36. Some Little Things
36
Some Little Things
Antonio
That was unexpected.
Unexpected in the best way possible, but for a moment, I was concerned it would all blow up in my face and I’d be forced to start over. That she would decide it was all a mistake and shut me out like she’s been doing for decades.
My heart aches at the thought.
I managed to sleep for a few hours, her warmth wrapped around me. I’ve been lying here for a half hour, staring into the predawn light, enjoying the last remnants of calm before the inevitable chaos comes back to consume us.
My phone lights up on the table next to me. Picking it up, I glance at the screen to see Tony has sent me a message.
Tony : You hungover or you wanna eat?
Antonio : I’m always ready to eat
Antonio : Who’s cooking?
Tony : I am, duh
Antonio : Thank god
Tony : 30
Antonio : 10-4
“Something I need to know about?” Lilith murmurs sleepily from the curve of my arm.
Dropping my phone back on the table, I tighten my arm that’s holding her, moving my other arm around so I’m hugging her to me, my face pressed into her neck until she giggles. Pressing a kiss between her brows, I release her, slowly sitting up and swinging my legs around, my feet hitting the floor. “Tony said food in thirty.”
“Tony’s cooking?”
“That’s what he said.”
Lilith is out of bed and halfway to the bathroom before I even make it to standing. Laughing, I call out after her, “Surely there’s no reason to rush?”
Her head appears in the bathroom door. “Oh, yes, there is. We better get there early, or Antoinette will steal all the good stuff as soon as it hits the table.”
“So, no shower?”
“Only if you want to chance getting left with stale crumbs.”
Shaking my head, I make my way to my wardrobe, quickly pulling on underwear and a white undershirt before going into the closet for pants.
I’m just zipping my slacks when Lilith appears, wearing my robe. She eyes me up and down, frowning. “Don’t you own any sweatpants or something a bit less…stodgy?”
Glancing down at my casual slacks, I make a face. “This isn’t stodgy.”
“Well, it’s not exactly comfy brunch wear either.”
Reaching for a button-down, I sigh, fully intent on ignoring her obvious judgment of my wardrobe, but then she starts pawing at my hanging pants and shirts. “Must you touch them all?”
Her hand freezes mid-reach. Her head slowly turns toward me, and her eyes narrow slightly. Snatching the shirt from my hands, she retorts, “You don’t need this.”
I make a grab for it, but she pulls it away and then hangs it back on a hanger rather haphazardly. “Come on, Lil. I have to finish dressing if you want to beat Antoinette to brunch.”
“You can wear that lovely T-shirt, which I’m sure cost a fortune.”
She’s not wrong. But still, I say, “It wasn’t that expensive.”
“I need something to wear,” she explains, her expression saying she doesn’t believe me. “Don’t worry, I won’t sully all your fancy clothes with my touch.”
“I’ll give you something to touch,” I mutter.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Pursing her lips, she squints at me again, obviously not believing I said nothing, but then, after a moment’s pause, she replies, “Dress me.”
“As much as I’d love to lend you my clothes,” I reply as I exit the closet and turn to the wardrobe near the closet door. “You should have plenty of options here. And if not, just tell me what you want, and I’ll get it for you.”
I open the wardrobe doors, smiling at the vast array of clothing hanging neatly in a row. When Lilith says nothing, I turn back to her, frowning at the strange expression on her face. “Are you alright, Lil?”
She’s staring at the wardrobe as if something foreign is going to jump out of it at any moment. “You bought me clothes?”
“Well, you can’t wear the same outfit for an indefinite period of time.”
She raises her brows and looks at me. “I can’t?”
“Not this time.”
Her breath catches, her lips pressing together as she nods. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me, love. What’s mine is yours. You may as well get used to it now.”
Her laugh is slightly watery, so I turn to the wardrobe and pull out some of the more casual pieces I know she loves. Turning back to her, I stand before her, kissing her forehead before untying the sash of the robe. She shrugs out of it, and I hold up a cotton bra, which she yanks from my grasp and tosses away with a laugh. Smiling, I put a shirt over her head, pulling it down around her, then I kneel, helping her into her underwear and then her pants.
I move to stand, but Lilith’s hands on my head stop me, so I remain there, kneeling at her feet, staring up at her as she whispers, “Sei la mia vita.”
The words hit me square in the chest, and, for a moment, I worry that the world has tilted on its axis, and this is now the upside-down fantasy where no one lives. That if I blink for too long, all of this will vanish, and I’ll find myself locked in some dungeon purgatory, fucked out of my mind for eternity.
But then, her hands squeeze my head, keeping me in place as she bends forward and presses her lips against mine.
Her kiss is possessive, her lips firm, and her tongue seeking mine. I reciprocate in kind, allowing her to lead me wherever she wants because regardless of how far the fall or how dark the chaos, I will inevitably happily go. With her.