Page 13

Chapter 13

Errol

Things were going wonderfully with Davien. My grandma was doing better than she had in years. Work was great. Everything in my life was fabulous except one thing; I was tired—so very, very tired.

The constant back-and-forth between Davien’s house, my house, and Grams’s house was getting to be a lot. I felt like I was either in the car or at work pretty much the entire day, leaving not as much time as I wanted with the people I loved.

Not that I loved Davien—except I did. Except I couldn’t, because it was too soon. Right? True love took time to foster and all that. But also, I felt for him something I’d never felt for anyone else.

It was complicated, just like the stupid social media labels so many people put up. Only I doubted they used it for feeling ridiculously happy, having constant butterflies in their middle, and a sense of joy unlike any they’d ever felt before. And if they did? It was officially the best relationship status in existence.

Everything felt right with Davien, like we were meant to be. We got along so well. We had fun when we were together, both in and out of the bedroom. We could talk for hours, and he was not only understanding of why I felt the responsibility to take care of my grandma, but also wanted to be part of it. And wow, did the two of them ever get along. Sometimes, I thought they had a secret code only they understood. It was great to see.

In reality, I shouldn’t complain about anything. I was living my best life. I had a sexy boyfriend, and my Grams’s health was a thousand times better—she hadn’t even mooned anybody in weeks. Not that mooning should be the bar.

I stopped home after work to catch a quick shower and throw on some date clothes. Neither of us had work in the morning, so I tossed a set of clean clothes into a bag and was on my way. The sky was getting darker by the second, and the first big drops of rain splashed on my windshield just as I buckled my belt. I flicked the radio and found the local station. According to the DJ, an unexpected storm had arrived.

Great.

The plan had been for us to go to the orchard. Davien had been trying to take me there for a while, but something always seemed to get in our way. I felt bad because I had shared a meaningful part of my life with him through Grams, and in return, he was trying to share something meaningful with me, but it just wasn’t happening. This time it was Mother Nature who decided to thwart our fun.

I pulled out of my driveway, crossing my fingers that it would pass quickly. Instead, it got worse and worse. The rain hit the windshield so hard that it could easily be mistaken for hail. Less than halfway there, I had my wipers on full blast and was going under the speed limit. Had I been going anywhere else, I’d have turned around and gone home, but this was Davien. He was worth the white knuckles this weather was giving me.

Lightning cracked in the distance as I pulled into his driveway. As bad as this was, according to my very scientific “one Mississippis,” the storm was still a couple of miles away which meant it was going to get worse before it got better. I didn’t care. I was exactly where I wanted to be.

I grabbed my umbrella from the seat beside me, but I wasn’t sure if I should run for it or take the time to open it. I ended up running for it. My hair was dripping wet by the time I reached his front door. I wasn’t sure it would’ve been better the other way.

“You look like a drowned rat,” he said, pulling me in for a hug, not caring that I was soaking wet and that he was now just as wet.

“Yeah, I thought maybe it would be better than trying to open my umbrella first with the wind going the way it is.”

We stepped further in and he shut the door. The pounding of the water on the roof echoed through the room. This one was a doozie.

“You were probably right.” He gave me a far-too-quick kiss. “Come in. I think we need to make some alternative plans for the evening, huh?”

I chuckled. “You don’t want to go to the orchard?”

It was the night of the full moon, not that we’d be able to see it with the clouds and lightning. A picnic under the moonlight had sounded wonderful when we planned it. Mother Nature disagreed. Even if the rain stopped now, the ground was going to be a muddy mess. “So what were you thinking instead?”

If he didn’t have anything, I sure had ideas… lots and lots of ideas, and none of them involved clothing.

“We could have an indoor picnic slash movie night.” And then there was Davien’s idea which also sounded fun. A very different kind of fun, but fun.

“Oh, I like the sound of that.”

He asked me to stay put and ran and grabbed a towel for me, along with his sweatshirt and a pair of his pajama pants. I liked wearing his clothes, especially his sweatshirts. They felt like a hug from him and always smelled so freaking good. I wasn’t sure what it was about Davien that had him smelling so fantastic. I used his soap and shampoo when I stayed over, and I never smelled that good.

It didn’t take long for us to move the couch out of the way and spread a blanket on the floor. This was going to be a true indoor picnic. He’d already made the food—the storm had caught even the weather people by surprise, a sudden shift in direction, and he didn’t know we’d have to shift gears until it was done. I was glad because everything looked freaking delicious.

We set up the food and flicked through the streaming services to find something to watch. If all went well, we wouldn’t lose the internet or power. If we did, I was pretty sure we could find something else to occupy our time—something a whole lot sexier than the horror movies we were currently browsing. Maybe losing power was the best option.

“I’m not feeling any of these,” he said.

“Are you set on horror?” I’d suggested horror randomly. I wasn’t close to married to the idea.

“No, we could do rom-com or dystopia.” He flicked back to the main menu. “Any ideas?”

“Yeah... there was a movie I used to watch as a kid. I think it was called Legend.”

“Legend?”

“Yeah. It might sound silly, but I used to watch it with my Grams. There was a unicorn in it, and Tom Cruise. I liked it.” I only half remembered the plot. I was there for the unicorn.

“We could watch that.” He didn’t sound too enthusiastic.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind picking out something else if you don’t like it.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m just trying to pinpoint if I’ve seen it before.”

After ten minutes of searching, we discovered it wasn’t available on any of the streaming services, so we ended up watching The Princess Bride instead. Because, honestly, it’s always a good time to watch The Princess Bride.

The lightning was now close enough that the boom from the thunder hit at the same time the room lit up, but we didn’t care. We were inside, snuggled together, eating crustless sandwiches cut into triangles and fruit salad. He’d really taken the time to make the picnic fancy.

We watched the movie, the food long gone, and then somewhere along the line, watching the movie became acting out the movie. Both of us had seen it way too many times. At first it was just saying the words, but then it turned into full-on acting, both of us bouncing around the room taking on different characters.

We laughed and laughed. It was a carefree kind of fun I hadn’t had in years. When the movie was over, we found another one that we both knew and did the same.

“This is the best picnic I have ever had,” I said, kissing his cheek and settling my head on his shoulder as the credits rolled. “You outdid yourself. I’m not sure you’ll ever be able to plan a date as fabulous as this one.”

“I don’t know if it’s possible, but I fully intend to try.”

I smiled, feeling completely content in the moment. “I know you’ll succeed. Every day I spend with you is better than the day before, even if we only share a cup of coffee.”

“I can think of something more fun to share.”

“Oh?” I turned to face him. “What is that, Davien?”

“My bed.”

He didn’t have to offer twice.