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It wasn’t hard to get the reservation on a random Thursday evening, however we don’t want to miss our table or be late since the restaurant is still a small yet desirable one. The little hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant is one of the most romantic settings within one hour of us, at least according to the online search I did. Thankfully, we all love Greek food and the pictures made it look amazing as did the reviews.
Lay deserves so many more romantic outings than we’ve given her in our relationship. There’s been the odd outing with one of us, but this will be the first real romantic evening involving all of us together.
After jumping into my truck, I send off a quick text to let everyone know I’m on my way home. Lay sends adrive safetext with a couple hearts and I can’t stop the smile that overtakes my face.
For never knowing love in my life before Alayna, I sure am addicted to it now that I have her. She walked into my life, punched the shit out of me, flipped my world upside down, and handed me a life I never knew I wanted. With her, I want the life that I always thought wasn’t meant for me. One filled with love, laughter, family, and a true home.
This chapter of my life is the best one yet and I’m going to make sure it stays that way. I wasn’t joking around this morning about taking care of Kevin myself if it comes to that. No one is going to hurt my family. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
“This place is stunning,” Lay murmurs when we step inside the restaurant. Her long black hair is curled and hanging down her back, the soft curls shining in the low, romantic lighting.
From the moment she stepped into the living room tonight in her form fitting burgundy dress and black heels, I’ve been struggling to keep my eyes off of her. Lay is absolutely gorgeous in anything she wears, but there’s something about her confidence when she gets dressed up that really draws you in, like a moth to the hottest flame.
“It really is,” Rhys agrees, though his eyes, much like mine and Riggs, are focused on our girl. “The food smells incredible, too.”
“It’s supposed to be one of those hidden gem restaurants that is to die for, but not well known because of its size,” I explain, stepping up to the podium to wait for the host. “The reviews were all raving about the food and ambience, or whatever.”
Lay smiles at me, my heart skipping a beat at the sight. Nothing beats making my woman happy. It’s gives me fucking butterflies every damn time.
“Thank you for picking it. I can’t wait to try the food,” Lay says appreciatively.
Opening my mouth to respond, I get interrupted before I can make a sound.
“Hello and welcome to Ambrosia Taverna,” a young man dressed in all black says, stepping up to the podium. “Do you have a reservation or is this a walk in?”
“A reservation under Vernon for four.”
“Wonderful,” he says, looking down at the book on the podium. “I see your reservation here, Mr. Vernon. Let me just check that your table is ready to go. One moment.”
Nodding in response, I turn to look back at Lay and the other two. My smile comes back full force when I see the casual affection between them all. When Lay first came to see us she couldn’t even stand to be touched. Looking at how she is with us now, you would never know.
Riggs kisses Lay’s temple, his eyes closed and his face calm. Rhys stands on her other side and holds her hand, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. Lay looks at me softly, her attention somehow simultaneously on all of us. I don’t know how she does it, showing all of us that we’re all equally important to her, when I barely feel like I’m showing her, my only girlfriend, that she means the world to me.
The host approaches again and grabs a set of four menus. “Your table is ready. If you would all follow me, I’ll show you to your seats.”
We follow after the host, weaving through a small dining room to a curved booth style table tucked towards the back. There’s a set of three candles lit in the middle of the table and a bottle of sparkling apple cider with four glasses set off to the side as per my request.
“Your waiter will be along shortly.”
The host places the menus on the table and walks away. I slide into the booth first on the left while Rhys and Riggs slide in on the right. Lay climbs in beside me, giving her lots of room to be able to easily get in and out of the booth for the bathroom. Growing two humans inside of her doesn’t leave much room for the bladder to grow as full. At least, that’s what Lay tells us. Seeing as I have very different equipment, I can’t verify the facts myself.
The waiter comes by to introduce himself a little while later. He cracks open the bottle of sparkling cider and pours four equal glasses before leaving to give us time with the menus. He comes back after a few minutes with four glasses of water and a basket of pita bread and olive oil for dipping. The service and atmosphere alone is enough to have me already enjoying myself. If the food is anywhere near as good, I’ll be one extremely happy man.
It’s not long from the time we order our food until it comes out hot and tasting heavenly. The meal is some of the best food I’ve ever eaten in my life. The conversation lulls a lot as we eat, all of us far too preoccupied with the food in front of us.
We order a small platter of dessert that we share and by the time we finish eating, we’re all ready to roll ourselves out the door. Normally I wouldn’t eat that much food, but none of us wanted to leave even a crumb behind. Add in the fact that it felt good to finally laugh and celebrate with our little family tonight after so much bad shit recently, so none of us wanted it to end.
I couldn’t have picked a better setting for the evening. This place definitely lived up to all the raving reviews and then some.
“Before we go, Lay,” Rhys speaks up, pulling the box out of his pocket. “We wanted to give you a little something from all of us. I know I speak for all of us when I say that you are the strongest person we know and we love you more than anything.”
Lay takes the box, her hand shaking slightly. She looks between all of us with her pretty grey eyes filling with awe. Opening the box, she gasps at the sight of the necklace, sparkling in the candlelight.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispers, taking it out of the box and unclasping it. I take it from her hands and help fasten it around her neck. The crescent moon lays flat against her sternum, the curve of the moon falling just above the start of her cleavage.
“It compliments your beauty perfectly,” Rhys murmurs. “Fitting, considering it’s the same way you complement us.”
Riggs clears his throat slightly and smiles at Lay in a way that is only for her. “You’re the center of our little universe. You may not have brought us together as friends, but you made us into a true family. When you walked into our lives, you changed everything for the better. I can’t wait to see what else the future has in store for us.”
