“Want to take a walk? There’s a nice park over there,” Madison suggested as she pointed across the street at a small park lit up with string lights.
I nodded and led her across the street to the walking path. We peered up at the string lights, the glow glinting in our eyes as we stood close to each other. Such a simple moment made my chest fill with a warm, tight feeling, which only intensified when I looked at Madison and saw how beautiful she was under the glow of the lights.
“How’s the business plan coming along?” I asked, forcing myself to talk about anything other than my feelings or how perfect she was. I was scared to venture down a path that I had never even approached before.
“Good. I have to meet up with Hannah and Nick at the end of the week to go over our final draft,” Madison said before sighing. “I can’t believe the semester is ending soon. We’ll be doing our final presentation for our final grade before we know it.”
I put my arm around her shoulders, drawing her against my side. I could tell that she was nervous. When I was finishing up my capstone class, I was nervous too. Not only was it a huge project, but the next step was being thrown out into the real world.
“You all will do great. I’ve looked over that proposal. It’s solid,” I told her, not wanting her to worry too much. She had some smart friends backing her too. She wasn’t alone in this.
Madison passed me a grateful smile as she leaned against me. “I want you to meet Hannah and Nick one day. They’re really cool,” she said.
My heart stopped briefly at her words. Maybe it wasn’t as big of a deal as I was making it in my head, but wasn’t meeting the friends a serious step? They would analyze me and judge if I was good enough for Madison or not. I hoped that I was. I tried to be.
“Do they want to meet me? Do they… know?” I didn’t tell her that she couldn’t tell anyone about us being involved with each other. If she trusted them, then I was fine with it. If things kept going well, everyone would know eventually anyway.
Madison pressed her teeth into her bottom lip shyly as she shrugged. “Maybe. I didn’t tell them much. I just told them that we had gotten… friendly.”
“Friendly,” I repeated, lifting an eyebrow at her as an amused look crossed my face. We were certainly more than friendly at this point.
“I don’t know what to call us,” Madison admitted, seeming nervous as she glanced over at me.
I realized that her words could be taken as a question. I led her over to a bench so that we could sit down next to each other. I figured that this conversation would eventually come up. I never slept with a woman more than twice, and I couldn’t begin to count how many times we had fooled around. Things were different with us, and I didn’t only want to have sex with her. I wanted to do anything with her. Everything.
“I haven’t exactly been looking for a relationship. I’m busy with work. You know how crazy my schedule can get,” I told her.
Madison remained quiet as she nodded. Her shoulders seemed to slump slightly, but she kept her head tilted up.
“But… I would be naïve if I said that there isn’t something going on between us,” I continued. I hardly knew how to go about this conversation. I wasn’t a relationship-type guy. I was the one married to my business, but lately, I started to realize that work wasn’t my main source of happiness.
A small smile crossed Madison’s lips as she peered up into my eyes. “I feel it too,” she said in a soft voice.
I held her gaze for a few moments, feeling a strong urge to want to kiss her, but I held myself back. We still had to finish this conversation.
“I know it’s not smart to say anything to anyone. Maybe that’s for the best for right now so that we can figure things out without any outside noise,” I suggested. People would probably have a lot to say. I didn’t care about what they said because I was used to people talking about me, but Madison wasn’t used to so much attention. I didn’t want to make things difficult for her.
“What are you saying?” Madison asked with a hopeful expression.
I couldn’t stop the smile that crossed my face. She looked so happy, and I liked making her happy. I wanted to be that guy that lit up her world because she was the girl that did the same thing for me. I never thought that anyone would do that for me. I would hear my friends rave about their wives and how in love they were, and I honestly thought that they were bluffing. Now, I knew that they weren’t lying.