“Hey, we really need to start thinking about what to do with the stuff in my apartment. I’ve got a little over a month to try to figure out if I’m torching the place, moving some of the stuff in here or just letting the landlord deal with it.”

Over the two months that had elapsed since Hannah had moved in, she’d made a few trips back to pick up more clothes and essentials, but everything else in the apartment probably had an inch of dust on it. It was hard to believe she’d been living with Curtis for all that time. It felt like no time had passed because of how easy the cohabitating was.

After they’d found out she wasn’t pregnant, a fact that was well and truly confirmed when she got her period, they’d just settled into a pattern of playing house. He never asked, or even hinted, he wanted her to leave, and she didn’t want to.

Their relationship was strong as far as she could tell. Sex had returned, with condoms used every time. They’d done so much reading about getting pregnant after the shots that Hannah had decided not to go back on them.

She wished she would’ve read into them more than knowing they weren’t a pill she had to take every day. Nina had recommended going on the shot, so Hannah had blindly followed based on the information her friend passed along. There were little things like that Hannah was learning she should’ve considered a bit longer before saying yes.

They weren’t actively talking about having kids, but Curtis slyly threw out baby name ideas and sometimes pointed out kids when they were at a restaurant so he could say things like “See that kid over there. Our little girl will look exactly like that but with your red hair.”

It was impossible not to love the guy. It felt sort of like a romantic comedy come to life, where Hannah somehow got to be the star. It was surreal, a dream she really didn’t want to wake up from.

Curtis turned the page of the magazine they were attempting to read together. They were curled up on the tan couch in the living room, a familiar position for the pair. Hannah had already finished reading about some hockey superstar coming up in the ranks. It was hard not to compare the kid to Curtis. There were so many differences, like the fact the kid was picked first in the draft, but Hannah noticed the same work ethic in a few of the quotes.

He wasn’t on Curtis’ team, but there was talk of trades all the time. Hannah feared those talks. He hadn’t mentioned anything to her, but living the life of an athlete’s girlfriend wasn’t as easy as it looked.

There were the trade talks – literally a guy could be dressed for a game in ten minutes and be told he was moving across the country – and injuries were always a worry. Curtis had only been in one other fight, but every time he was slammed into the boards or tripped or slashed or just generally roughed up, Hannah held her breath until she saw him skate away with no sign of pain.

After each game, Hannah studied his body for new cuts and bruises. She made a habit of kissing everything she found to hopefully make it feel better. Curtis laughed at her and promised they didn’t hurt, but she did it anyway. He’d taught her about sports superstitions and some of the things the guys on the team did. Kissing away his battle scars was hers.

She’d teased Curtis plenty of times that he was going to make her go gray by the time she was thirty. If she was truthful, she wouldn’t even make it to twenty-nine. She’d been a worrier before and watching him play didn’t soothe any of her anxieties.

“You know I’m not going to make your decision for you as far as your stuff. There’s plenty of room here if you want to keep it. And if you need someone to help light the fire, I’m your guy.”

One of the things Hannah learned quickly when it came to having Curtis in her life was that making decisions was hard. She’d never had to make any big ones on her own without a rating system or someone to guide her, but Curtis was adamant about letting her decide anything that involved her. It wasn’t easy, but Hannah’s life was exponentially more enjoyable because of it.

She’d tried new things, like going to a dive bar with Curtis and some of his teammates that Nina would have died even being on the same block as. In said dive bar, Hannah learned she was a pool shark and won twenty bucks off Curtis’ friend Brady. She assumed he let her win, but Curtis was adamant Brady hated losing, even a simple game of pool.

Hannah thought Brady seemed a little like the male version of Nina. If she’d been talking to her friend, she would’ve introduced the two of them to see how many fireworks went off. Literal fireworks, because if the two of them ever got together, it would be explosive. It was tough to say whether the energy would be anger or sexual. Either way, it was an interesting idea to think about.

As it was, the only contact the two had was one text Hannah sent letting her ex-friend know that she wasn’t pregnant. It wasn’t like Nina would care, but Hannah thought it was important that the revenge she talked about never came to fruition. It was playing with fire a little, but it’d been over a month and there hadn’t been any replies.

Hannah was able to concede at times that she missed her friend. Not the hatred always on the verge of exploding Nina, obviously, but there were times when Hannah got to see a little different side of the woman. Most of those times were when they were young, but Hannah remembered them.

“I don’t know,” Hannah said as she thought about her apartment. “Everything worth anything of value or importance is here, so maybe I’ll find a charity that does pick-ups and have them cart it all away.”

If she did want to move in somewhere, Curtis had plenty of friends to help out, many of which had no problem bench pressing twice Hannah’s weight. She could sit and just watch them juggle her furniture.

She hadn’t spent a lot of time with the guys Curtis spent half his week with, but they seemed to accept her. It was important to her that they did since she figured they had at least a little sway in Curtis’ decisions. He claimed they didn’t, and if anyone could control those decisions it was her, but she’d gotten a little idea what the locker room was like and the stuff that was said there had to stick on some level.

“That is very noble of you.”

Curtis flipped the page again. The magazine didn’t interest Hannah much, but they took turns picking out what to read. He always went the sports route, while she mixed it up a little with finance, home improvement and cooking.

“My furniture is all hand-me-downs from either my parents or brothers. I wouldn’t consider it that noble of a gesture.”

Every once in a while, Hannah wished Curtis was a little squishier. Sometimes she got in a position where the hardness of his body got a little uncomfortable. Her tailbone was the present body part experiencing the infliction as part of it rested on his hipbone. She wasn’t about to complain about her boyfriend having a body carved out of stone. It was just fun to imagine a softer side of him as she moved a little to the side to try to alleviate her discomfort.

“Fine. Then I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what a great tax write-off the donation will be. With the way your client list keeps growing, you’re going to need all the deductions you can get.”

Hannah grabbed the magazine from his hand and threw it to the side, so she could roll over and be on top of him. His remarks were said in his pouting voice. He liked to pretend he was jealous of the fact that a few weeks after she’d established her own name as an accounting professional, she had six clients, none of which were the teammates he teased her with when he first shared the idea with her.

“You know what a turn on it is when you say things like write-off,” Hannah said as she slowly stuck her tongue out of her mouth to lick her upper lip. “Say something else. How about standard deduction?”

“Why do you think I’m so engrossed in those magazines you make me read? It’s the weirdest turn on I’ve ever heard of, but I’m willing to exploit it anytime. Standard deduction. Accounts payable. Profit margin.”

His hands grabbed ahold of her hips and rubbed her wet vagina along the length of him. Their reading time on the couch was pretty much always spent in the nude. It was their way of learning things each other liked and doing something other than having sex while naked. Hannah couldn’t remember a time when it didn’t end in them having sex, so the premise was maybe a little misguided. It sure made for fun afternoons, though.

“Oh, come on. It’s no different than someone getting turned on by an accent.”

Curtis stopped any motion in their nether regions and raised his brow while he stared at her intently. She tried to keep a serious face. It wasn’t an attempt that lasted long. Her lips curled up and her chest shook as she laughed without letting the laugh fully out.

“There are days I’m afraid to let you outside the house.”

Curtis leaned up and grabbed her lower lip with his teeth before she could ask him to clarify. A kiss quickly deepened, sending tendrils of pleasure tingling through Hannah’s body. Every kiss seemed different and special somehow. It was always their lips and tongues coming together, but it either felt like the first time they kissed every time or that something was different and exciting each time. It was hard to narrow down the feelings Hannah had, but it was fun trying to figure them out.

The kiss didn’t last too long, or maybe it did. Time wasn’t any easier to define than the sensations sometimes. Sometimes they’d go up to their room and time would just slip away. Somehow they managed not to disappear for days, even though it felt like it.

“I’m afraid to let you out because I’m worried someone else will figure out how amazing you are.”

Hannah was surprised he continued the thought without prompting. She thought the kiss was meant to make her forget it.

“At least you don’t have to worry about the fact that hundreds of women already know how amazing you are and pledge their love to you every game. It’s crazy being in the stands hearing them chant your name.”

Hannah had started sitting with a few of the wives and girlfriends of Curtis’ teammates. It was reassuring watching them go through the same things she had to deal with. She wore one of his jerseys to every game, somewhat superstitiously, and more than once women had stopped her to gossip and gush about Curtis.

“Thankfully, I don’t love any of them like I love you. I’m never going to love someone as much as I do you. My chest hurts every time you or I walk out the door alone. Road trips have been hell lately because all I can do is think about you here at home and what you might be doing.”

Curtis moved his right hand away from Hannah’s hip, instantly leaving a cold spot in its place. He reached behind him to grab something off the side table behind his head. There hadn’t been a table before they started reading time, but they’d decided having a place for condoms was a good idea.

Hannah instantly knew it wasn’t a condom in his hand when he brought it forward. She was still digesting the fact that he’d declared his love for the first time, when she saw the black velvet box in his hand. She stared at it wide-eyed trying to figure out if she was letting her imagination run away.

“I know everything between us has felt like a rush. We’ve basically been living together since we started going out. We’ve spent that time getting to know each other. What I learned was that the girl I had a crush on in high school because she was the only girl with a soul around, is the girl I want to be my wife. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, cherishing you every second of every day. Will you marry me?”

It was definitely her imagination. It had to be. There was no way Curtis Power had just asked her to marry him.

Curtis opened the small box to reveal the not so small ring it hid. As far as standards of gaudy rings, it was on the mild side, but it was the largest stone Hannah had ever seen up close and personal. The light in the room reflected off the square stone as Curtis moved the box around to take the ring out.

Hannah had no idea what to do or say. Her brain seemed to be functioning, but intelligent words didn’t appear to be anywhere on the horizon.

“You don’t have to answer right away, and even when you do, it’s not like we have to get married tomorrow. Just wear the ring for a few days and see how you feel.”

The suggestion was a little bit on the stupid side, but Hannah wasn’t really in a state of mind to judge. No woman in her right mind would say no to a marriage proposal from him. Not if they knew him anyway, and Hannah knew him better than most.

As he slipped the ring on her finger, which fit a little loose, she found her head nodding up and down. It was a slow motion at first, but it gained speed.

“I love you too.” She felt that needed to be said first to catch up a little in the declaration department. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

She only had a second to stare down at the ring on her finger before Curtis’ had both hands on her hips to pull her against him and his face raised up to devour her lips. The sex that followed could only be described as transcendent. Neither of them held anything back and when the climax came, Hannah swore she felt a part of herself leave her body and flow into his. Generally, things worked backwards in that department, but by then Hannah’s mind was nothing more than mush, so anything was possible.