Page 27 of Happily Ever Laughter

He sets his coffee on the nightstand, then reaches for me, pulling me against his chest. “How do you feel about last night?” He rocks me gently.

I love how tender he is. How caring. How thoughtful.

“Amazing.”

“Good. I want you to know that this relationship means a lot more to me than sex, baby.” I nod my chin against his chest, trying to get the courage to slide my hand down his rippled stomach.

I want to touch his skin. I want so much more. But I can’t help but wonder if it’s just a little too much too soon.

In the back of my mind, I can’t help feeling that all of this is going to disappear. So I either have to stop getting my hopes up, or make the most of every single minute while I can.

The mental tug-of-war is exhausting.

“I need you to understand the two things this relationship is really built on,” Felix says seriously, as I tilt my head to study his handsome face, and nod for him to continue.

“One, I care about you so much already that I’m afraid to say it out loud, or make sense of any words associated with that whole business.”

He pauses while I kis

s his cheek.

“What’s the other thing?” I whisper.

“We shouldn’t base this relationship on physical relations. Yet ,” he adds, while bouncing his eyebrows suggestively. “Instead, we’re going to base it on food, at least for the next hour or so. So if you’ll let me get up, I’ll make you breakfast.”

An hour later, I’m almost nervous about how incredible the sex is going to be if the food is this good. What kind of man just throws together strawberry mango oat milk smoothies, then whole wheat and flax flour banana blueberry pancakes?

I love that he acts all offended when I insist on doing the dishes so that he can take a shower. I love that he leaves a fluffy towel out for me when it’s my turn.

As I return to his room still shaking out my half dry hair, his grin lights up the entire space. “I know I’m way ahead of myself, but take a look.”

He points to his closet proudly, where everything has been shoved to the left, leaving a wide gap at the end. “The top drawer beside it is also empty. I can clear more space, too. So, you know, If you ever want to leave anything here, whatever makes you more comfortable when you visit, feel free.”

My biggest source of relationship advice is years of TV and movies. I can’t be completely sure of their accuracy, but it seems logical that a man making space for a woman in his home has to be a good thing.

“Thank you.” I walk over to give him a big, squishy hug. “That means a lot to me.”

“Baby, I hope I don’t freak you out by doing things like this too quickly.” He tips my chin up with a finger, placing one perfect kiss on my lips. “I need you to know that I’m all in.”

I push his finger down with my chin, then raise it again, nodding awkwardly as we both smile. “Me too.”

“Hey, I’ve got the van today, so I can drive you home. Are there any errands you want to run on the way? The van holds a lot of groceries.”

“You want to take me grocery shopping?”

His lips press to my cheek in one of those adorably sweet, romantic kisses. “Baby, I want to do absolutely everything with you.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

~ Felix ~

I honestly cannot believe that Tanis has never been to a huge discount grocery store. The look on her face when she sees the low prices of some of the canned goods makes me laugh out loud.

Luckily, she seems to love it when I laugh at her, with her, around her.

After a trip to a specialty plant store, cheese shop, and her favorite bakery across town, I can’t get her to admit that she needs the van for anything else. By the time we get back to her apartment, it’s nearly seven and we’ve spent the day discussing almost everything under the sun, realizing that we are alike in so many ways.

It is almost spooky how so many of our tiny preferences line up. Like how barbecue sauce is better than ketchup on a burger, and raisins have absolutely no place being within five miles of butter tarts.

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