Page 36 of Always There Bayou
“I’m well aware,” I smile. I stroke her cheek softly, gazing into her eyes. “But you promised me a date, and I’m excited. You can get a taste of me any other time.”
“And I can take you out any other time too,” she jokes, rubbing my thighs softly. I roll my eyes and chuckle. “I can buy you a theater if you want.”
“Yeah, I know,” I nod, before jokingly saying, “Buy me a car instead.”
“Okay, what kind?” she asked, reaching into her pocket. My eyebrows furrow when she pulls out her phone and starts to type something. She hands it to me when she finds what she’s looking for, and my jaw drops. “Pick one.”
“Cory, I was just joking,” I say, handing the phone back to her, but she steps to the side to wash her hands and face before brushing her teeth. “I can afford to buy my own car.”
“And why would you need to spend your own money when you don’t have to?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Because I can???”
“Of course, youcan, but you’re not going to,” she shrugs. “I want you to spendmymoney.”
“Are you asking me or are you telling me?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
She wipes her mouth before wetting a towel with soap and water. She doesn’t say anything as she helps me clean up, then leaves to getme a new pair of panties. She helps me slide them on and then helps me off the counter. As I stand there and stare at her, she stares back, still not answering my question.
“So you’re just not going to answer me?”
“No,” she chuckles. “You already know what I mean, so stop acting like you don’t.” I watch as she digs into her pocket, pulls out her wallet, and then slides out a bank card. She holds it out to me. “Here.”
“What…” My voice trailed off as I noticed my name etched into the black plastic. I look up at her, confused. “Cory, what is this?”
“That’s the card for an account that I opened years ago. It has your name on it, so you can use the money however you please,” she states, and I freeze in shock. “My job is to take care of you, Bunny. Hell, I’ve thought that way for years, honestly. That’s why I opened that account. Back then, I didn’t think that we’d end up together, but you’ve always been one of the most important people in my life, and I vowed to take care of you no matter what.”
“You…” I say, unable to find the right words. Tears blurred my vision, and I quickly swiped them away as they fell. She pulled me into her embrace, and I felt that sense of comfort wash over me. “I don’t know what to say, Corduroy. I…I’m…I…”
“Shh, you’re good,” she assures me, patting my back. “Just know that I’ve always loved you and wanted to be there for you, even before my heart knew what was up.”
“If I weren’t already so in love with you, I think this would be the moment that I finally fell,” I joked as I pulled away. She smiles brightly before kissing me softly. “I love you so damn much, Cory. Thank you for loving me.”
“No, thankyoufor lovingme,” she replies. “Thank you for caring for me and being there for me. Even from that first day, you were there by my side. My heart skips a beat every time I think about the fact that you’re the one I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. How did I get so lucky?”
“Right?” I smirk, taking the card from her finally. “Thank you, baby. Now, let’s go on this date. Afterward, I wanna go shopping since you want me to spend your money so bad.” She smirks and nods, staring at me as if I’m the center of her universe. “I’m thinking about buying another Switch. What do you think?”
“I think that sounds perfect,” she assures me before kissing me once more. She takes my hand in hers and leads me out of the bathroom, turning off the light on the way. “Get your bag and let’s head out before I get tempted to drop to my knees again.”
“You’re so damn silly,” I laugh, grabbing my crossbody bag and phone.
Once we’re both ready, we exit the apartment, locking it behind us before heading down to her car. She insisted on driving since she was the one taking me out, but I didn’t mind. I loved being driven around. Driving always gave me anxiety, so whenever I could avoid doing that, I did.
It didn’t take us long to make it to the theater, and after giving her name to one of the workers, they escorted us to our private theater and left us with menus to order whatever we wanted. Over the next few hours, we enjoyed a variety of snacks and watched movie aftermovie. As expected, she hated the musicals but sat through the songs with minimal grumbling. I decided that one musical film was enough for the day, so we switched over to watching a few animated movies we used to have on repeat when we were younger.
You would’ve thought that we were two kids with the way we were cracking up at all of Oscar’s antics inShark Tale.Then, of course, we had to watch the classic that wasThe SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,followed byToy Story 2,arguably the best one in the franchise. The last movie we watched wasYou Got Served.The acting was still as terrible as I remembered, but the dance battles were unmatched. At one point during the movie, we were up out of our seats dancing along to the familiar soundtrack that had both of us feeling nostalgic…okay, and kinda old as hell.
“That was so fun,” I squeal as we exit the theater hand in hand. She smiles up at me, probably feeling accomplished. “Thank you so much for doing this for me.”
“I keep telling you, Bunny. I’ll do anything for you,” she says as we stop. She takes my hands in hers and looks up at me, honey dripping from her eyes. “Even if I have to move the world with my bare hands, I’ll do it if it means that you’ll forever feel happy and loved.”
“Has anyone ever told you how romantic you are?” I ask, swooning. She smirks.
“Eh, a few times, but it means so much more coming from you,” she admits. “You hungry, baby?”
“A little. I’m still digesting the snacks we had, but I could go for dessert,” I tell her.
“How about I get you one of your favorites?” she asks, nodding past me. I turn and squeal in excitement as my eyes land on the Boba shop. I turn back to her and nod excitedly. She chuckles, leading me towards the shop. “Let’s go get you a little something sweet then, Bunny.”
