Page 65 of Spending Forever With You

“Well jokes on him. It’s the first thing that’s going. Won’t no one get the chance to say they saw me busted, not even as a cartoon character.” I stopped her, taking the picture from her hand.

“Uht uht, we’re keeping this one. It’s going to our house. We’re not throwing away this memory. Do you remember how much I paid to get this done? We had to eat corndogs to make this happen that day instead of my Italian sausage with peppers and lemonade shakes I wanted. Shoot, we’re getting my money’s worth. We got about another ten to twenty years left on this bad boy.” I tucked it under my arm.

“Okay, you’re pushing hoarding status just like Jimmy. Because ain’t no way he got this either.” Our first set of photobooth photos laid on the buffet. At this point in the house tour it was feeling like a fuc⁠—

“Damn, we had to be his favorite people because not he made his house a museum of us. Luke, this man better not have our prom corsages in the freezer or some shit.”

I laughed as we moved through the room, taking everything in. I had to admit, we were laid out everywhere in the house. Of course others decorated his walls just the same, but not like us. The way turning every corner had a memory of us etched into the walls had me shaking my head once I noticed our memories became separated lives with different stories. He had me over the years in my different team jerseys and some of Hollis’s big stories hung up on the wall.

“Naw, but don’t be surprised if⁠—"

I was cut off again as she opened the freezer to find a mini cake that said happy anniversary.

She gasped, covering her mouth as I watched the tears well in her glossy browns. Yeah, this was Jimmy’s doing, but also Kay’s. She had been the last person in here.

“We never got to celebrate our two-year anniversary. I asked him to keep it here, but we never made it back, Luke.” She choked on her words. I took out the cake, looking at the custom toppers I’d saved up to have made for her. I didn’t even know she used them to decorate the anniversary cake.

We didn’t have a lot back then, but I wanted her wedding day to be special. Our cake was a sheet cake with a side mini cake that the bakery threw in as a gift, just like the one she had in her hand now.

“Should we eat it now?” I asked.

“Hell no, I mean unless you want food poisoning the whole time you’re on break. Too much time has passed, plus it’s not like we’re celebrating an anniversary. C’mon, let’s keep going.” She grabbed the cake, throwing it away before pressing on.

“We could though,” I said as I caught up with her as we headed upstairs.

“Do what?”

“Celebrate our missed anniversaries? I mean, we need more dates in the books, and since we’re friends now, they could be fun or something. I mean, if you want to, no pressure,” I said, downplaying my excitement about the whole idea of spoiling my wife the way I always wanted to.

We reached the top of the stairs with Hollis stalling on the last one, placing her ass in my face. I wasn’t complaining at all. I leaned in, about to bite it until she turned, glancing down at me.

“I’ma ignore you being a perv for a second because I can work with that, just pretend though. I mean ’cause, I’m not buying you shit. But since you have been slacking and lacking on the dates, I think your idea will be cute.”

“Girl, who’s slacking and lacking? We just did an amusement park before my mini tour of games. Can I get some grace for working, please baby?”

She tapped her chin, then shrugged, turning to finish walking down the hallway.

“I guess you’re right. You’re still never home though, so we’ll see how this goes.”

“Never home?” I asked, slapping her ass as we hit the first room. “Holls, you do know I would rather be here with you, showing you off on a million dates, right?”

“I know, Luke.” Her tone was dry and unconvincing as she opened the door to my old bedroom.

“Then say that shit with meaning, please and thank you. Damn, you really be making a nigga chest hurt bad as hell.”

She huffed as she rolled her eyes.

“That’s not my intention. Now can we move on?” I wasn’t satisfied with her answer so I grabbed her hand, pulled her back into me, and wrapped her in my arms, resting them on her lower back. Hollis automatically locked hers around my neck as I stared deep into her pretty brown eyes.

“Naw, I’m serious, baby. Do you not know you’re my number one priority in this entire world and my sole purpose in life is to make you happy. You gotta understand that everything I do…did was to ensure I could provide the best life you deserve. I can’t apologize for my career, but I will say this time ’round I’ma do better when it comes to treating you to the finer things.”

“Luke, I don’t want the finer things. I just want more time with you. And I would never make you apologize for your dream nor choose me over it. You love baseball, I know that. I’m not tripping over that.”

“Holls, no, you’re my dream. That’s what you’re not getting. Baby, I’ve been stuck in a never-ending nightmare since you left me. I need you to understand it doesn’t come over you. Never has, never will. I just thought once I made it big I would be the man worthy of you carrying my last name.”

“I took it before you made it pro, Luke, you were worthy. This made me love you and want to be with you, not the money you were determined to make.” She tapped my chest, stepping away from me, going over to the window nook where we spent a lot of our time.

“Then why did you leave me? My only purpose in life was to love you forever.”