chapter 27
(Luke)
I rush out of the gym after my workout to race home in order to meet with the alarm installers. I added a few more things to the list when they were out at our house last week to install the alarm system. Now that I’ll be leaving in a couple of weeks, I’m feeling a little panicked about leaving JJ alone in the house every night while I’m gone. I want to make sure the house is thoroughly safe and secure. I’m hoping Mikey moves in soon so that he’s near. Just as I pull into the driveway, she calls.
“Hey babe, what’s up?” I ask.
“Hi, what are you doing?”
“Nothing, I just got back from the gym.”
“Great. I’m waiting for Mya to finish up her class. We’re heading to Clearwater Beach to have lunch and drinks and I want you to come meet us. I feel like going to the beach today, I haven’t been there in awhile.
“Mya hates the beach,” I add.
“I know; that’s where you come in.” She laughs. “She has to be into work by three.”
“So you’re using me?” I tease her.
“Of course not, I love your company. Plus, I need my bathing suit and stuff. Pleasssseee?” she asks in her most irresistibly persuasive voice.
“I guess, but I have to take care of something before I leave.”
“That’s fine, we’re having lunch first. What do you have to do?”
I hesitate, because I don’t feel like hearing her comment.
“Luke?”
“Yeah?”
“What do you have to do?”
“The alarm guys are coming back… I have them adding a couple of things.”
“Jesus, Luke! Seriously? It’s like Fort Knox already!”
I hold the phone away from my ear and start laughing because she’s a hundred percent right. I may have gone a little overboard. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”
***
(Jesse)
Mya and I wave Luke over when we see him enter the restaurant. We’re sitting at the bar on the outside deck facing the beach. He greets us each with a kiss on the cheek.
“Did you get the fortress barricaded?” Mya asks sarcastically.
“Don’t start, Mya, I’ve already heard it from her.” Luke gives her a sideways glance as he orders another round of drinks and a burger.
“Luke, I can’t,” Mya says laughing. “I have to go or I’m going to be late. You drink it. You have to catch up anyway. We’ve already had three each.”
“Are you driving?” he asks.
“No, but I’m fine anyway, your wife is the lightweight,” She teases while saying her goodbyes.
“I am not,” I add defensively.
Luke and I enjoy the warm sun, mixed with the light breeze coming from the ocean while we finish our drinks and relax to the island music playing in the background. After changing in the bathroom, we head down to the beach.
I’m relaxed and content as I lay on my stomach, feeling the warm sun shine down on my skin and Luke’s strong hands massaging sunscreen onto my back. I’ll miss him when he’s away, but we’ve planned somewhat of a schedule a while ago. I don’t have Friday or Monday classes this semester, leaving me long weekends free. I’ll fly out a couple of times a month to stay with him for the weekend. Besides, during the week, I’ll keep busy with classes and working at the gallery. As much as I enjoyed my time at The Blue, I was ready to give it up shortly after our wedding. Luke and I are in such a great place and we’ve come so far. Over the last several months my life feels settled, I know we can handle any challenges that may come our way.
As we both sleep lazily on the beach, we are startled by the sound of Luke’s ringing phone.
“Hello?… Yeah… When?... Okay…” He continues on with his conversation while I sit up next to him, desperately waiting for him to hang up. I can tell by his tone that the call is important, but I’m unable to read his expression.
“What’s going on?” I ask the second he hangs up.
“C’mon, I’ll tell you on the way home,” he says, helping me up as he swiftly picks up our towels from the beach, not bothering to shake them out.
***
(Mikey)
We finally leave the condo late in the afternoon to see the house. I have to admit, I can’t wait to see what she did with it. As we pull up in the drive, she makes me wait outside while she goes inside and checks everything out since it’s been awhile since she’s been here. The last time I had been here was the day the four of us stood in the kitchen and I gave her the go ahead to decorate.
“Okay, you can come in,” she calls excitedly from the door.
The crazy thing is, I’m actually just as excited as her about this. I’ve got the whole electric shock, chills thing going on. Shit, I really need to get back to hittin’ balls with the guys again. Thank God spring training starts tomorrow. I laugh to myself.
“Wait, close your eyes,” she says before opening the door all the way.
“How am I gonna see if my eyes are closed,” I answer dryly.
“You can open them when I tell you,” she says. I obey, as usual, and she takes my hands to lead me through the front door.
“Okay… now.”
As soon as I open my eyes, the first thing I see is her beautiful, smiling face, so before I look at anything else, I bend down to kiss her lips. Then my eyes scan the room, and I instantly feel as if I stepped into… home. The house is decorated in warm earth tones; it’s inviting and relaxing. She made it a place that makes you feel settled and content. I’m in awe as I take it all in.
“Well?” she asks, looking up at me.
“I’m amazed. How did you pull this off so quickly?” I beam. She takes my hand and shows me around.
“I used JJ and Luke’s painters. I ordered everything from the same store; the furniture, the pictures, paintings, vases… everything. Also, I got a really good deal because I bought everything through them,” she says proudly as she leads me to the kitchen.
I spot one of my favorite paintings from JJ in the dining room.
“She said it’s one of your favorites and told me to take it. She had a stack of paintings in her studio and said I could take whatever I wanted.”
She guides me from room to room and I’m continuously blown away by the detail she put into this. It looks as if someone has lived here for years. I notice a few more of JJ’s paintings, along with huge terra cotta pots holding trees; they combine to add color to the rooms.
She leads me to the covered lanai. This room is fun, with a bar, flat screen TV’s on the walls and a lot of mine and Luke’s sports memorabilia framed and hanging on the walls. The patio furniture is gathered around a gas fire pit and the double chaise lounge faces the canal, next to the pool.
The spare bedroom with the private bath sits on the other end of the house. This room is also decorated. She said she decorated this room in case I have company. There is more privacy since it sits alone. The two rooms near the master bedroom are the only two rooms in the house that are untouched.
“I left these two rooms alone. I thought you might want an office or a gym maybe?” she questions.
I smile because my first thought is that they’re in a good spot for the kids. “The garage is huge I could always put a gym out there,” I answer, giving her a smile. “So, I guess this leaves the master bedroom?” I ask, taking her by the hand.
We enter the master bedroom and again, she has spared no detail. It’s calming and intimate. The dark-cherry wood sleigh bed sits high, covered in pillows, it’s warm and inviting and there’s nothing more that I want right now than to show her how much she means to me and how happy I am.
“Well, what do you think? Are you going to move in?” she asks cheerily.
“I think it’s unbelievably amazing, but I’ll only move in on one condition... if you stay with me? I don’t want to live here by myself.”
“Mikey, what will people think? It’s too soon for us to move in together.”
“DeDe, are you kidding me? We’ve lived together more than half our lives. It feels weird not living with you.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She laughs.
“So…”
“Well, I don’t want people to think I decorated your house so now I have to move in.”
“What are you talking about? What people are we talking about?” I laugh at her. “We need to talk about why I bought this house in the first place.” I push her back towards the bed as I lay her down comfortably on the cushy pillows and cover her body with mine. I kiss her deeply before continuing, “Do you know exactly how much you mean to me?” She looks affectionately into my eyes. “This has always been about you. I always hoped that one day you would feel the same way about me as I have always felt about you. I could never have anyone here with me besides you. You’re going to think I’m crazy right now, but I have never had a girl back to my place before.” Of course, she looks at me as if I am crazy, just as I expected her to. “I swear to you. I’m weird about that stuff. Even when I was seeing Lora Rae, the one time we flew into Tampa, we stayed at a hotel. I didn’t bring her to my condo. I went by myself to get my clothes.” I laugh. “I never wanted anyone to be a part of my private life. Only you know me in that way, and that’s how I always wanted it to be. You are the only person I would ever give myself to completely. I let down all of my barricades with you. I’ve known for a long time that you are the only person I can ever love.”
“Mikey, I promise you that I feel the same way. I feel as if a weight has been lifted from me since the day you told me you loved me. I know you think that I’ve been in love before, and I guess that I thought so, too, but now I know I wasn’t since it felt nothing like this. After what happened to me in high school, I played it safe. I always got involved with guys that I knew would not hurt me. You and I always had a strong connection between us, yet I was scared of the kind of feelings I had for you. You were always running around with other girls. I knew you loved me, but not in that way. I told myself that it wasn’t that kind of love and I made myself believe it. You are the only person I trust with everything that I have, though. I want to give every part of myself to you. I want you to always want only me.”
“You are the only person I will ever want,” I say as my lips cover hers and I taste the warmth of her mouth. Her arms wrap around my back, pulling me close. My hand slips under her shirt—
“Yo, Mikey… are you here?!” Luke calls from the front of the house.
De pushes me off her and pops up. I roll onto my back and let out a deep sigh. “Can you believe this? This is payback for all of the times we did this to them growing up,” I say, letting out a chuckle as she tells me to get up. “Remind me to start locking the doors.” She shakes her head and again signals for me to get up.
“We’re right here,” she calls out, rushing out of the room. “I was showing him the house, it’s the first time he’s seen it,” I hear her saying nervously.
“Sorry we burst in here, but we have big news,” JJ says excitedly.
“You’re pregnant?” I say dryly, coming out of the bedroom.
“No, I’m not pregnant,” she says, laughing.
“What?” De and I ask simultaneously.
“Guess who’s joining you tomorrow at spring training?” Luke says.
“No way, are you serious?” I ask eagerly.
“Yeah, I just got the call while we were at the beach. They said they want me to start working out with the team.”
“Oh my God, what does this mean?” De asks happily.
“It means, for one, I’ll be staying put, and two… I gotta knock them dead the next few weeks so they’ll keep me around,” he says, laughing.
We celebrate the news together. I can’t wait to finally get back on the field with him again. It’s been a long time coming and I can’t wait to show them how unstoppable we are together.
I think of how our lives have ironically been filled with so many game changers over the years. Although some may have been difficult, maybe we had to go through them to get here. At this moment, it seems as if our lives can’t possibly get any better.