Page 26 of My One
“Then let’s go.” We walked hand in hand toward the elevator. Once inside, I hit the button for the floor my buddy had told me to go to.
“Is there a restaurant here?”
I looked over at my wife and gave her a stern look that said to stop asking questions. We rode the rest of the way up in silence. The lift dinged, and the doors opened before we stepped out. Lacing our fingers, I led Nic down to the very end of the hall where we took a few stairs up and out a heavy metal door.
The mid-August evening breeze blew around us as we stepped out onto the rooftop. That was one thing I loved about New York. The rooftops in California were for helicopters, but the roofs in NYC were for pools and parties and surprising your wife with a romantic candlelight dinner.
Nicole gasped the moment she saw the votive candles spread across the ground, illuminating a path to a small table for two against the railing. “How?”
“How?”
“How’d you do all this?”
“A man needs to have his secrets.”
“What other secrets are you keeping?”
I chuckled. “It was a joke, baby.”
We started to walk down the flickering path. “Then you’re going to tell me how you pulled this off?”
“Nope.” I pulled out her chair for her.
“Okay, I won’t ask you anything else because I love romantic Avery.”
I smirked as I took my seat across from her. “I’m always romantic.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “Most of the time.”
“Are you saying I need to up my game?”
“Well, it’s clear we’re not in the honeymoon phase anymore.”
Nicole was right. We still had sex a few times a week, spent all of our free time together, but when we were on our honeymoon, I was all over her like a cat in heat. But over the last year or so, life had turned intolife. I used to cook her dinner, draw her baths, bring her flowers as a surprise. Life was hectic with the bar, and Brooke’s illness took Easton away from Halo. Nic and I just got comfortable. I still cooked dinner or at least helped, but it wasn’t the same.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I stated.
She smiled. “Okay. So, what’s for—”
I laughed, knowing she’d caught herself asking another question. Before I could tease her, Devin walked out of the metal door dressed as a waiter and carrying two plates with silver domes over them. He placed them in front of us, not saying anything, and then turned to a champagne bucket that had a bottle of Dom Perignon chilling. I’d ordered it wholesale—one of the perks of owning a bar—so it hadn’t cost me an arm and a leg. This one cost me a nice hundred, but it was worth it. Nic was worth it.
As I watched Devin pour the bubbly liquid, I let Nicole’s words sink in. After tonight, I was upping my game. Just because we were married didn’t mean I couldn’t make our life special.
After Devin filled the two flutes, he lifted the domes before walking away. Nicole looked up at me with a grin. “Cheeseburger and fries?”
I smirked and reached for my glass. “We may be dressed up to paint the town, baby, but I still know what you like to eat.”
“Shake Shack?”
“Of course.” I tilted my head slightly toward her flute, wanting her to lift it. She did. “Here’s to a night when we’ll both be naked by the end.” We clicked our glasses together, and both took a sip.
“I’m sure it will, and if I weren’t starving, I’d say we should do it right here.”
I choked a little on the champagne. “Yeah?”
“It’s date night, right?” Nicole asked.
I wiped my mouth. “Yeah, it is. Eat your burger before it gets cold. We have a town to paint.” We didn’t necessarily have a town to paint. Going clubbing wasn’t something that struck me as exciting anymore, but I did have plans. Plans that continued on this rooftop.
