Page 58 of Honeymoon Phase
We’ve gotten into a habit of her baking bread while I feed Rufus his nightly snack. Addison usually plays music when she does her “stretch and fold” ritual, and I watch her sway her hips in the kitchen so much that Rufus has shit on the floor three times this week and I didn’t even notice because I was too busy eye-fucking her.
God, I have it bad.
I think on some level, I wondered if moving Addison in with me could help me get over her. Like, maybe we weren’t as compatible as I once thought, and we’d grate on each other’s nerves. I know it’s only been a week, but we already have a routine together and that seems like a really good early sign.
And if I’m not mistaken, the touching is getting way more frequent. Roe always has been a little handsy with me... usually in playful shoves or hits. But lately, it’s caresses and rubs or just resting her palm on me when I’m talking to her. The way she touches me before she says good-night is fucking killing me. It gives me hope that maybe she sees me as more than a friend too, but her head hasn’t caught up to her heart yet.
God, I could only hope.
She emerges twenty minutes later barefaced with her black hair wet and tied up into a clip. The smell of her lotion is so strong, I have to fight back the urge to wrap her up in my arms and bury my face in her neck. God, I love that eucalyptus smell on her.
I plate our food and pour a couple glasses of red wine and we sit at the dining room table together, on the same side so we can watch the sun set. That’s another one of our routines. She loves watching the sunset so we’ve started eating earlier so we don’t miss it.
She takes a bite of steak and moans. “Ugh, so good.”
“I’m sure you could have done better.”
“Nope,” she says, stabbing another bite of steak. “This is perfection. Food always tastes better when you don’t have to cook it.”
“That’s good to know. I was worried you’d be irritated.”
“Naw, I love to cook, but it’s fun to be surprised.”
“So you like surprises?” I ask, still trying to learn as much as I can about my best friend.
She wiggles her ring finger at me as proof and I can’t help but smile. She hasn’t taken it off since I gave it to her, and the immense pride I feel in that is alarming. I researched a ridiculous amount of time on the internet to find the perfect ring. Something that wasn’t too flashy because I know she would have been awkward about that, but I wanted it to be something that matched her essence. The fact that Cartier had the ring in stock and the sample size fit her perfectly was just fate telling me I got it right.
“Any more surprises from my mom this week?” I ask, taking a sip of my wine.
Addison shakes her head. “She just texted me requesting my guest list, which I was able to crank out without having a nervous breakdown.”
“Nice,” I reply with a laugh. “How many people?”
“Not a lot. My dad, Edith, like six of the guys from the lumberyard plus a few of my dad’s clients that he’s known for years. So, all together only like fifteen people.”
“Okay, that’s perfect. That’s about my number too. I told my mom we were keeping it small and not inviting the entire town of Boulder to this thing.”
“Who is on your list?” she asks, taking a sip of her wine.
“My mom, my brothers and the ladies, Everly, Ethan, Judy who owns the Mercantile in town, and a handful of my mom’s friends from Boulder.”
“So like thirty people roughly?” she says, doing some quick math. “That’s not too scary. Did you finish our quiz?”
“I did. And you’ll be happy to learn that I am a Summer.”
“Thank God,” she replies dramatically, splaying her hands out on the table. “Our color palettes won’t clash with each other and ruin our precious photos.”
I chuckle softly. “I can show you some of the things I picked out if you want? No big deal if you’re not interested though.”
“I’d love to see them,” she replies with wide eyes. “Let’s see what kinds of vibes I can expect for our big day.”
“We also need to pick a date,” I state, pausing my eating to eye her seriously. “I was thinking the weekend before Christmas could be good because Everly is home by then and we’re not completely taking over the holidays.”
Addison nods and her eyes widen. “Holy shit, that’s like six weeks away.”
“Shit, is that too soon? We could do New Year’s too.”
“No, it’s fine,” she replies with a casual wave of her hand. “I’ll check with the old man to be sure that works for him, but it’s okay by me.”
