Page 60 of It's Always Been You
“Of course. That’s literally why we’re here.”
“So you know that means this could take a while. There are a lot of dresses here, and I’ve never been particularly decisive when it comes to anything except for my work.”
I turn her towards the racks of dresses and wrap my arms around her from behind, dipping my head to talk into her ear. “I could watch you forever, Rory. Try on as many dresses as you want. Try on every dress in the store until you find the perfect one. This whole afternoon belongs to you, and I just want to be wherever you are.”
“Fuck,” Molly breathes. “I should be asking you how you’re even real. This is like something out of a movie.”
I tighten my arms around her. “All I want is for you to be happy. You spent a lot of years unhappy because of me. I want to make up for it now.”
“I want you to be happy too,” she says, leaning her head back on my shoulder. I can feel the sincerity in her words.
“Rory, I am standing here with my arms around you. Earlier today I literally tore your underwear off your body. I licked your cum off my fingers and watched you lick mine off of yours. I get to spend four uninterrupted days with you. I promise you—no one has ever been happier than I am right now.”
Molly turns her head, grazing my jaw with her lips, and I can feel her smiling against my skin.
“Well, I do aim to please. Now, go sit that excellent ass on the couch. I have some trying on to do.”
“This one is definitely it,” Molly crows from behind the curtain separating the fitting area from the rest of the room. I see her feet do a little jig and smile at the visual. Watching Molly try on dress after dress and her obvious enthusiasm for the whole excursion is the most fun I’ve ever had. We’ve been talking, drinking coffee, eating too much candy, and two hours have never passed faster. It’s definitely not because I’ve gotten to ogle her body in every style of dress under the sun. Absolutely not. Except it definitely is because, fuck. The number of times I’ve had to adjust myself and talk myself down from storming that dressing room and fucking her against the wall is…a lot. All the times.
“Well, let’s see it, Rory baby.”
“Nope. You’ve seen enough. The final decision is a surprise.”
“Not all of us like surprises, you know.”
“When you see me in this dress, you’ll get over it becausewowis all I have to say. I look amazing. Everyone in that room is going to be all,wow, Gabriel, your fiancée is smoking hot.”
I’m mostly used to the little thrill I get every time she says the word fiancée. Except no, I’m really not used to it at all. I know it’s fake, but I’m having a hard time convincing my heart of that. And my dick. We really want it to be real.
“You don’t need a dress to be smoking hot. You’re gorgeous every day.”
Molly opens the curtain, fully dressed, with a garment bag hanging over one arm and a shoe box in the other. Her smile hits me right in the chest, and her eyes are bright and full of fun.
“Flattery will get you everywhere, my friend.”
She walks over to the couch and sets the dress and shoe box down, then flops down next to me, turning sideways so we’re facing each other. Grabbing a Diet Pepsi, she pops the top and takes a long sip.
“So, we’re in San Francisco, and the gala isn’t until tomorrow. What’s the plan? I mean, besides fancy private shopping trips.” She grins at me and grabs a handful of black licorice.
“What makes you think there’s a plan?”
“Because you’re you. You plan. Even if you hadn’t spent the last few weeks doing things like buying me a fake engagement ring and overseeing my home repairs and making sure I’m caffeinated in the morning and fed at night, I’d still know you had a plan. It’s one of my favorite things about you.”
It makes me feel all kinds of ways that she still sees me so clearly. Remembers who I was—and knows it’s who I still am. It’s these little moments more than anything else that give me hope that what we’re building now is something new and strong. Different from what we used to have but even better because it’s now.
Not able to sit next to her without some kind of connection, I pick up her hand, lacing my fingers through hers. I do have a plan, and it involves kind of a big ask. Something I haven’t had the courage to bring up yet. But now is as good a time as any. Except when I open my mouth to ask her, what comes out instead is just a stream of extremely well-thought-out words.
“I was wondering if you could come with me to do something. It’s kind of a big thing, and I’ll understand if you don’t want to do it because we’re still new and we’re not even officially anything yet and I don’t want you to think I’m trying to put any pressure on you. I swear I would never do that, and I want to go at your pace, but we’re here, so I thought I’d just ask, so?—”
“Gabe?” Molly breaks me out of my rambling and squeezes my hand.
“Yeah.” I suck in a breath stare down at the couch.
“Look at me.”
I slowly lift my head and lock eyes with her. She sets down her soda and takes my other hand in hers.
“Whatever it is, I’ll want to do it. All you have to do is ask. It’s you and me. So, ask me a question, Gabe.”
