Page 52 of Love and Other Mental Health Concerns
“Before I get too carried away here,” he mumbles into my face, “I have one more secret.”
My stomach drops. I knew it. Too good to be true. What is it? Secret love child? That’s it, must be a secret love child. I must have said it out loud because he echoes me.
“No, it’s not a secret love child! Christ, that’s where your brain goes?”
“I have anxiety, remember?”
“Okay, well this is less scary than that.” He stands me up and spins me around to face the home behind us. “I bought that.”
“Bought what?”
“That house, I bought that house. I am not asking you to move in with me, even though you are welcome to whenever youfeel ready. I want you to know that I will be down the street though, and hope this means we will be spending a lot of time together.”
“When did you have time to buy a house? You have money to buy a house?”
“I don’t exactly have a lot of expenses on the road, and I still get paid well, so yes. Yes, I could comfortably buy this house.” My mouth is gaping open, so he continues, “On Saturday, I spent the day with Keith ironing out our plan and my contract with the hospital. On Sunday, after I was informed that I had free time on my hands, I realized I was going to need a place of my own. This house has been sitting empty for a while, so the realtor was happy to meet me on a Sunday. I put in an offer that night and it was accepted yesterday.”
I am in awe. Completely speechless. The house is a 19thCentury Victorian with a meticulous navy and white paint job, and some natural wood accents. A huge wrap-around porch frames the front of the house, along with a large, wooden, antique door with beveled glass accents. The lawn is perfectly manicured with large, pink, hydrangeas along the whole front of the place. A huge oak tree shades the yard. I have passed by this house my entire life and have always loved it.
“I’m overwhelmed,” I finally squeak out.
“Good overwhelmed, or bad?” Nick asks, a bit of that cocky grin now wiped from his face. I smile at him.
“Definitely good. This place is beautiful. What was your plan if I had said I didn’t want to be together?” He smiles at me and takes my hand again.
“I tried to trust my gut. It should be obvious, but I took this new job because I want to settle down with you, and this seemed like a great chance to do that and keep my career in motion. If you had said that you weren’t ready for the same, it wouldn’t have changed my decision to buy this place or take that job. I amready for those lifestyle changes regardless, but it is a hell of a lot sweeter knowing that I am getting to make those changes with you by my side.”
“You would have risked awkward town run-ins with me for the rest of your time here?”
“If that is all I got from you for the rest of my life, Marcy, I would have accepted it. I’m so far gone; you are it for me.” He embraces me like he may never let me go, an embrace that echoes the sentiments we have shared with each other. “May I show you around the inside?”
“You have the keys already?”
“I have the keys for another 2 hours. I may have told the realtor about our situation and that I was trying to charm you into not being mad at me for keeping secrets. Also, my realtor is Mark Shelly, and apparently you know him?”
“I used to let him cheat off me in high school chemistry class, so he owes me.”
“That makes sense. Shall we?” He tugs me toward the front door, smile from ear to ear, and eyes now sparkling blue in the porch light. I follow him and upon entering the home, it feels instantly warm. The floors and antique style wainscoting are a beautifully maintained oak. All the furniture is gone, but the light fixtures and switches all look original to the house, giving it a cozy feel already. “What do you think?”
“I think this place is perfect, its beautiful and so full of character.”
“I thought you would say that.” He grins. “It reminds me a little of your apartment, with the antiqueness of it. I hope you will have another safe space here.” More than any words he spoke earlier, that sentiment has me beaming.
“I’m not ready to live here with you, I want more time to date you without arguing about who is taking out the garbage.” I share without hesitation, knowing he will hear me.
“Good, I want you to move-in when you are ready and excited to do so. I know how important your apartment is to you, and it’s where I fell in love with you, so it is an important place to me too. I would never ask you to give up that space.” I melt into him, throwing my arms around his neck, deeply inhaling the scent of him. “I hope you see this house as my promise that I am not going anywhere, I am serious when I say I want us to be together for as long as you will have me.”
I realize it is that simple. We love each other and want to be together. I don’t know why I thought this had to be more complicated, but with this man it feels more and more attainable. I pull back from our embrace and kiss him, slowly and sensually. He meets my need, with one hand on the back of my neck and the other stroking my face as his tongue tangles with mine. Our jackets drop to the ground and Nick’s hands start to explore me.
“I want you now.” He groans between breaths.
“You said you have to return the keys in two hours.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t last two hours.”
He starts kissing my neck, down to my collarbone. Slowly at first, and then sucking on the little spots that make me moan. His hands are undoing the buttons on my cardigan, revealing my lacy tank top and bra. He drops my sweater to the floor, as I yank for his shirt to come over his head. His large frame engulfs mine as he pulls me into him and my hands land on his firm chest. I explore the muscles of his abdomen before reaching around and grabbing his ass through is jeans.
He beams, knowing that I love to feel his ass in my hands. In that moment, he spins my body so that my back is to the grand staircase, and slowly walks me back as he undoes my jeans and plays with the waist band. “Lay back, Love.” I was already wet but hearing him use the word ‘love’ drives me crazy. I lay back on the stairs and he pulls off my jeans and underwear so that I amlounging back on my elbows, my ass seated on one of the wood stairs and my legs wide open, exposing all of me to him and balancing myself.
