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“Do you mind if we stay in tonight? Order room service, maybe a movie? I’m exhausted”
“I understand, baby. That sounds perfect to me,” I say taking her hand in mine. We walk back to hotel stopping in two stores on the way.
It’s after seven when we wander back into the hotel and directly to our room. She orders room service while I take a shower. I put the ring box in my bag and pull on some shorts. She’s in her cute penguin pajamas, drinking a glass of wine when I come back out. God, I love this woman so much it hurts.
“I poured you some,” she says, handing me a glass of red wine. I take it and lean down to kiss her. I’m about to take it further when there’s a knock at the door. I set my glass down on the table and open the door. The room service waiter wheels in a cart with steaks and baked potatoes on it. Perfect.
I tip the waiter and we sit down to eat. She sits beside me so that are thighs are touching underneath the table.
“Have you decided what you’re going to do?” I ask, needing to know where her head is at.
“Go home, I guess. There’s a man in Chicago. He’s the last on the list that I’m going to do. I can’t keep this up indefinitely. Not to mention, you need to get back to work.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. I did some construction gigs while I was high school, and I fixed whatever needed to be when I was in the Army. I think I’ll start a construction company.”
“You’ll be good at that. I guess I’ll go back to school and try to figure out what it is that I want to do with my life.”
“That’s good. Education is important.”
She smiles at me, and I reach over and wrap my hand over hers. She twines our fingers together and squeezes. Leaning over, I kiss her. For the rest of the meal, we talk about the fun things we did on the trip, a much safer topic than this ending.
After dinner, I take her to bed and make love to her over and over, telling her with my body how much I love her. I need to tell her, but I don’t want to make her decisions any harder. I have to get home for Natalie. My life is in Houston and her’s is in Chicago.
I’ll do anything to make this work though.
She’s my endgame. She’s my everything.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
JANUARY
ONE WEEK LATER
Well, here I am full circle, back in Chicago, only this time I have Oliver with me. We have been back here for a total of four days. I didn’t tell my dad I was here at first because he would expect me to come home and I wasn't ready for that mostly due to Oliver. No way I was going to be having sex in my parents’ house and I can’t go without it.
So, we checked into the Embassy Suites downtown Chicago on the first night here and I showed him the Magnificent Mile. We went for a tour of Navy pier and went on a Lake Michigan Cruise on day three.
On day four we met with Kyle Jansen. He was a solid guy. Turns out he is the right age and enlisted on the right day, but he never donated. He and Oliver had a little more in common because it seems they served in some of the same places at the same time for different companies. I sat back and watched their conversation, content to listen to Oliver’s voice and watch how animated he is when he talks about his time in the military.
Once that was over and we got back to the hotel, we both sort of looked at one another and realized we needed to regroup. “So, what do you want to do?” he asks me, rubbing my hand.
“Well, I mean we sort of always knew this was the end of the road, right? Natalie leaves camp in a few days and you have to go back.” He nods in agreement but doesn’t say anything. I get it. I don’t want to be the voice of reason right now either.
“I’m sorry you didn’t find what you were looking for, baby.”
“Thank you. It was a long shot anyway. Besides, I might just take the two weeks during the winter break and continue searching.” Shrugging my shoulders, I run that idea in my head and decide I like it.
“You mean we will.” I look at him with hope in my eyes. “Hey, this trip may be over right now, but we are not over, hazel eyes. I just found you. I am not going to lose you now.” I silently cry and nod my head. “Look, we have a few more days. Let’s just try to have some fun.”
We went to the Shedd Aquarium which is my favorite place and then he wanted to go to the History Museum. Now, we are at my parents’ house. “Are you sure about this?” I ask him, hoping he changes his mind about coming with me to see my dad.
“I am. I would like to meet the man who helped raise such a remarkable young woman.” Trying to smile, I take a deep breath and ring the bell. I have a key, but it feels wrong to just walk in when I have a guest.
I see my dad’s face through the door, and I know from this angle he can’t see Oliver. He smiles while opening it. “Sweetheart, why in the world did you…” I know the moment he sees Oliver. His smile falters and he stops talking.
“Hi dad. I didn’t want to use my key and I have someone with me,” I babble on.
“Yes, I can see that. Well, come in.” He steps back and opens the door. We step inside and once the door is closed turns towards us. It is not lost on me that Oliver’s hand has not left my side, anchoring me to him, giving me strength, but also in some weird way I think sending a message to my father.
