From my bed, I listened to the shower running. She loved my bathroom so much that I wondered if given the choice if she’d choose it over me. The reason I wasn’t invading her space, and jumping in with her, was so she could enjoy it in peace.
Okay, I lied. There were two reasons. In just a few short hours we’d be engaging in all sorts of sexual debauchery, and this shower could be the last moments of privacy she’d get until Monday.
Today was Saturday, the fourteenth of February. She had no idea I was taking her away for the weekend in an attempt to make up for every Valentine’s Day we missed.
Knowing my girl, she probably thought I had no idea what day it was. Neglecting to mention it to me was Haven’s way of protecting her heart from disappointment. I should have been annoyed with her lack of confidence in me, but I had to keep reminding myself of the things I knew about Haven. The woman was strong-willed, brilliant, organized to a fault, and secure in every aspect of her life—except when it came to relationships. That deep-rooted issue would take time to crack.
It’d been almost a week since she left her apartment to stay with me. After the night we first made love, we fell into a routine. She spent her days split between classes at NYU and handling my affairs. In turn, I spent my days at the station preparing for my show. Each night, I’d come home to find her waiting up for me. We’d chat for a bit exchanging details of our day before a few innocent kisses turned into making love in my bed.
A smile spread over my face at the memories. Some nights it was slow and sweet, and others hard and fast. During our first week as a couple I took her in my shower, on my couch, and even in the guest room. No matter how or where we fucked, the reality that I was having sex with my best friend should’ve scared me… yet it didn’t.
How strange in such a short amount of time I morphed into this role of lover with Haven so seamlessly? Maybe my professional training had been preparing me for it to happen in such an effortless way all along? Sure, I dissected every change between us because of my profession. But of the two of us, I was the one handling things much better and often had to talk her off the ledge.
Again, I understood why she was skittish. She’d been the one living with bottled up emotions for years. As our friendship developed into one of mutual respect and understanding, she also had to find a way to suppress feelings of the love she felt for me all while watching my sexual exploits with random women.
So I got it, but that didn’t mean I liked it. I couldn’t help but feel she was just waiting for me to wake up one morning and admit it wasn’t working anymore. My ego felt she should be giving me more credit than that, even though my logic understood.
She admitted she truly believed we wouldn’t be where we were if she hadn’t initiated that one kiss. Since I had no way to convince her of otherwise, my argument fell short. All I could do was repeat over and over as long as we were honest with each other, and communicated openly, we’d be just fine. Besides that, I’d continue to show her with each day that passed how much I cared for her.
When in best friend mode, our time together was easy. We argued, we bickered, we laughed, and we still had the uncanny ability to read each other’s thoughts without exchanging one word between us. For instance, a simple raise of one brow clearly said there was no way in hell she was watching American Gangster again. After she snatched the remote, my reciprocated quirked brow meant I wouldn’t be watching The Proposal either… so we settled on neutral ground, The Hangover.
It wasn’t all unicorns shitting rainbows, though.
While we were in new-lovers’ mode, we had a fuck-ton of awkwardness. It took a few days before she stopped running away in the middle of the night to the guest room. It took just as long for her to stop arguing about staying at my place. I had to promise her we’d look for a new apartment together, but until then she needed to shut the hell up regarding the subject.
An invite from Natalie for a couples’ dinner she was hosting in a few weeks caused another bout of awkward. In the email, Natalie said she was giving me fair warning to find a date. I told Haven to mark her calendar, and watched her pull away from me. When I forced her to talk to me she admitted wanting to keep our relationship under wraps for now. I said I understood, but if not with her then I wouldn’t be going at all. That was argument number one. Argument number two came when a text from Elliott asking her to dinner caused me to fly off the handle in an irrational way.
Haven needed to tell him to move along. I had my own theories on the prick and suspected he knew we turned a corner and now decided to stake a claim. Fuck that, for weeks he strung her along, and now she was mine. I guessed I had to thank the asshole. None of this may have happened if he had shown Haven the slightest interest in the romantic sense.
Another bone of contention between us was when I’d mention upcoming plans… specifically taking a Caribbean vacation over the summer. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit her refusal to discuss the future irked me a bit. Whether it was a few days down the road or years, her response was always the same, “Let’s take one day at a time,” which led to yet another argument.
With each disagreement we had, we talked it out before ending up having fantastic makeup sex. Afterward, I was quick to share that I thought we were handling our issues very maturely—on that she agreed.
The door to my bathroom opened and Haven stepped into my bedroom. “Damn, I could live in there,” she said with a relaxed smile on her face. Her chestnut curls fell in damp waves over her shoulders. I could smell my body wash on her and fuck if that didn’t turn me on.
When she noticed the breakfast tray on my bed, her smile widened. “What’s this?”
I patted the smooth sheets and said, “Come over here.” Once she sat beside me, I plucked the rose off the tray and handed it to her. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” The way her lips quirked up to the sides meant she knew exactly what day it was. “Did you think I didn’t know?”
“Considering if I don’t remind you then you’re usually unaware of any important date, I would have bet money you didn’t know.” She held my face, the rosebud resting against my cheek, and looked into my eyes for a pause with a mischievous expression on her face. After a chaste kiss on my lips, she asked, “Why are you so perfect at this?”
“I really am,” I quipped with a sly grin. “Why should me being perfect surprise you?”
She released my face with a sigh. “I’m serious, Vaughn. Putting aside your profession, you have no clue how to navigate a relationship in real life. I mean, really… Joyce?”
“First of all, that’s over. Read the sent email, if you don’t believe me.”
“Oh, I read that,” she responded without embarrassment.
“I figured you did.”
“How did she take it, by the way? There was no response.”
“Do you honestly want to know how that phone call went?”
She looked away and shook her head. “Definitely not.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think so. Anyway, that wasn’t a relationship.”
“Exactly. You have no experience worth referencing. It’s not fair how you’re making this all look so easy.”
“Haven, you’re the one person in my life I know inside and out.” I shrugged matter-of-factly. “I guess I’d rather focus on how lucky we are than all the what ifs we can’t control that seem to be plaguing you.”
Remorse altered her teasing expression. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I appreciate you telling me how you feel. But as you mentioned, I am the professional, which means you have to listen to me. As long as we’re always honest, we’ll be just fine. That’s the one thing we have always had between us… brutal honesty. Okay?” After she nodded, I pulled her closer. “Quoting my gorgeous, sexy as fuck, sometimes brilliant girlfriend…”
“Sometimes?”
“Yeah. Your brilliance definitely comes in spurts. Anyway, I believe she’s always saying, ‘let’s take one day at a time.’ So, lets do that… deal?”
“Deal.”
“Good.” I reached over and ripped a piece of muffin off the top, placing it on her lips. “Open.” She followed my command, slowly chewing her favorite blueberry breakfast choice with a smile. “Do you want to know what I have on today’s agenda?”
She waved a hand over the tray sitting beside us. “Besides eating breakfast in bed?”
“Yes, there will be that, and then I’ll be eating you…” Undeterred by her widening eyes, I added, “And then we’ll be getting into my hot BMW, that I don’t get to drive often enough, and I’m taking you on a surprise trip to celebrate our first Valentine’s Day as a couple.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
“Is this really necessary?” She fingered the blindfold I insisted she put on at the last rest stop with a comical frown.
“Stop being so difficult.”
“Snowboarding? Are you taking me to a ski resort?” Every few minutes she’d try to get me to crack on where I was taking her. All she knew was we were heading north.
“Nope.”
“Canada? I don’t have my passport.”
“Nope.”
“Rochester?”
“Yes, I’m taking you to Rochester. I’m craving one of their famous garbage plates.” I cut my eyes from the road in time to see her stick her tongue out. “Just a few more minutes and you’ll be putting that tongue to good use.”
“Tease,” she accused while clenching her denim-clad thighs together. My eyes raked over her in anticipation of what was about to come. “Ice cream tasting?”
“No. That’s not what your tongue will be licking, or mine.”
She folded her arms in frustration. “A secluded cabin in the woods where you’ll chop me up into pieces?”
“Keep firing questions at me and I may consider that.”
Her head twisted toward me when I stopped the car. “We’re here? Can I take this stupid thing off now?”
“Nope.”
I chuckled at her audible sigh. This drove her nuts, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Haven rarely gave up control, but this weekend she would be helpless to my shenanigans.
“Don’t move.” I exited the car, popped the trunk, and grabbed our suitcase. When I opened her door, her hand flew to the blindfold. “Keep it on, Perv.”
“Yeah, I’m the Perv.” Another sigh preceded her mumbled, “Ridiculous.”
Pulling our shared luggage, I took her hand and led her into the lobby. The way her head kept tilting from side to side made her look like a curious poodle. My laugh prompted her to mutter, “Jerk. I’m sure everyone is staring at me.”
“They sure are.” We approached the courtesy counter, and I placed a finger over my lips. The customer service rep nodded, understanding what I needed. I slipped him my credit card, and he checked us in before handing me the room key.
“Okay, let’s go.”
By some sheer miracle, she allowed me to lead her into the elevator without argument. The way she chewed her bottom lip meant her mind reeled with possibilities. Not until we were in our suite, did she finally speak.
“What’s that smell?” Her head dipped to the right. “Roses?” She sniffed again, adding, “Chlorine? Where the hell are we?”
I came up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. With my lips on her ear I asked, “Ready to celebrate our first Valentine’s Day?”
Her hands held my forearms when she nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“Okay, I hope you like it.”