Page 80 of Embers in the Dark

Once we leave the apartment, we head to the car and Clay is giving me a look that makes me uncomfortable. Finally, I can’t take it anymore and break the silence.

“What, man?” I say as we descend in the elevator.

“You really love her, don’t you?” he asks me.

“Yes,” I say as I pull my phone out.

“I mean, you see forever with her,” he says as a statement and not a question.

“Yeah, I would say so,” I say confidently.

“Wow, that’s big. I mean, she’s young,” he says as the doors open and we walk out.

“She is,” I admit.

“What does she think?” he asks me, looking over at me.

“We haven’t had a conversation about the future really.”

“Don’t you think you should?” he asks me, surprise etching his features.

“Well, it’s not like I’m asking her to have my babies.”

“Okay, sure, but don’t you want to know where she stands? Isn’t she like a decade younger than you?” he asks as he opens his driver door.

Once we’re both in the car and buckled, he starts driving and continues the conversation.

“Yeah, she’s twenty-two... almost twenty-three, actually. I’m thirty-two. But age is just a number at this point, no?”

“Hey, I’m not judging. I promise. I’m just talking this through with you.”

“I know, man. I just don’t know what to say. I mean, I can’t help who I fall in love with. It’s not like I’ve looked at her since she was younger and saw this happening. It just happened in the last year, I can’t stop it now,” I admit.

“I know, but I think it warrants a discussion. She’s the age she is and has a career to build. You’re at a different point in life. So, what if she wants to wait ten years to get married,then what? You wait until you’re in your forties to get married? Then you’re in your mid-forties to have kids? I’m just asking the questions.”

I sit back and allow his words to sink in. They’re valid and it’s not like I haven’t considered these things, but I’ve simply allowed her love be enough for me. Whatever comes with that, I’ll accept. I just want Baylee. Whatever I get in return, I’ll take.

“Honestly, man, I love her. She’s the reward, and the gifts I get with her love are just extra little bonuses that I’ll take along the way,” I say, a small smile taking over my features.

“I like that. Little bonuses. I might have to steal that, man.” He chuckles.

“No, don’t. I sort of like it. I’ll have to use it on a card, or something.” I laugh.

He smiles and turns on the radio. I meant everything I said, because I feel peace with Baylee in my life. She brings me all the best parts of life I never thought I needed to make me whole. So, whatever she wants to bring me to add color to the already vibrant life I see with her, I’ll accept.

Baylee

“So, we’re dying to know… how are things with Malloy?” Abby asks.

I sip my wine and smile. “They’re really good. Tucker is perfect.” I can’t help the flutter in my chest over how much joy I feel that he’s really mine in this way.

“What she really means is how’s the sex? Let’s be real, he looks like a beast,” Kennedy says, and I nearly spit my wine out.

“Kennedy!” Abby looks over at her friend. Then she swings her gaze to me. “That’s not what I meant at all!”

“Don’t mind, Kennedy. She has no filter,” Samara says, “she’s just like that.”

“I won’t apologize for asking the question no one else will,” Kennedy says.

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