Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Had he been thinking about wax play?
Was that why I was lighting candles?
Could he do that while clothed?
Did he think that wouldn’t count as sex?
Had I included no scenes in that no sex while drunk rule?
Why did we have so many candles?
“That’s perfect.” His sigh and the smile on his face, tender but still obviously tipsy, had me either wanting to chuckle or shake my head. “We’ve got so many.”
Okay, maybe he was the reason we had a thousand of them?
“They’re an inexpensive way to elevate a room.” Ender sounded like he was quoting a magazine and I had a feeling inebriated Ender was giving me a peek into his fascinating mind. “I didn’t think it would work but it did. You like the candles.”
I did?
Maybe.
With a vague memory of a conversation when we’d first moved in about how they made the place look more grown-up, I nodded. “You’re right. I think they’re beautiful.”
That was clearly the right response based on his sigh, but when I turned around after lighting the last one, I had a moment of panic because I’d lost him.
He’d been right there?
For fuck’s sake.
“One at a time.” In an almost singsong voice that made me positively sure the drink had been loaded as hell, Ender was coming down the stairs on his ass. “Not gonna fall. That’s not romantic.”
He might’ve lost his embarrassment somewhere, but when he eventually found it, I was going to have fun reminding him of this moment.
“Emergency rooms are only romantic in stupid movies.”
What had he been watching?
“All done.” Standing as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he seemed to think he’d been subtle because he just smiled and gave me a wave. “Hi.”
“Hi.” We were definitely going to stick with beer when we went out, no matter if he wanted liquid courage or not…because that had to have been what this was all about.
Looking back, I realized I should’ve seen the signs of his mind going a thousand miles an hour. But as we’d sat down and started ordering, I’d thought it’d been about the dating thing in general. Nope. This was not about us dating.
This was about…
Candles.
Weird lighting.
And a speaker was now sitting on the kitchen table.
I was a bit slow but not utterly hopeless.
This was about romance…and dancing based on the slow music filling the room. Kenny G, if I wasn’t mistaken?
As my brain wondered how he’d jumped to this being the most romantic song he could pick, he walked over, swaying his hips somewhere between a drunk swagger and actual dancing. “One of my only strong memories of my great-grandparents is when they would dance in the kitchen. I remember her loving this song and they’d sway. It’s romantic, right?”
The fact that he had to go back that far to find family members who could make him smile wasn’t a surprise but that I hadn’t heard this memory before was.
Ender looked down at his hands as he finally came up to me, probably wondering where to put them, so I just wrapped him in my arms and tucked his head against my shoulder. “Come here, pup. I think this is wonderfully romantic.”
And I was starting to see why he’d needed the courage.
Letting out a deep breath, Ender radiated relief as he snuggled closer. “Oh, good. I didn’t have anything else I knew would be partner romantic.”
To me that implied there was partner romantic and probably something like hook-up romantic, but I wasn’t going to ask.
“This is very romantic.” Caressing his back, I kissed his head and moved us back and forth in the low light, with the music playing and the candles flickering around us. “Very romantic.”
“I got it right.” The tone was a mix of relief and pride at having figured out what to do, but I’d have loved anything he’d done for me. “You like romantic things. Partners do stuff like that.”
He’d definitely found something new to worry about.
“I like romantic things, and yes, partners do stuff for each other, but they don’t have to be big gestures. I like dancing like this and I like snuggling with you. Our movie nights and cuddling time are romantic too. I just hadn’t thought of them that way before.”
Because I’d been blind and it’d taken a frightening drama queen to point out a few obvious things.
“Movie nights are romantic because…because we’re partners now?” Something disbelieving in his voice made me smile.
And as he pulled away to study my face, I gave him a quick kiss, getting a huff from him. “We were always partners, pup. I just hadn’t realized it yet.”
Eyes lighting up, Ender leaned in and gave me another kiss. “I like being partners with you.”
The utter innocence of that one statement cut right through to the heart of our relationship. “I like it too, pup.”
And nothing would ever change that.