He grabs his own phone from the nightstand, unlocking it and tapping on the screen a few times. “What are you doing?” I ask, just as my own phone pings in my hands. I look down and see that he’s tagged me on his Instagram and Twitter profiles. I open the notification and see that he’s posted the picture he took of us last night while we were on the walk. The one that I instantly fell in love with.
I read over the caption twice, the words melting my heart just a little bit more. Enjoying paradise with my love. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, I’m off the market and couldn’t be happier. Love you, Red.
“Really, you had to call me Red?” I ask, quirking a brow at him.
“No one knows why I call you that.” He smirks, and I can feel myself blush. He leans over and kisses me; morning breath be dammed.
I pull away, knowing that I need to at least reply to Carly. Bless her for trying to warn me and take care of things for me.
Carmen: Sorry for missing all of your texts! I don’t know why I didn’t think ahead to this happening, but we’re rolling with it. Go look at Lucas’s Instagram. He just made an announcement on his page. Kinda sweet if you ask me. {winky face} I guess I’ll keep him.
Carly: Damn, girl! You guys look so happy. And DAMN! That look he’s giving you says he could eat you alive. That man is S-E-X on legs. You are one lucky woman.
Carmen: I won’t argue with that. Thanks again for everything! I’m going to go back to being on vacation mode. Let me know if anything else happens.
Carly: Will do! Bring some of that sunshine back to me! I desperately need it!
I click over to my social media pages, checking to make sure that nothing bad is being said. Some of the comments aren’t always the nicest. It amazes me how some women will tear down other women in the comments when guys post pictures of their girlfriends or wives. So much for women supporting women. I know that I can’t let their petty comments get to me. They don’t know me, hell, they don’t even really know Lucas, they just think they do. Before closing out, I decided to post the same picture to my own page, tagging him back in it. I don’t quite copy his caption word for word, but the sentiment is there.
Nineteen
Lucas
I look out the window, the snow-covered ground greets us as we touch down, back home from a week away in paradise. The vacation was a much-needed time away. It solidified my feelings for Carmen, hell, I told her that I loved her, and we made our relationship public.
“Where are we going tonight?” I ask as the plane rolls toward the gate.
“I’m not super picky,” she says, and the idea starts forming in my mind that maybe we should broach the subject of moving in together. We spend most nights with each other as it is, then the week together has me realizing that I don’t want to be away from her at night. I’ve grown accustomed to having her in my arms in bed. Waking up with her every morning. I don’t know that I can go back to not having that.
We grab our things, walking off the plane and out to my car. We both packed fairly light, only taking a suitcase each that could fit in the overhead bin. It wasn’t like we needed much for clothing. We spent most of the time in bathing suits or shorts and tank tops.
I drive us to my condo, both of us making our way upstairs quietly. I think we’re both tired after traveling today, plus all the fun we packed into the last few days. Not to mention, just how tired you can actually come back from vacation. It’s late by the time we get here, the darkness settling in all around us.
“I’m going to take a quick shower before bed. I still feel all grimy from the morning on the beach followed by the flight,” Carmen says. I watch as she grabs some clean panties and one of my large T-shirts she loves sleeping in. I can’t say that I hate seeing her in them, and it has my mind rolling forward a few years and what our life together could be like with a few kids running around. I can picture it now, a little girl with her mother’s eyes, my nose, and a smile that will have me wrapped around her little baby finger the moment she’s born.
“What are you thinking about?” Carmen’s voice pulls me from my daydream. I shake my head and blink twice as I look at her, my T-shirt hitting just above her knees.
“You, us,” I say, my voice a little gritty.
“And?” she asks, rolling her hand in a motion, asking me to continue.
“When I saw you pull out my T-shirt, it made me think of how much I love seeing you in my clothes,” I tell her, tugging her closer to me. I sit down on the edge of the bed, positioning her between my legs. “That thought flashed forward a few years to you in my T-shirt, stretched over a belly, to a little girl with both of our features.”
“That’s quite the active imagination,” she says, running her hand through my hair before her hand comes down to cup my cheek. I turn my face, kissing her palm.
“It might be a dream, but it is one that I want with you,” I tell her honestly.
“Me too,” she says quietly. If the room hadn’t been quiet, I would have missed her confession.
I look up and see tears falling down her cheeks. I quickly wipe them away. “Don’t cry, baby,” I tell her, pulling her into my lap. “I know that all of those things are down the road. We don’t have to rush anything. Hell, it’s only been a few months, but knowing that we’re both working towards the same end goal is a good thing, right?”
“Yeah, you just keep amazing me, Lucas. I’m so glad you picked me,” she says, cupping my cheek. I pull her back on the bed with me and we lazily make out, no need to rush things along.
“You’re the amazing one,” I tell her. “I had an idea earlier tonight.”
“Oh yeah, what’s that?” she asks, shifting so we can more easily see one another as we talk in bed.
“What would you say to us moving in together? We’re already at one another’s places most nights of the week, and to be honest, I hate it when we end up not together at night.”
“Yes!” she exclaims. “I don’t care how we make it happen, but my answer is yes.” She smiles and I pull her in for another kiss.
“I don’t care about the specifics, either. We can keep your place, keep mine, pick a new place altogether. Just as long as I get to come home to you every night, I’ll be a happy man.”
“We can decide that in the next few days. There are things I like about both of our places, but there is also something exciting about starting a new chapter of our lives in a new place.”
“You just tell me where and I’ll be there,” I tell her, kissing her once more. I snake my hands up under my T-shirt that covers her body, finding her tits bare, but her nipples already hard as I roll them between my fingers.
“Someone not so tired, all of a sudden?” I ask, sitting up to pull my shirt off over my head.
It doesn’t take long before we’re both naked and I’m sinking inside her heat. I make love to this woman, the last woman I ever plan to be with, the one that has completely snagged me and turned my life around, making me long for the domesticated life.
Twenty