Chapter 10 Blakely
Blakely
“Where are you taking me?” I ask Liam. It’s Saturday night, and he said he planned a date for us. But before we left, he blindfolded me. It’s been a while since we’ve been on a date. Once you move in with someone, it becomes comfortable to stay home, curl up on the couch, and watch a movie.
“We’re almost there.”
Good thing I trust him, otherwise, I’d think he was taking me somewhere to murder me.
The hum of the engine quiets as it comes to a stop, and I gently lurch forward.
Liam’s fingertips brush against my forehead as he takes the blindfold off of my head.
My eyes adjust to the light as I look around, realizing he took me to our spot.
The spot we used to meet up when we were keeping our relationship a secret.
It’s a secluded spot near a river, surrounded by trees and bushes, giving it privacy.
The reflections of the sunset cast a golden glow on the river. It creates shimmering streaks of orange and pink that dance across the gentle ripples.
“Oh, my God. We haven’t been here in forever.”
“I know. It’s like we forgot about this place.”
We were always so nervous about people seeing us in public.
We would try to find places to go so no one would see us, but it wasn’t enough.
Until, that is, we found this spot. I remember when we first found it, and we both looked at each other with the same idea.
This is our spot. Every time we wanted to see each other, we would come here.
“Why did we stop coming here?” I ask.
“Probably because we didn’t have to hide our relationship anymore.”
We get out of the car, and I reach into the back and get the blanket we’ve kept in here since we declared this as our spot. “I’m surprised the blanket is still here.”
“I never took it out. I saw it the other day and thought about coming here for our date night.”
I lay the blanket down on the ground, and Liam follows behind me. He sets down a charcuterie board, two wine glasses, and a bottle of red wine.
“You’re not on call tonight?” All the surgeons at the practice rotate being on call at the local hospitals in our area in case someone comes in with a gastro emergency.
“Nope. I’m all yours tonight.”
I kiss him on the lips. “Good.” Sometimes, even though he’s not on call, he gets called in because they need extra help. Hopefully that doesn’t happen tonight.
“Can you believe how far we’ve come?” he says.
“Seems like yesterday we were sneaking around.”
He pours us both a glass of wine. “Crazy how time flies. We’re coming up on a year.”
I spread brie and a fig spread on top of a cracker and then place a piece of prosciutto on top. The combination melts in my mouth. “Remember when we were so unsure about everything?”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I remember. We were so nervous about going anywhere, but we were desperate to hang out.”
“Everything moved so fast,” I say.
“Right? Who would have thought you would move in with me?”
“I thought I’d move in with you and you’d realize living with a kid isn’t what you wanted.
” I took a big risk by moving in with him.
It felt like I was stepping into a new world, one filled with many uncertainties.
But I didn’t want that to hold me back, especially with the way Liam has always been with Amari.
He looks at me with a thoughtful expression. “You know I love Amari. I see her as my own.”
I take a bite of my cracker. “That’s what I love about you.” I lean in closer and take a sip of my wine. “What’s next for us?”
“Hmm. Something.”
“Like what?”
“You’ll have to wait and see,” he says, taking a sip of his wine.
A ping comes through my phone.
Kai: Hey!
Me: Hi. Is Amari okay?
I stare down at my phone, watching the three little dots as Kai texts back. I hope nothing is wrong with Amari.
“Who is it?” Liam asks.
“Kai.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Not sure yet,” I tell him, my heart rate picking up speed as I wait.
Kai: Everything is fine. I just wanted to say hi.
I turn my phone on silent and set it aside.
I have no doubt Amari told him we go on dates when she’s with him.
She’s asked me what Liam and I do when she’s not home.
Is he trying to ruin the date? Lately, I never know what I’m going to get from Kai.
Even Liam has been questioning him, and he’s never questioned him before.
“Everything good?”
“Yeah.”
After an hour of eating and talking, we cleaned up the area. Now, I’m resting on Liam’s arm, looking up at the star-filled sky. The sound of crickets fills the night air, creating a peaceful, quiet night.
Liam clears his throat. “So…” He pauses for a minute. “Have you ever wanted to get married?”
His question leaves me frozen in place, taken aback. I knew that this question was going to come. I just didn’t think it would come this soon. We’re barely coming up on a year of meeting. Can you truly know someone well enough to say yes to a question like that? So soon?
“Yes. I’ve always thought about marriage,” I say. Now, thinking about it, my heart skips a beat. Does he want to marry me?
“Do you want more kids?” he asks.
“Yes. I’ve always wanted my kids close in age, but given that I had Amari so young, I wasn’t about to pop out more kids as a teen—or even in my early twenties. What’s with all these questions?” Obviously, I know why he’s asking. I just want to know what he has to say.
“I’ve been thinking about our future together and wanted to know where you stand on important topics like these.”
“Oh. Well, how about you? Do you want to get married?” I say, tilting my head toward him and gazing into his green eyes.
He glances down at me. “Of course. I thought I’d be married with at least one kid by now, but school took a lot of time.”
Now that we’re talking about this, I’m wondering why we never talked about this sooner.
I guess we were so caught in the moment of our relationship that we never stopped to think about the future.
It was always something that was on my mind when I was dating, since I already had a kid.
Liam was so different and laid back; I never stressed about this kind of stuff.
“Did I freak you out with all these questions? You’re getting pretty quiet,” he says, meeting my gaze again.
“No. I was just thinking.” I turn back to the starry sky.
He clears his throat. “About what?”
“How soon it is,” I admit. “We’ve known each other for less than a year.”
"Yeah, it is kind of fast, but look how fast our relationship has gone. People are usually moving in together after the one-year mark. We did that after a few months.”
I giggle. “I still can’t believe I did that.”
“Why do you say that? Is that a bad thing?”
I lean up on my elbow and turn to my side, looking down at him, seeing his brows furrow.
“Oh no, I didn’t mean it like it was a bad thing.
I’ve always been cautious about who I bring around Amari.
I always told myself I would take my time moving on from her father.
But with you, it was so different, and the way you were with Amari helped my decision even more.
Given the few dumbasses I dated after Kai, I was pretty set on being alone for a while. ”
“I’m sure my age has a lot to do with it. When I was in my early twenties, the last thing on my mind was settling down,” he says, running the back of his palm against my cheek.
“I never thought of dating someone older. And I never thought someone older would date me.”
"Well, you’re pretty mature for your age. You’re not like most mid-twenty-year-olds.”
I chuckle. “That has a lot to do with having a kid at sixteen. I had to grow up quickly. There was really no other choice for me.” I pause for a minute. “But you’re right; you’re getting old. I guess it is time for you to start having kids.”
His eyes widened. “What?!” he exclaims, bringing his hands to my midsection.
I burst into uncontrollable laughter as he tickles me. I squirm around to escape his grasp. When he finally stops tickling me, I settle back down on his arm.
I’ve always liked our carefree bond. The last time I had this was with Kai, back when we first met.
I didn’t think I would ever find that feeling again with someone.
I thought it was just a young love feeling.
Liam has always proved me wrong. With him, I realized it doesn’t have to be gone, and it’s not only a young love feeling.
It’s when you meet someone who shares the same values as you.
It gives a sense of ease in the relationship, so you’re not always walking on eggshells.
Finding Liam has made me realize what I’m worth and what I want in a relationship.
But I will always remember that it was Kai who gave me that feeling first. He was my first for everything. It’s hard to forget that. Even though we may not be together, I still have love for him. That feeling will never go away.