Chapter 28. More Kissing, Less Talking
More Kissing, Less Talking
I never went back to sleep, because we spent the next couple of hours in bed chatting.
“Tell me about your tattoos.” My head was resting against his chest, as I traced the shape of the tiny crab on his upper left arm.
“They’re for my siblings. This one is the sign for Cancer. For Alexandra. The scale”—he gestured at the one on his upper right arm—“is Libra. For Amanda and my mom. These ones”—he pointed at the scorpion on his right hip and the ram on his left one—“are Scorpio, for Paul, and Aries, for Kylie.”
I noticed he didn’t say anything about his dad. “And Jennifer?”
“My upper thigh. Two fish, for Pisces. Can we stop talking about them? Discussing my siblings is at the bottom of the list of things I’d rather do right now.
” He lowered his voice and whispered in my ear.
“Because I’ve got other things I’d like to do to you.
Dirty, filthy things. I can’t get enough of you screaming my name when I fuck you. ”
“Well, since you asked so nicely.” I reached for him and pulled him on top of me. “Let’s get on with it. Less talking, more doing.”
I took a shower when the sun was up, and by the time I finished, I could hear Rob whistling off-key in the kitchen.
Everything felt so domestic. So normal. As if waking up in his bed after a lazy weekend to the smell of him cooking was the most normal thing in the world.
As if we’d been doing it forever instead of a few hours.
And somehow, that made me feel so, so content.
I walked out to the kitchen to find him. “Morning.”
Rob looked up and gave me the biggest smile. “Hey.” Before I could reply, he went around the kitchen island, pulled me close, and gave me a lingering kiss, long enough to make my toes curl. “Got your coffee ready. Breakfast is almost done. Give me a few minutes.”
He gave me another kiss, then went back to what he was doing.
I hopped on a kitchen stool and watched as he scrambled some eggs and grated some cheese into the mixture.
Then he plated everything and pushed one toward me: homemade hash browns, cheesy scrambled eggs, sliced avocado, with crispy bacon slices, cherry tomatoes, and sautéed mushrooms.
My stomach growled in anticipation. “This smells good.”
“It’s simple, but it’s my breakfast specialty.
” He grinned as he took the stool next to mine.
“My siblings and I used to take turns making breakfast in the mornings. We each have our own thing. Alexandra has her banana pancakes. Amanda has a killer chocolate waffles recipe, and Jennifer is known for her breakfast tacos. Kylie has probably fifty different recipes of healthy smoothies, while Paul’s go-to is his cinnamon French toast.”
“Your family is awesome. I would kill to be able to have those kinds of memories.”
“It’s not too late.” His tone was nonchalant. “You can still make your own memories with your own family, right?”
And right then, suddenly the concept of having to commit to someone to build my own family didn’t seem too scary anymore. It might be hard work, but it seemed plausible if you had the right person to share it with.
Like him.
Because he’s the right person for me.
“Have you heard from the hospital?” He was oblivious to my Earth-shattering revelation.
“I can’t go with you to pick Thomas up, because I need to meet Alec at the flipped house to clean up a few things.
But do you want to come over for dinner tonight?
I’ll make lasagna, which, if you remember, has gotten rave reviews from my mother.
” He shook his head, as if he was realizing something.
“No, actually, I can bring the food over to your grandfather’s house, so we can keep him company. ”
A smile took over my face. “I would love that.”
I left his house feeling like I was on cloud nine, almost scared to believe that things might be different this time.
But maybe it was different this time around.
Because it was Rob. Because he was always there for me, in a way that no one ever was before.
And he’d made me realize that there could be more in life than what I had right now.
That maybe a healthy, loving relationship wasn’t such a far-fetched idea after all, and there was nothing wrong with wanting that.
That if you were with the right person, it was okay to give them all of you and everything you had, because you know you would be safe with them.
And I knew, without a doubt, that I was safe with him.
Opa needed to stay another night because his hemoglobin level wasn’t quite where the doctors would have liked it to be, so I ended up spending the rest of Sunday with him at the hospital.
The IV line was still hooked up to his arm, but he seemed less tired than he was yesterday.
He was almost back to his old chatty self, and his doctor assured me that he should be well enough to be discharged on Monday.
The rest of the week followed pretty much the same pattern—yarn store during the day, driving Opa to his dialysis sessions, and meetings with the other business owners in our precinct to finalize the festival plans in between.
My nights were reserved for Rob, laughing and chatting and exploring each other.
Aiden finally texted back, apologizing for ghosting me at Opa’s party.
His reason was so ludicrous that I wasn’t sure whether he was joking or not—he said he got spooked because I invited him to meet my grandfather, and he thought things were getting too serious too quickly.
I could only laugh, because he spoke about missing his grandparents, and here I was thinking I was trying to be kind.
On Friday, I went to pick up Opa from dialysis as usual. Dr. Nguyen—Lucy—was waiting for me when I walked into the center and beckoned me to follow her into her office.
“Thomas is almost finished with the session, so I’ll be quick,” she said.
“We did a follow-up blood test today, and the results came back normal. His hemoglobin level has gone up, so the iron infusion and the new iron tablets are helping. Our renal dietitian met with him today to discuss meal plans tailored for his specific nutritional needs. We’ll see how he goes, and we’ll schedule another test in two weeks. ”
“Sounds great. Thanks for the update.”
“My pleasure. Thank you for inviting me to celebrate his birthday. I had a great time. By the way,” she said, her tone way too nonchalant, “I was surprised to see Robbie there. How do you know him?”
“We have mutual friends,” I said, not liking her oh so casual tone and this weird sensation bubbling under my chest. “He told me you two used to date for a while.”
“We did.” She gave me a rueful smile. “It didn’t work out.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” I wasn’t, obviously, but what else could I say?
“My parents are very traditional,” she continued, and I had no choice but to politely listen. “They have very strong ideas about who their kids should have as partners, and someone like Robbie wasn’t who they had in mind for me.”
Annoyance was starting to simmer in my veins. “And you agree?”
“No, but I can’t go against my family’s wishes.
My parents had high hopes and expected a lot out of me, because I’m the eldest.” Her eyes had taken on a faraway look, as if she was reminiscing about the past. “Rob had wanted to move our relationship further, but my family was adamant that he wasn’t a successful enough person to be with someone”—she hesitated before continuing—“someone like me.”
“A doctor, you mean?”
She looked embarrassed as she nodded. “They wanted me to be with someone in the same profession, who understands the long hours and the mental and physical demands of the job. They also think I should focus on my career before starting a family.”
“And you’d rather listen to your family and give up a wonderful guy who was actually ready to settle down and spend the rest of his life with you?”
“I couldn’t disappoint my parents. They’ve sacrificed a lot for me.” Her cheeks grew redder. “And they were right. I had to concentrate on my career first.”
Suddenly I didn’t like this woman—and her family—too much.
It wasn’t fair for them to judge someone’s worth—to judge Rob—based on what he does.
It was people like them, like Rob’s father, who had made society shallow with their standards, who had made Rob question his own worthiness when in fact he was doing just fine—more than perfectly fine.
But it wasn’t my place to comment on that. “Rob is a great guy. Did you know he was there to support us when my grandfather was unwell at the party?”
Lucy blinked at me. “He was?”
“He stayed with me until we knew for sure that my grandfather was okay.” And yes, fine, I probably shouldn’t be thinking this way about the woman who was looking after my grandfather’s health, but damn it if I wasn’t perversely satisfied at the surprise and jealousy on her face.
“I couldn’t have done it without his support. He’s an amazing person.”
Lucy looked a little sad at that. “He is.”
“I better go. Thanks again for letting me know about the test results.”
She only nodded as I walked away, and when I snuck a quick look at her as Opa and I walked out, she was still standing at the same spot, looking confused and miserable.
And that made me feel sorry for her, because she didn’t know what she’d lost, and worse, she didn’t seem to have the freedom to change her life, even if she wanted to.
And that made me even more thankful for mine.