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Her eyes light up, and I vow to make that happen as much as I can. When she smiles like she is right now, her green eyes look like sparkling emeralds.
Knowing that if I don’t climb out of bed, and force us to get moving, we might not at all, I toss back the covers, and do just that. I grab my discarded T-shirt and slip back into it, while she quickly gets dressed as well.
“Come.” I hold my hand out for her and she takes it. I lead her to the living room and grab the gift bag from the corner. “This is for you.”
“You already got me something for my birthday. The sketchpads and art set, that was from all four of you, right?” she asks, making sure that she’s correct that Lachlan, Legend, Maddox, and I all went in to get her a gift.
“Yeah, that was from all of us, but this is just from me. It’s not much, but no way could I not get you your own gift.”
“What is it?” she asks.
“Open it and find out.” I move to sit on the arm of the couch and pull her with me. She’s standing between my legs as she reaches into the gift bag. “Card first,” I tell her.
She nods, removes the card from the bag, and slides her finger beneath the flap. She reads the card, and the brief note I wrote, and grins when she holds up a gift card for the café she talks about that’s just down from their apartment.
“You didn’t have to do that.” She leans in for a kiss.
“I wanted to. There’s five hundred dollars on there, so you should be set for a while.”
“Roman!” she scolds. “That’s too much.”
“Baby girl, if you were going to be here, it would be more than that. You know you don’t pay when you’re with me.” I raise my eyebrows, and she shakes her head, but there’s a small smile tugging at her lips.
“You’re impossible.”
I shrug, because she’s right. When it comes to her and taking care of her, I am impossible, and she hasn’t seen anything yet. When I can take her out, and we don’t have to hide this, my girl’s going to be spoiled.
“Open the rest.”
My heart races as she reaches into the bag and pulls out the throw blanket I bought for our night under the stars, and for her to use here when she’s at my place.
“This is just like the one we used that night under the stars,” she says. She peers around me to see if she can find the exact replica laying over the back of the couch.
She won’t find it.
She’s holding it.
“That’s the same blanket.”
She has a confused look on her face, which I expected.
“Rome, you bought that to keep here. I’ll need it when I come home to visit.” She holds the blanket out for me.
“Then bring it with you.” I take the blanket from her, unfold it, and wrap it around her shoulders. “I’m not going to be there to hold you. I won’t be able to hug you after a bad day, or even a good one. I want you to take this blanket with you, and when you need me, you wrap yourself up just like this and pretend I’m there.”
Tears immediately well in her eyes. “Roman Bailey.” She doesn’t say more, instead she kisses me. It’s soft and sweet, just like her. “This is… incredible.”
“It’s not much, but it’s the best I could come up with.”
She pulls the blanket to her face and inhales. “It smells like you.”
I wasn’t sure if she’d notice. I nod. “Yeah, I might have slept with it since that night. It used to smell like you.”
Her hands move to my face, cupping my cheeks, and the blanket falls to the floor. I don’t bother to reach for it. She has my full attention.
“You are everything I’ve ever wanted. I’ve dreamed of you being mine. I’m going to miss you.” She leans in and kisses me. She eventually pulls back, just enough so that we can make eye contact. “I’ll sleep with you wrapped around me every night.”
“And you’ll call and text. I don’t care when or what time. I’ll do my best to answer. If I can’t, leave a message. If it’s urgent, keep calling and I’ll know that you need me.”
