sex requires a lot of trust and I trust you more than anyone I’ve ever met or been with. But I do have other tricks up my sleeve. So I promise this relationship will never be boring.”
“That night we first hooked up, is that why you were okay with us foregoing protection?”
“Yeah,” she breathes out as if remembering that night all too well. “I couldn’t explain it even if I wanted to. Or maybe I can. It was the surety in your eyes and your voice when you told me you were just tested and had the results on your phone.”
“I’m glad you trusted me enough for that.”
“Me too,” she kisses me on the chest and then her stomach grumbles breaking up the moment.
I pat her on the butt and slide her off my body with a chuckle. Rolling out of bed, I pickup my discarded pajama pants and step into them.
“I love you,” she sings from the bed.
“I love you too, angel.” I call out as I walk out to the living room. To my surprise snow flurries backdrop my balcony. I always get a childlike feel when snow falls around Christmas. The quiet, the smell, and the peace from that first flake.
“So where are we going?”Sarah’s muffled question comes from the closet.
While she hasn’t technically moved in, I have madespace for her. She has a section that she’s slowly filling up in the closet and a couple of drawers in the dresser. Spots on the bathroom vanity hold all of the things she doesn’t need to make her beautiful and her soap, shampoo, and conditioner take up room in the shower. We’re here more than at her place only because of hockey, but once the season is over I'll be at her place more. Hopefully I’ll convince her to allow Sasha and Pixie to come with me. It wouldn’t be fair to leave them for my mom to take care of. I also remembered I have to cancel the lease on the abandoned apartment that I rented as I’m just throwing money down the drain which gives me hives thinking about it.
“Just the town square. They have light shows, games, hot chocolate stands scattered around, and a few more festive things. I figured this would be a fun thing to do before we lock ourselves away in here tomorrow.”
“What’s wrong with that?” She asks and her voice is crystal clear when she pops out in a thick dark green sweater and black leggings with thick Christmas tree printed socks bunched around her ankles.
“Absolutely nothing,” I say as I picture us doing nothing but eating and getting tangled under the sheets for the better part of the day. “Are you about ready?”
“Mm hmm.” Her vanilla scent floats behind her as she walks past me.
Out in the living room, Sasha and Pixie are decked out in Christmas sweaters that Sarah managed to find that fit. Her dressing them up won more points in my eyes. And Pixie actually let Sarah hold her, which is a big step. We give them an exaggerated goodbye before heading out.
Since the town square is a block away, we decide to use this as our daily walk. We haven’t done much in terms ofexploring the city together and I feel like I dropped the ball on that. But chancing an outing during the season is just asking for a crowd and when I take Sarah on a self-guided tour, I want as little distractions as possible.
We walk through the square hand-in-hand. Or should I say glove-in-glove due to it being freezing and we both would love to keep our fingers. The town usually splurges on a snow making machine, but it’s been snowing on and off all week with snow starting back up this morning. The past years you’ve been able to hear conversations from everyone blending together. But with the snow that’s started falling steadily in the last hour, everything is silent. Sounds are muffled due to the fluff falling from the sky and with the smell of the falling snow mixed with the scent of hot chocolate and popcorn coming from different booths, it’s what Christmas in the city should smell like.
Sarah and I hit every booth. Her joy when she feeds the reindeer is palpable and I make sure to capture the moment in pictures and video. I realize that while she’s a few years older than me, we have lived completely different lives as she hasn’t lived the way I have. So as we continue through the Christmas festivities, I make another promise to give her a life full of adventure. And seeing this activity through her eyes is like experiencing my childhood all over again.
