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I close the silverware drawer, confused. “But you said when you proposed that I could stay here if I wanted. That we could be based here if I wanted. And now you’re changing your mind?”
He sets down the glass and the towel, focusing all his attention on me. “No, I’m not changing my mind. If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do. But what I want is to bring you back home with me tomorrow. I want you in my bed every night I’m home.”
“This is about sex?”
He gives me an annoyed look. “I want you in my life, Stel. We’re getting married.”
“Right, but not next week or anything.”
“I’ll take you however I can get you. If staying here is important to you, then stay. But you can sell the house right now if you want. It doesn’t matter how much you get for it because we’re set financially. And Denver would be a great location to start your business.”
My heart races with worry. “You want me to sell my mom’s house?”
Ben takes my hand. “If you want to. If you don’t want to, that’s fine, too.”
“Everything’s happening so fast,” I murmur. “We just got engaged yesterday. Before then, I wasn’t sure I’d hear from you again.”
He lowers his brows, looking hurt. “You think I’d just forget about you?”
“No, not forget, just”
“I wanted you to have some time, that’s all. I never stopped loving you or wanting you.”
I put a palm on his chest. “I shouldn’t have said it like that. I’m sorry.”
“We’re together. That’s all that really matters. We’ll figure the rest out as we go.” He glances at his watch. “I always meet up with some guys I played hockey with in high school for a beer on Christmas Day after dinner. Do you mind?”
“Not at all.”
We spent the day with Ben’s family. Claire is taking a shower now, and then we plan to get comfy on the couch and get back to Mean Girls.
I take the dish towel from his hands. “Go see your friends. The dishes aren’t going anywhere.”
He bends down to kiss me. “I won’t be more than a couple of hours. I want to spend as much time as I can with you since I’m flying out early in the morning.”
I sigh softly. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”
“Me too. Home game tomorrow night, though.”
He puts on his coat and leaves, Claire walking to the kitchen wrapped in a thick, fluffy robe right after.
“Are you guys ready to watch the movie?”
“It’s just going to be you and me. Ben’s meeting up with some high school friends for drinks.”
“Mmhm. And are any of these high school friends hot and single?”
I smile. “No idea. I didn’t know most of the guys he played hockey with, and I don’t know what’s going on with any of them now.”
“Fine. But if you guys are going to be swinging from the chandelier again tonight, it would be nice to have a clit whisperer of my own.”
“You want me to text Ben and tell him to bring the single guys back with him?”
She considers. “Can he send photos of them first?”
“Are you serious?”
“Hey, a bitch is horny. It doesn’t help that I have to listen to you get railed into next week by your hot professional athlete fiancé.”
I grin, giddy. “He is really hot, isn’t he?”
“I don’t know how you’ll keep yourself from jumping him eight times a day when you guys live together.” She opens a bag of microwave popcorn, puts it in the microwave, and starts it. “Speaking of, do you need help packing?”
“Funny you should ask. Ben and I were just talking about that before he left. I can’t just go to Denver with him tomorrow. I have a house here and I’m starting a business.”
She gives me a puzzled look. “Right, but...the house will be fine whether you’re living in it or not. And people in Denver buy lamps, too.”
“I can’t just drop everything and move to Denver. I need time.”
“For what?”
I glare at her. “To figure out the house. To fulfill the commitment I’ve made to Steve for lamps.”
She shrugs. “Okay.”
“Ben’s on the road a lot for hockey anyway. I’d be by myself in his house half the time.”
“Yeah, but the rest of the time you’d be with him. Your clit whisperer.”
I can’t deny the idea appeals to me. Being with Ben again is like the sun coming out from behind the clouds after a storm. And with my mom gone, there’s nothing keeping me here anymore.
This is where I feel closest to her, though. In the house I grew up in. I still use her dishes and tend to her flowers and house plants.
“I don’t want to sell this house,” I say, emotions welling in my throat.
“You don’t have to, honey.” Claire puts an arm around me.
