Page 41 of I Got You

She pats the empty side of the bed. “Come on, big guy. Once you lay down on this baby, you’ll never want to sleep anywhere else.”

How is she so calm? She’s as cool as a cucumber, while my nerves eat away insides like Jaws having a snack.

As a kid, I had a lot of first nights in new beds. Playing football, it was different cities and different hotel rooms. Nothing about sleeping in a new place is foreign to me, but this is not the same. This is sharing a room and a bed with a beautiful woman who, today, became my wife. This shit is going to take just a little bit to get used to.

I sit next to her and stretch out my legs and neck, turning my attention to the TV. “You always watch this at night?” I wonder if she turned it on for me.

I see her shrug in my peripheral. “I find it relaxing, but you can change it. I’m trying to figure out what to get Liv for her birthday. It’s in a couple weeks, and she doesn’t need any more princesses.”

“When’s her birthday?”

“September 19th. I don’t think you’ll be away that weekend. We usually have a small party with a few friends. If you’re not here, Shaney, it’ll break her heart.”

She bumps my shoulder like we’re buds, and this isn’t incredibly awkward. I have no idea how she’s acting like we do this every night.

“I’m pretty sure those big blue eyes don’t get told no often.”

Maggie laughs. “She’s cute, sweet, and the baby. We don’t have a chance, and she knows it. I have no doubt she’ll be quite the firecracker when she gets a little older.”

I exhale, crossing one ankle over the other, my rigor mortis dissipating. “I bet your dad thought the same thing about you,” I say, not thinking and immediately wish I hadn’t. Shit. Maggie hasn’t said much about her dad, but I know she still has to be grieving.

After a long pause and my body freezing back up, she speaks, and I don’t miss her change in subject. “Do you think this is what it felt like to be a ship bride?”

“A what?” I hear just a hint of uneasiness in her voice, and it settles some of my edgy nerves.

“You know, the English women who walked off a ship and were instantly married. They spent all that time on the ships in awful conditions, then went straight to some strange man's home and bed. Maybe, in our case, you're the ship husband.” She laughs.

I think again about all the nights I found myself in a strange new bed. I’m surprised that this one feels the most comforting and inviting and, for the first time, less lonely.

“I bet those women didn’t find themselves lying in a big mess of fluff.”

Maggie smiles. “It’s the best, right?”

“Eh. It’s ok.”

She hits my arm, and somehow she’s put me at ease about this whole thing.

“You better now, Grizz?” I glance at her. “You looked like you might puke there for a second.” She giggles, and I bump her side, making her laugh more. As much as I don’t want it to, it warms my cold, tense insides.

“You’re like a little firefly. You flit around, then something strikes, and you light up with all that sass.”

“Well, this would be no fun at all if I were boring. No way are we going to be one of those awful coexisting couples.” She pats my arms. “Don’t worry. It’ll be my pleasure to keep you on your toes.”

Shit. I already know she knows exactly how to do that.

Chapter 13

MAGGIE

Did something just hit me in the forehead? “Ow. What?”

“Maggie. What is all that?” I hear a muffled gruff voice but ignore it.

“Stop.” I snuggle in closer to the warm large body next to me who smells like a dreamy walk in the woods. The body shifts, and it shoots me awake.

“Maggie. Please make whatever all that is stop.” Shane’s low growly voice demands.

I sit up straight. Thanks to the blackout shades, I can’t see his face, and he can’t see mine. I reach over, smacking each alarm clock and my phone to turn them off. The room is silent, and I flop back on the bed in complete mortification.

---