31. All I Ever Wanted
When the air conditioning switched on, the scent of fried chicken came through the vents, and I opened my eyes to an empty pillow.
After a few seconds, though, I realized where I was when I found our prom picture tucked into the edge of her dresser mirror.
Faith still looked damn good for her age or any other. But staring at those kids in the photograph reminded me how much time we lost already, and I flipped the blankets back off me so I didn’t waste another second.
Tossing my feet over the side of the bed, I snapped back to life as my adrenaline kicked back in again.
My clothes were clean and folded on the chair, and I stretched the shirt across my chest and slid it over my head.
The creaky floorboard in the hall gave me away as I rushed to get ready, and Faith’s voice came from the bottom of the stairs. “Dinner’s almost done if you’re ready, babe.”
Switching the lights on in the bathroom, I cringed at the hobo in the mirror looking back at me. “God almighty.” Sprinkling water in my hair, I smoothed it down and sniffed my shoulder. “Please tell me I didn’t look like this when I showed up here this morning.”
Wiping off a pie plate when I came into the kitchen, she smiled from behind her tiny brown plastic glasses. “Are you feeling better?”
When I leaned in to kiss her cheek, I squinted at the time on the microwave behind her. “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier? The whole day’s gone.”
The dish returned to the counter, and she spun back around and slid a plate in front of me when I sat down. “Because you needed to sleep, and I care about what you need.”
I grabbed her wrist and twisted her until she was on my lap. “I need to be with you, Faith. Sleep I can go without.”
Tracing her breast where it met her tank top, I pouted until she rubbed the stubble on my cheek to snap me out of it. “You have me, and I won’t let you neglect yourself anymore if I can help it.” Soaked in the sweet tea she set beside my plate, her lips softly squished against mine for a moment. “So, go on and eat. Then we’ll snuggle up some more, and I’ll rub your back or something.”
The back of my fingers whacked her bottom when she rose off my knee. “I guess I’ll take what I can.” She slid into the chair next to me, and I winked at her over the glass at my lips. “For now.”
Cutting into her chicken, she jerked her eyes at it. “Carolyn works quick. She’s already got Jason and me set up with her son’s team tomorrow evening.”
Though I’d be at work until eight most nights, the idea of her doing something without me had me cracking the stress from my neck. Pushing the mashed potatoes to the side of my mouth, I lifted my chin at her. “How many nights a week is that going to be?”
She’d always been more of a picker than an eater, and she spent more of her time wiping away the mess she made off her hands than she did putting food in her mouth. “Not many. They’re already used to playing together. It’s only Jase and me who need to learn the lay of the land, I think.”
Obliterating the chicken leg finally, she used her fork to push the mashed potatoes around her plate instead. “They have one game during the week and a weekend double-header.” She finished swallowing and licked her lips as she reached for her glass. “But it’s only the rest of the month. So, that’s fine.”
I let go of my glass and snapped at her when I remembered I’d just bought her an entire damn house. “By the way, did you order a bed like I asked you to?”
From how she bit her lip and smiled like that when she grabbed her phone from the other side of the table, I knew how excited she was about whatever she was about to show me. “No, but I got it saved for once I close.” Her thumb beat at the screen, and she slid it to me. “What do you think about this one?”
Using my knuckle, I scrolled over the listing. “Is this the price for the whole thing? Mattress too?”
Nodding at it with the biggest smile I ever saw on her before, she hummed at me. “Mmm-hmm. It’s a memory foam jobby with lavender infused into it.” She jerked her eyes open wider. “Check out the old-timey metal headboard. I love it.”
Peeking up at her, I flicked her wrist with the back of my finger. “I’m going to love tying you up to it.”
“Pssh!” Her forehead wrinkled back at me. “Dream on.”
I motioned to the list on her cart with my eyes. “Go on. If you like it so much, hit the buy now button. Commit to something.”
She puffed her cheeks as she picked up her glass. “I can’t. I read you’re not supposed to make big purchases when you’re in the home-buying process, and that slice of heaven is expensive.”
While I pretended to study the other things on her list, I sent it to my phone. “Well, at least buy the bedding. It’s not much.” I pushed the phone back across the table. “You have to make symbolic gestures. Believe it with your whole body. That kind of stuff.”
Twisting her mouth at me, she raised her brow defiantly and clicked on the cheapest thing possible. “Done.” She shook her finger at me. “I’m trusting your voodoo magic to make my dreams come true.”
The sun was turning orange and pink in the sky, and I sighed as I bent down to glance out the kitchen window. “What time did you say you have orientation tomorrow?”
Fighting to stab her fork into a pea, she scrunched her face at it. “Nine to twelve. Then I’ll be in my office, I guess, waiting for one of you to consult me.”
Wiping my mouth with my napkin, I laughed at how ridiculously everything I wished for was coming true simultaneously. “It’s funny. You disappear for twenty years, and now I’ll be tripping over you every damn day.”
Her toe slammed into my ankle. “Do you think you can handle that?”
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but every second I spent with Faith only made me want more. “It’s never been a problem for me before, has it?”
She twisted her mouth at me, taking her eyes to the corner like she had to think about it. “Mmm. No. Not that I recall.”
From the moment I first kissed her under the stars the night I turned sixteen until she cleared my plate and kissed my forehead, that too-sweet-for-her-own-good girl from the poor part of town was all I ever wanted.
So, while she washed the dishes, I took my phone out of my pocket and bought her the bed I knew she’d never splurge on for herself in a hundred years. Besides, I’d be lying in it next to her soon, anyway.