AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I lean over and kiss him, slow, gentle, taking my time before backing away to see his lips curved up in that smile I love.
We stay there a while longer before the arriving chill forces us back to the room. Since Elijah tells me we're going to somewhere he reserved for dinner, we change into more appropriate outfits. I put on gray pants and a white shirt while Elijah drags black pants up his legs. He brings his dark green shirt over his head and then stills as he looks me over.
"How do you always manage to look so gorgeous?" he asks.
"I gotta make sure people don't see us together and wonder how the hell I landed someone like you."
He laughs. "Absolutely no one is wondering that."
"Well, yeah because I always look so gorgeous."
"No, because you're you." He looks down at his phone. "Come on. We gotta go or we're gonna be late for the boat."
When we get to the lake, a boat is already waiting for us in the water. I get a little nervous as it sways from side to side when I step into it, but Elijah's hand is there to steady me.
"I won't let you fall."
Too late.
He gets into the boat, and we both take an oar to begin rowing. We make a real mess of it at first, rowing in opposite directions before we finally figure it out, or really Elijah takes over both oars. The lake is beautiful, waters still, different flowers and plants along it, and of course the man sitting across from me.
"I can never thank you enough for this weekend," I say.
"Nor do you need to. Seeing you smile so much is all I need."
I give him another one of those right in that moment. They're so easy around and for him.
"So, Ben's family is having a dinner for his birthday in a few weeks. I'm inviting you, but I one hundred percent understand if you'd rather not go."
"I'll go," I answer immediately.
Knowing how he feels when he's around them, if I can go and alleviate that even a little, I want to do that for him.
"You're sure?" I nod and he smiles. "Thank you. My grandma's going too. Which should be...interesting."
"That didn't sound ominous at all." I chuckle.
"My grandma and Regina, Ben's mom, just have similar personalities in the way that they are both very set in their ways. They've butted heads a time or two over having things done their way. Let's just say me and Ben used to have joint parties growing up because our birthdays are so close, but that ended when my grandma and Regina couldn't agree on what to do, or the decorations, anything really. They tried one last time, to throw us a joint graduation party, and uh, let's say Ben just ended up having his own, and I went out on the town with my grandma instead. It probably kept Regina and my grandma from coming to blows."
"I can't even imagine your grandma that way. She's so nice. But wait... If your birthdays are close, then that must mean your birthday is coming up too."
"Yeah." He murmurs, looking uncomfortable.
"What? You really turning forty or something, and don't want me to find out?"
He chuckles and comes back out of his shell. I love that I can so easily make him do that.
"I guess I just got used to my birthday just kind of not being celebrated once Ben started having his own parties. Basically all the people who came to our joined parties were people who knew, him, not me. So I told my grandma not to bother with having one for me anymore. So, I would go to Ben's party, or as he got older, dinner or whatever with his family, and then just do something with Ben and my grandma for my own birthday. No fuss, you know?"
Yeah, I know. Once again, the spotlight was all on Ben and no one really remembered that Elijah was standing in the dark. Except his grandma. I'm sure she celebrated Elijah's birthday much more than Ben's.
"Plus with Ben not being around this year, my birthday just kinda feels weird without him," he adds.
I nod. "I get that, but, and maybe I'm biased, but I think the day you were born definitely deserves recognition."
"You and my grandma would definitely agree on that."
And with that, a plan begins to form that makes me smile.
