AllFreeNovel
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“Do you think you’re going to be able to do it? If not, you can go in the back door, and I’ll go in the front. Your mom’s probably sitting in your living room, and I can let her know that you are exhausted and went straight to bed.”
That last word cut off abruptly, and Pam got the feeling that they both thought of the same thing at the same time.
“They’re going to expect us to be sharing a room.” Mark’s words were low and soft, and his hand stopped moving on her arm.
They’d just talked about how comfortable they were with each other, but she didn’t feel comfortable at that moment. She felt awkward and nervous and anxious and like she’d like to jump out of the carriage and stay on the beach all night.
“You’re right. I...can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”
“Well.” He ran his free hand through his hair, taking several deep breaths, like the idea had upset him, and if he were on his feet, he would be pacing.
“I’m sorry,” was all she could think of to say.
“It’s not your fault. You don’t need to apologize.” He said those words quickly, with more force than distinctly necessary, but she appreciated the fact that he wanted to make sure that she knew nothing was her fault.
“It was my idea.”
“I agreed. I agreed willingly. And I’ve actually been kind of enjoying the thought of being married to you. It’s weird, I know, but it’s true.”
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, she thought about the night, and how they’d been together, and they hadn’t taken a single picture. It had nothing to do with the problem they were facing, but she shifted so she could pull her phone out of her pocket.
“Do you mind if we take a selfie?”
He laughed. “Really? We just realized we have a major problem, and now you want to take a selfie? Tell me you’re not posting it somewhere on social media.”
“I just want to have it to remember. I mean, we didn’t even take one for our wedding. And here we have been married a full twenty-four hours and hadn’t even thought to take a picture.”
“Of course we need selfies.” He shifted, pulling his own phone out of his pocket.
They didn’t turn out the best, since it was too dark to take great pictures, but at least they had something to mark the occasion, she thought as they both snapped several pictures.
“You know, all the times we spent together, I don’t have too many pictures of you. Come to think of it.”
He grunted. “I have four good pictures of you, and every once in a while, I get them out and look to see how you’ve changed over the years.”
“You do? I had no idea.”
“Yeah. Not something I’d tell you. It’s a little bit weird, something that maybe best friends don’t always do, but... Sometimes I just think about how you’ve grown and matured. You change physically as well, but the changes to me represent the wisdom and experience that you’ve gained. I... I cherish those pictures.”
Somehow that made her throat tight. The idea that he actually had pictures of her that he knew about, that he looked at, that he thought about.
She wouldn’t have thought that would make her heart flutter the way it had.
“But we still haven’t solved the bigger problem.”
“The fact that my mom is going to be waiting up for us and possibly your sister, and we aren’t sharing a bedroom.”
“Yeah. That problem.”
“Well, we’ll just have to...pretend.”
“Yeah. I don’t like that, but I think it’s the best. I guess I take less clothes than you do, so do you want me to go to your bedroom?”
“I think it would make more sense if I went to yours.” He was the one who owned the duplex, and although the sides were evenly divided, she just thought it made more sense for her to do the moving and not him.
“I guess I like that idea better, but I hated to suggest it, because it seems more considerate to say that you could stay in your room if you wanted to.”
“I appreciate that consideration, but yeah. I agree with you. I’d rather go to your room. I just...like that idea better.” She laughed a little. “It makes it sound like I’m hiding something in mine. I promise I’m not.”
