Chapter 18 #2
Unfortunately for my libido, I had included staying single for that time. Somehow, even though Roscoe was the sexiest man I’d ever met and all I wanted to do was rub every part of me all over him, I had managed to resist my baser urges.
Oh, but my baser urges were putting up one helluva fight, especially right now when the end was in sight.
While Ranger and Tati argued with Holly over the answer to the trivia question Roscoe had asked them, I looked over and watched the man I loved smiling at the squabble in front of him.
He must have sensed my eyes on him because he turned his head and winked at me before his sister got his attention again.
As much as I hated that I had to hold him at arm’s length for all these months, I was glad that I’d followed through.
I’d been in long-term relationships before my incarceration, a few of them lasting for years, and I realized now that I hadn’t known those men nearly as well as I already knew Roscoe.
Honestly, I’d never been as close to anyone, man or woman, as I was to Roscoe Hamilton.
He knew my ins and outs, my fears and my hopes, and all the things that made me who I was. Yet, he was still eager to be with me as much as possible - he even got grumpy when we had to go for a day or two without seeing each other.
That had already happened twice this week.
As I sipped the horchata I’d made for tonight, the sprinkle of nutmeg I had added to Mom’s recipe burst on my tongue, and I thought about our conversation at the store a few days ago.
I smiled to myself, realizing it shouldn't really be categorized as a “conversation” since it was really one-sided. I’d flustered Roscoe so badly that he hadn’t been able to string words together and reply with anything other than grunts and gasps.
It was awesome - especially considering how often he’d done that to me. It started that day in the grocery store, but there had been so many times since then where he’d lean close to whisper in my ear or stand behind me to prop his chin on my shoulder. I couldn’t even count them all.
He knew what he was doing every single time, just like I knew what I was doing that day when I mentioned nutmeg and girthy cinnamon sticks.
As if he knew I was thinking about him, Roscoe rested his hand on my knee under the table and gave it a squeeze.
I rested my hand on top of his and rubbed my thumb over his knuckles as we listened to Noble and Tati insult Holly.
Damien filmed the argument so he could show Marcus and Reagan how funny the kids’ antics were.
When Cruz chimed in to put in his opinion, all three turned on him.
Roscoe started laughing when Cruz did a perfect impression of Holly, followed by another of Reagan telling all of them to shut up.
I leaned closer to Roscoe, whispering in his ear, “I love your family.”
Roscoe turned his head so that our lips were almost touching. “I love you,” he whispered back.
It was something I’d been considering and trying to talk myself out of, because what was one more day? But then again, a new day really started at midnight, didn’t it?
“Do you know what time it is?”
Roscoe glanced over my shoulder at the clock on the stove. “It’s almost midnight.”
“Do you know what that means?”
“You need to go home because you’re going to be busy at the bakery tomorrow?”
“It means that in just a few minutes, my year will be up. I’ll have completed my goal and stayed the course.”
“You’re right.”
“It also means that my vow to stay single and celibate for that first year will be over.”
“At midnight?”
“We could wait until around ten o’clock in the morning if we want to be really official, but . . .”
“Midnight is the start of a new day.”
“It is.”
Roscoe snapped his head around and looked at his siblings. “We’re leaving. Y’all don’t kill each other. Damien, record it if they do so I can watch it on a loop.”
“You’re leaving already? But we’re in the middle of the game!” Holly argued.
Roscoe swept his hands over the board in the middle of the table. “Oops. Now we’ve gotta go!”
Holly and Tati, the two most bloodthirsty competitors tonight, gasped in outrage before they started yelling at him for ruining the game.
Roscoe didn’t seem to care one bit. Still holding my hand, he stood up abruptly, nearly jerking me out of my chair.
I was still recovering when Damien started laughing, and, as I caught my balance, I saw that he was recording us.
Holly suddenly understood. She started clapping before she said, “As gross as the thought is, I know what’s going on!”
“Shut your face. Goodbye, I love you, and all that shit,” Roscoe said as he hurried us toward the door.
“You kids have fun!” Damien yelled after us.
Since we hadn’t kept the “just friends” rule a secret, Noble, Cruz, Ranger, and Tati quickly figured out that our time was up.
Over everyone’s laughter, Noble announced in a perfect sportcaster’s voice, “He’s nearing the endzone, ladies and gentlemen!
Roscoe Hamilton has made it to the finish line.
He’s ready to set the friend zone on fire! ”
I pulled the front door closed behind me a split second before Roscoe turned and swept me into his arms. I could still hear Roscoe’s siblings’ excited voices through the wood, so when his lips met mine in our first official, out-of-this-world, toe-curling kiss, it felt like they were cheering us on.
It was a good feeling - but not nearly as good as finally being able to pour everything I was feeling into the man I loved.
I pulled away to catch my breath and whispered, “Put me down, or I’m going to attack you right here on Holly and Damien’s porch.”
“Not a chance, my love. I’m taking you home so I can love you like I’ve been dreaming about for months.”