Chapter 19
Ashlyn’s POV:
“Well…?” I said and let it hang.
Ali and I had been looking at apartments. Together. Three weeks had passed since I had proposed. We had been splitting time pretty evenly between our two places, but our first order of business after we got engaged was to look for a place together. Ali looked around one last time and then looked at me. “I love it”, she said with a smile. She was hanging on my arm, and she gave me a light squeeze. I smiled back, and then I planted a kiss on her lips.
“We’ll take it”, I told the realtor, a woman in her early forties with two daughters in junior high school.
“Wonderful!”, she said. She motioned to us to take a seat at the dining room table. This must have been like the fortieth apartment we had looked at, but as soon as we stepped in Ali had gushed, “Oh my God – it’s wonderful”, and I knew we had found the perfect place. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, remodeled eat-in kitchen, separate dining room, vaulted ceilings and arched entryways. It was the perfect combination of vintage charm and modern perks. “So, if you’ll just have a look at this…” the realtor started in with her paperwork. I sat there, kind of listening, but mostly staring at my princess as she excitedly went over the paperwork with the realtor. All I could think about was the fact that we were actually getting a place together.
“Babe?” Ali’s voice brought me back to the present.
“Oh, yeah, sorry”, I said. I took the pen and signed my name on the contract, then pushed it back to the realtor.
The realtor smiled and then said, “Great! We’re all set.” She paused and then said, “Actually, I have one more thing for you to sign…if you two don’t mind…would you sign this for my kids?” She produced a picture of Ali and me. The two of us had done a shoot for ESPN magazine a couple months ago. “My kids just adore you guys. Their dream is to play soccer for the Spirit,” she said. She smiled at us and handed us the picture and a Sharpie.
I looked at Ali who was beaming back at me, and then I smiled back and took the Sharpie. Signing a lease with my dream girl and autographs for fans. For someone who grew up cutting classes and skating in drainage ditches, I ended up alright.
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Ali’s POV:
“Hey stud”, Ali whispered in the almost-darkness. Pale light from a street lamp came through the windows, dimly lighting the room.
“Hey princess”, I whispered back. It was our first night in our new apartment. We had taken the master bedroom with its own bathroom as our room, and we were snuggling in Ali’s bed. We had put my bed in the other bedroom, the guest room.
“I can’t believe we have a place together”, she purred.
“Me either”, I said. I put my lips to the back of her head and kissed her still-wet hair. She was on her side. I was spooning her from behind. We had taken a whirlpool bath together in the tub in our master bathroom about an hour ago and had gone directly from there to the bed. Now we were lying naked together. She was nestled into me, her head resting on my left arm, by right hand gently massaging her neck.
“I can’t wait to go shopping”, she said, and I laughed softly. We had moved everything we both own into our new apartment and were in the process of figuring out what to keep, what to toss, and, more excitingly, what new stuff we would buy together.
We laid in silence for a moment and then I said, “Do you remember those times, laying in bed together, but when we weren’t together?”
“Yeah”, she said. “Those were painful. I mean, they were nice, but also painful.”
“Yeah”, I agreed. I was silent for a moment and then said, “Well, neither one of us will ever have to endure that again.”
She laughed softly and then leaned her head back and kissed me in the near dark. Then she rolled over to face me.
“Do you remember after our ‘date’ in Chicago?” she asked. “We were laying in your bed, talking, and I had said that I had enjoyed planning our wedding.”
“I remember”, I said. “And, just for the record – I remember sitting on the step above you when we were sitting near Buckingham Fountain.”
“You do?” she asked, surprised.
“Yup. I played dumb when you asked me the night we got engaged, just so I didn’t ruin my proposal setup, but yes, I remember.” I smoothed her hair with my fingers and then said, “You’re not the only one who remembers everything about that night.” I touched her nose lightly with my finger and she giggled softly.
“So, you remember us talking about our wedding then, huh?” she asked, and then brushed her lips lightly against mine.
“Wait – I thought that was a pretend wedding.” I teased. "We're not really ever going to get married, are we?"
It was dark but I could tell she scrunched up her face. Then I felt it. Her hands went to my sides and I exploded in laughter as she tickled me. I writhed for a few seconds and then tickled her back, and then it was all-out tickle war for about a minute in the near-darkness of our bedroom. Eventually we both relented, and I ended up on my back again, with her sitting upright, straddling me.
“Of course, I remember, baby”, I said, half-laughing and half-panting. “I remember every detail.”
“You’d better”, she said. “Because we’ve got a lot of planning to do if we’re going to get to Hawaii.” I smiled in the darkness, thinking about the wedding we would have. She stayed sitting upright for a moment and then leaned over to kiss me, a serious, big-girl kiss.
“I love you, stud”, she whispered.
“I love you, princess”, I whispered back. I felt her lips brush mine again, and then they slowly started to make their way down to my neck. They paused there as Ali lightly nibbled at my neck, and then her lips continued their journey south. “Oh God” I whispered in a shattered breath, not sure if I was referring to what was happening right now or the fact that we were going to get married, or both.
I still couldn’t believe it. This was really happening. It was really meant to be.