Juniper elbowed her in the ribs. “Anyway,” she sighed elaborately, “time to eat?” She caught herself and looked right at Rowan and pointed her finger into her chest. “Stop, before you even start.”
“It didn’t even need to be said.” Rowan smirked.
“Gross. Happy for you, but gross. Let’s get out of here.”
They exited the gym and walked side by side down the sidewalk. Manny regaled Juniper with different stories of his and Rowan’s escapades in the city, and Juniper drank in everything she never knew about the woman she loved.
Manny turned toward them as they stopped at a crosswalk. “So I was thinking ramen? Yeah?”
“Ramen?” Juniper’s expression was equally disbelieving and shocked.
Manny attempted to level with her. “This is not 10 cent dollar store ramen, Junie. This is actual ramen. It’s an art form in Japan with actual ramen chefs dedicated to making just ramen.”
They crossed the sidewalk and stopped at the restaurant door to look at the menu posted on the window beside it. Juniper scanned it, and although the ingredients looked delicious, her eyes widened. “For $21?”
Manny chuckled. “I know, I know. Just trust us.”
After being seated and giving their drink orders, Manny excused himself to use the bathroom.
Juniper took the private moment to lean into Rowan and whisper, “Maybe, you order for me?”
Rowan looked at her with confusion until realization flashed in her eyes. “Of course. Do you want me to order two different kinds so we can try both?”
Juniper nodded and Rowan planted a sweet kiss on her cheek. She wrapped her arm around the back of Juniper’s chair, and Juniper settled in more.
“Anything you like or don’t like?” Rowan asked.
“Nope, I’ll try anything once.”
“My girl.”
Juniper wasn’t sure she’d ever get over the thrill of hearing Rowan say ‘she’ll have’ and order for her. Not normally one to ask someone to help her out, or even accept it when it was offered, she relished in that little moment when it was Rowan doing it for her. After even more stories from Manny, they received their food and dug in.
“Fuck, that’s good,” she looked at Rowan as she dabbed some broth from the corner of her mouth.
Rowan laughed, adding more spicy chili oil to the other bowl. “Right?”
“It’s… incredible.” Juniper shifted closer to Rowan, and she took a bite of the spicy one. “Wow. Please tell me there’s something like this near us.”
Rowan sighed, “Nah. I looked. But – we could always visit whenever you want.”
“Or you could just move heeere,” Manny lilted in a sing-song voice, then slurped a mouthful of ramen.
Juniper had never really thought about that before. She’d been so caught up with trusting whether Rowan would stay that she hadn’t considered if they would both want to move somewhere else, together. Would her life allow something like that though?
“I don’t think so.” Rowan’s answer interrupted her thoughts. “Junie’s program is really successful. I don’t think she can run the whole program from several states away.” She squeezed Juniper’s thigh.
Oh.
Juniper tried to conceal her frown. That made sense, but was that the full story? Was that what she wanted to be her full story?
Manny looked up expectantly. “So, are you excited for the conference? Are you going to be on your best or worst behavior?”
Rowan shook her head and chuckled. “I guess that depends.”
Juniper looked between them both in confusion. “What does that mean?”
Manny set his sake cup down. “You know how conferences exist in an alternate universe. Nothing matters.”
