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Hannah launches into an explanation of the recipe, but midway through, our phones simultaneously buzz on her kitchen table. When I glance at my screen, I’ve received a text from Kat in the group chat she created for herself, me, Hannah, and Josh while the girls were enjoying their week together in Vegas.
Kat: Hello there, dahlings! Joshua surprised me by flying into Seattle two days early tonight! Woohoo! We’re doing karaoke with Jonas and Sarah tomorrow night. If Henn is still in town, please join us! If not, Hannah, come on your own or bring a friend or your sister!
I look up from my phone to find Hannah jutting out her lower lip with disappointment. Clearly, she’s bummed I’m leaving Seattle tomorrow and therefore won’t be able to make tomorrow’s karaoke night a triple date.
“I could change my flight and stay a few more days,” I suggest tentatively.
Hannah’s face lights up. “Really? But I thought you said you have some work to do in LA.”
“I do, but I can push it back. My only hard deadline is making it to Fresno by Thursday afternoon for my mom’s birthday. But I could fly straight from Seattle to Fresno to make it there on time.”
“Yes!” With that, Hannah launches herself out of her chair, sits on my lap, and begins peppering my lips with a rapid-fire stream of happy kisses. As she kisses me, I wrap my arms around her and laugh, feeling overcome with the love I feel for this amazing woman. Yep, it’s love. I know it for sure now. In fact, I’ve been so certain of my love for Hannah for the past few days, it’s taken superhuman strength not to tell her so. Luckily, I’m not so far gone that I don’t realize it’s way too soon to say it out loud. What weirdo says “I love you” after only one full week together? But knowing I shouldn’t say it doesn’t mean I’m not feeling it. Or that I’m not dying to saying.
Hannah nuzzles her nose against mine. “No more wining and dining me for the rest of your stay, though. Thank you for all the amazing surprises and dates you’ve showered me with this week, but for the rest of your time here, we’re going to do everything on the cheap. We’ll have homecooked meals or cheap takeout and movie nights at home. You’ve already spent way too much money on me.”
She’s wrong about that. There’s no such thing as spending too much money on Hannah Milliken, as long as she’s enjoying herself. In all honesty, I can’t think of anything I’d rather spend money on than bringing a smile to Hannah’s face. Plus, the truth of the matter is, I haven’t spent nearly as much as she thinks, since half the fun stuff I’ve arranged for her has been accomplished through my superpowers, rather than on the open market.
Granted, I did pay real money on a few fairly expensive meals this week. The bill at the first restaurant with great salmon wouldn’t have been all that expensive, except that we ordered a hefty number of appetizers and wine. No complaints though. It was awesome.
I also legitimately rented out the crepes place that first night and also took Hannah, her mom, and sister out to an extremely shi-shi place to celebrate after Maddy’s on-campus film festival. Oh, and the Italian restaurant before the comedy show was a pretty fancy place, too.
But I also did plenty of stuff on the cheap. One night, I picked Hannah up from work a bit early and whisked her off to Kerry Park, where we enjoyed an elaborate but not all that expensive sunset picnic I’d arranged. Another night, we ordered takeout and watched Grease together, since I’d been wanting to get the full speak-and-singalong experience Hannah told me about in Vegas. Another night, we ordered pizza and binge-watched Money Heist, a kick-ass series about a band of bank robbers and their hostages in Spain. Also, unbeknownst to Hannah, the video arcade I’d supposedly rented out one of the nights and the tickets to the comedy show didn’t cost me a dime, thanks to my superpowers.
“Don’t stress for a second about me spending money on you,” I say. “I can’t think of something I’d rather spend it on than making you smile.”
Hannah blushes. “But simply being with you makes me smile. See?” She flashes me a big, goofy grin that’s so over the top, it makes me laugh and kiss her.
As we’re kissing, our phones simultaneously buzz again. This time, it’s Josh replying in the group chat.
Josh: Henn, if you’re not still in Seattle, then get your ass here on a flight ASAP. Sarah says she’s going to get Jonas onstage to sing tomorrow night. I don’t know if she’ll succeed, but if anyone can do it, it’s Sarah Fucking Cruz.
