Page 83 of One Hotlanta Night
His responding smile lights up his entire face as he carefully begins to remove my clothing. He doesn’t say anything more, just leads me into the bathroom and runs a bath, at exactly the temperature I like, and adds Epsom salts.
When I immerse myself in the soothing lavender bubbles, he slides in behind me. Pouring some of the Herbal Essences shampoo into his hand, the same scent he bought once he learned it was my favorite, he massages it into my scalp, causing me to groan in relief. His hardening length makes itself known behind me, but he shushes me when I try to reach for him. “Hush, mi amor. I’m taking care of what my wife needs right now.” He smooths the coconut-scented conditioner into my hair, and while it works its magic, proceeds to knead the muscles on my back and shoulders. At this point, I can’t keep my moans to myself, and Michael shifts behind me, chest muscles flexing and hisveryhard length pressed up against my skin. Even through my fatigue, my body craves him.
“If you don’t cut it out, woman, I’m going to lose control,” he warns in a low tone.
“Maybe I want you to,” I whisper in a husky voice.
A growl rumbles from his chest as he rinses out the conditioner in record time, fisting my hair and turning my head to kiss the everloving hell out of me. His touch is as steady as it is passionate as he lifts us out of the tub and dries me off tenderly, still mindful of my trigger points.
As he walks us back to the bed and lays me down gently, his eyes take in every inch of my body spread open for him. He holds himself above me, veins in his forearms popping as he braces on either side of my head. He rests his forehead on mine, eyes closed as if savoring the moment, before pressing a soft kiss to my mouth. My lips tingle from the close—but not quite close enough—contact, the energy between us electrifying and making all my aches and pains fade away.
“I can’t wait to marry you, mi amor. Love like ours doesn’t need to fall in a certain timeline. It doesn’t matter if we’ve known each other for minutes, days, months, or years. You,”kiss“are the one,”kiss“for me. Just like I’m,”kiss“the one,”kiss“foryou. You know this, deep in your heart, you know it’s true. We were always meant to be together. And it might seem fast, but I’m gonna spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you, Vivian, and proving myself worthy of your love.Eres mi vida.”
Vivian
the next morning
“Morning, glory!” Claire sings out, coming down the stairs. Raelynn has been curled up against me for the past hour, watchingDragon Tales, her favorite cartoon. “Rae baby, I didn’t expect you up so soon—Viv!” she exclaims, reaching over to give me a hug as soon as she spots me. “I didn’t think you stayed here anymore, chica,” she teases as she takes a seat on the other end of the sofa.
“What in the he—ck,” she says, censoring her language for her daughter, “are you doing sleeping on the couch?”
I sit up slowly, stretching my arms as far above my head as I can before the familiar twinges of pain start up behind my shoulder blades. The cricks in my neck tell me that crashing on the couch was a bad idea, but I had to make sure I caught Claire before work. It feels like forever since I’ve been home, and right now I need my bestie more than ever.
“I wanted to make sure I saw you, and with how busy it’s been lately, I was afraid I’d miss you before you went in,” I tell hergroggily. “Besides, I haven’t seen Little Miss here much.” I ruffle Raelynn’s hair lightly as she snuggles in closer to me, pulling my arm back around her. I press a kiss to the top of her head, inhaling her strawberry scent.
“Don’t know that you’re getting much quality time with her glued to the tube.” Claire smiles, looking over her daughter lovingly. How is it possible that Raelynn is growing up right before our eyes so damn fast? When I first moved in, she was so much smaller and they were still navigating her diabetes diagnosis. It was terrifying for Claire, not having any experience with this disease. Learning how to treat Raelynn was like learning an entirely new language, one with numbers and carbs and a million different factors that didn’t always make sense. Two plus two does not always equal four, not in the diabetes world anyway, where sleep and exercise and protein and stress can all cause unexpected blood sugar swings. But I’m so proud of Claire, and Raelynn too, for rallying and making the best of a life-changing situation.
At the same time, I’d take it all away for her if I could, and my eyes prick at the thought. What is Claire going to do without another adult here to help look after Raelynn? The little girl’s school schedule has helped, and Claire does have the in-laws who are five minutes away, but they aren’t always available at the drop of a hat—or a low/high blood sugar.
“Hey. Hey, now, chica.” Claire’s soothing voice breaks through my overwhelm. “Why the tears? What’s wrong?” She reaches over and wipes the wetness I wasn’t aware of falling down my cheeks. Her expressive eyes show nothing but concern, and I’m again hit with how grateful I am for her friendship. She’s been not only my best friend, but also a quasi-mother figure to me as I’ve navigated my own new adult journey. Not many people would help out that way, but Claire never hesitated, not once.
“Michael has to take a job in Miami and wants us to get married first and my mom is gonna freak. She hasn’t even met him yet, and I’m worried about you and Raelynn and I do love him butohmigodam I stupid for even considering this?” My voice ends on a high hysterical note as it all rushes out of me in a single breath. There. It’s out, but I don’t feel any relief. My chest is just as tight as before. Saying the words out loud makes the situation sound exactly as crazy as it is. This is absolutely bonkers, but now that I’ve said I’m gonna do this—is she gonna hate me for it?
Claire’s eyes widen, and she blinks a few times. “Okay, chica, I’m gonna need you to slow down a millisecond and tell me this all over again.” So I take a deep breath and I do. I give her all the details of the bomb Michael dropped on me yesterday, how conflicted I felt, how he reassured me and helped me face my fears. And most importantly, how I wasn’t going to agree to anything without talking to her first.
Last night, in his arms, I could see it happening. I could envision taking these next steps with him. Everything else has been a whirlwind, so marrying Michael and moving to a new state with him didn’t feel all that far fetched. Even kissing him goodbye before he flew out in the early hours felt calm, normal even. But during the long drive back from Hartsfield Airport, with the sky still dark and the radio off, my mind started to examine things from all angles. Have I truly lost my everloving mind?
“Wow, girl. Thatisa lot to take in.”
“Yeah,” I agree, my voice shaky. “I mean, in the heat of the moment it all made sense. He loves me; I know he does. But on my way home, all those thoughts came flooding back to me. What the hell am I thinking?” I wince as I belatedly cover Raelynn’s ears, but she’s oblivious, totally absorbed in the animated flying dragons on the screen. “Am I crazy for evenconsidering it? Marrying and moving with some guy I just met?” I hiss, panic beginning to tighten my chest again.
“Breathe,chica,” Claire admonishes. “Just breathe a second.” She rubs my arm with a sure hand. It reminds me of how Michael does it too, when he’s trying to comfort me. He’s so good at calming me down. Claire is too. Why do I think of him first—and not her?
“Let’s talk this out,” she tells me. “He’s gotta move if he wants to keep his job, and he wants you to come with.”
“Yes.”
“And he wants to marry you, which we have already established, you know, with that ring and the ‘claiming’ in the restaurant,” she says with a wry grin.
Begrudgingly, I smile at the recollection. “Yes.”
“And he wants to marry you before you move away together and ride off into the sunset.”
I outright laugh at the image. “Yes, he was really adamant about that. He doesn’t want to go with me as his girlfriend, or even fiancée. He wants me to go as his wife.” Gah, does it sound even more ludicrous when I say it out loud like that?
“So what exactly is the problem then?” Claire asks me, her eyes dancing like she has figured out the secret to a Rubik's Cube.
“Well, when you lay it out likethat, it seems so simple.”
