Page 286 of Out of Left Field

“Love you too.” She mumbled and turned into me, her hand splaying over my belly just above my cock.

“Forever and always.” I picked up a curl and wound it around my finger.

“You’re my best friend, Ev. Now go to sleep.”

I smiled. My best friend. My lover. Life was perfect.

27

EVERETT

Five months later…

“Why did you buy such a big house?” Willa’s nose wrinkled in the most adorable way. The season was over and we decided to spend our months off on Calusa Key getting the house ready for our future. “You were single. And had no plans to get serious with anyone.”

“I guess I knew one day we’d be living here together.” I wrapped her up in my arms, holding her while she assessed my completely unused dining room. At least that’s what I thought it was supposed to be. It was longer than it was wide and it was right beside the kitchen. That’s where dining rooms normally were, right?

“Well thank goodness for that. We have plenty of space here.” Willa was deep into editing the last few episodes of Taking Tampa then she was taking a few weeks off to do nothing with me. She wanted to explore the island and I couldn’t wait to show her all the places she’d never seen before.

Instead of a small wedding on the island, we ended up eloping to the courthouse. Things were just too hectic and we didn’t want to wait. But Willa’s dad proposed to Hannah and they were getting married here in a few weeks. They asked us to have a double ceremony and we agreed. It would be fun to see her walk down the aisle and say our vows in front of our friends and family instead of just Isaac, Kate, Seth, and Annalise.

It seemed like every day something new clicked into place and made me feel even more like my life had finally, truly begun.

Willa tapped her chin as she imagined different versions of the room. I knew that’s what she was doing because her eyes kept focusing and unfocusing, which was what she did when she was visualizing different things in her mind. Then a small smile lit up her face. “There’s this dinner table that completely folds away. I keep videos of it on my socials. That’s what we should do in here.”

That and get rid of the crap. “Okay…but why?” I was the first to admit that decorating a house wasn’t my forte. The evidence was everywhere. The chandelier, which was a relic from the 90s, was pulled up with a carabiner so I didn’t hit my head when I walked through the mostly empty room. Boxes lined one wall. Bargain basement miniblinds covered the window. It was a cross between a neglected house and a bachelor pad. I had spent all my time and effort up until that point updating the structure and hurricane proofing it. Decorating it didn’t matter to me.

And maybe deep down inside I wanted it to be Willa who decided how to mold it.

She held up a finger and disappeared.

“You’re coming back, right? You’re not sacrificing me to the cobwebs are you?”

She laughed. Then static filled the air followed a few seconds later by the sound of a piano. The record player I never used. “You’ve got some interesting album choices. Nothing from the last two decades.”

“They were my grandparents’. Dad stored it all here since I had the space.” Billy Joel played through the house.

“Well we’re keeping it. Plus getting some newer stuff.” Then she pulled me into the middle of the dining room.

I double checked that I wouldn’t hit my head on the monstrosity above and then grinned down at my wife. “What are you up to?”

“We need the space in here so we can do this.” She placed one hand on my shoulder and wrapped her hand around mine.

My hand naturally fell to her waist. “You want to dance?”

“Yes I do.”

My dancing skills were rusty but there. My parents were firm believers that athletes needed dancing lessons. The rhythm, coordination, and timing, they said, were important skills. And they weren’t wrong. I used it all on the mound. But I hadn’t held a woman and danced for fun in many, many years.

Unless you counted clubbing, which was an entirely different beast. That was grinding and drinking. This…this was intimate. Dancing, even a simple rock step, was a relationship. Putting trust in each other. She would follow my lead, but I would take cues from her. Every so often I added a twirl or dip, just for the surprise of it all. She was close enough to feel, but far enough away that I craved more. It was a perfect tease.

I could see it all. Years from now, the kids put to bed, we’d come in here to share a dance or two before putting the house to rights and sliding into our bed together. I wanted to do life with Willa and no one else.

I stopped in the middle of the room to run my thumb across her soft cheek, over her lower lip, to that chin I loved to hold. “I adore you, Willa.”

Her eyes lit up as she smiled even wider. “I like you a lot too.”

“The house will do?”