A Little Bit Married

How Long

We drank in silence, my hand occasionally touching his, his eyes meeting mine frequently, a knowing smile spreading on his lips. I had forgotten how this part of attraction felt. The push and pull. The adrenaline. The secrecy. The butterflies. Everything. It felt like I was a teenager all over again, falling in love all over again for the first time.

"Did you like it?"

Gray suddenly asked, and I looked up, my lips parting. "The wine."

He shook his head. "The meal."

"Oh. I did. Very much."

Gray smiled as he leaned closer. "What is your favourite meal?"

I bit down on my lips. "I really love shepherd's pie."

He smiled and leaned back. "Any specifications?"

I shook my head. "I haven't eaten a bad shepherd's pie."

He slowly stood up. "Drinking made me a little hungry. What do you say to shepherd's pie?"

I laughed, looking around for a clock. "It is so laye, though?"

"For normal people. We are two tipsy people in slight denial. That calls for shepherd's pie."

I laughed, nodding. I was honestly tipsy as hell, and shepherd's pie didn't seem too bad.

He brought out all the ingredients he would need and then set them on a counter, his head slowly bobbing to a rhythm only he could hear.

"Is this how you get when you are drunk?"

He shrugged. "It depends on why I am drinking."

I leaned forward. "Interesting. Tell me more, will you?"

He sighed. "If I drink cause I am angry, I get pretty sad. If I drink because I am sad, then I get like this."

"You were scared earlier, right?"

He nodded slowly, bobbing his head a little. "So f*****g scared."

I took a sip of my wine, then leaned closer. "I am sorry."

He laughed, pushing his fingers through his hair as he walked towards the sink. He washed his hands under the running water and then walked back to the work table and started to prep the ingredients.

"Do you need my help?"

He shrugged. "Come sit here," he said, tapping on the space right next to where he had dropped all of his ingredients. "You are too far over there."

I smiled, then stood up and went around, and then pushed myself up on the work table, my eyes meeting his. He smiled and then leaned back to continue prepping the ingredients and putting them in different bowls.

"We will be fine," I whispered to him, leaning slowly towards him to squeeze his shoulder.

He nodded.

I wasn't too confident. Pie enemies were becoming more vicious day by day, and there was more of us to care for, to worry about, one more weakness. It was all so scary, and Gray was already handling it so well.

"I loved that red dress on you," he said suddenly, his brow raising as he looked up to me, his hands still working the knife.

I bit down on my lips. "I could tell."

He laughed. "Am I such an open book now?"

I chucked, shaking my head. "You are only..." I made a sign with my index and thumb. "This open. There is so much about you that I feel like I don't know yet."

"Take advantage of tonight, then," he said, laughing. "The fact that I haven't told you probably means I am worried about how you would look at me after."

"Why would that bother you?" I asked, my voice low.

He looked up to me. "Because you are my wife?"

I nodded. "Good enough."

He turned back to what he was doing, and I watched him prepare the dough, his hands covered in a glove that was now covered with flour. He was focused, and he said nothing more as he focused on lacing the pain with the dough, then putting the filling in.

I watched him cut the other dough into think strips, then covered the pie with it in a cross cross style before he popped it into the oven.

Like someone who was on auto pilot, he moved away from the oven and walked right back to me. He removed his gloves and pushed his hands between my knees, parting them wide enough for him to slip right in between.

My breath hitched as he slipped right in, his hand gently resting on the edge of my neck. Without a word, he kissed my right collar bone, then sighed and rested on my skin, his eyes closing.

I smiled, pushing my fingers into his head, caressing his scalp, my legs wrapping around him.

"You are so adorable sometimes."

"I am a man, Angeline."

"Who says men can't be adorable?"

He laughed against my skin. "If you ever get tired of this craziness, just tell me. I will fly you out so you can get some fresh air on a private island, and you can decide for yourself if you want to come back to me or not."

I laughed. "What happened to a neighbourhood park?"

He shrugged. "The craziness will still get to you."

I laughed, shaking my head. "I don't know how much you believe me when I say this, but I genuinely know that I will always come back to you. Take me to the most luxurious hotel in the world and I would still want to be back right here, in the midst of the craziness, as long as I get to enjoy little moments withh you like these."

"You sweet talker," he said, laughing.

"Welll, is it working?"

"What do you want it to do?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe... convince you that I want to stay?"

He nodded. "I believe you, then."

I smiled as he leaned back in me, and I sighed, asking a question that had been burning at the back of my mind and my tongue.

"Gray?"

He looked up, his eyes daring across both of mine. "Realistically, how long are you going to stay married to me?"