Mine To Have (Southern Wedding 1)

The lights from the front door illuminate the five steps leading to a brown door. Looking to the side of the house, I see the soft lights coming out of four big long windows. The light is showing all around, and when I take a few steps to the side, I see that you can see right through to the other side of the house. It has a whole rustic feel to it. I look up and see the balcony on the second floor that sits right on top of the front door. "Let’s go." He grabs my hand, pulls me up the steps, and opens the door. His fingers are now linked with mine, and my eyes are so fixated on our hands together I don’t even notice him open the door.

I take a step in, and I’m in shock when I see rose petals scattered on the floor everywhere, leading to a side toward the stairs and another toward the open room with the windows. "Oh my God," I say as he walks into the house a bit, and I see the red heart balloons floating in the living room. An L-shaped couch faces a coffee table covered in vases of red roses. The room where all the windows are is almost all covered in rose petals and balloons. He lets my hand go as he walks over to the table that has a silver bucket with a champagne bottle. Right next to a silver tray with two crystal glasses are two bowls on another silver tray of strawberries, one covered with chocolate and the other plain.

"What the fuck is all this?" he says, and I have to look at him, not sure what he means as I take a minute to look around and see that there are crystal vases filled with water and floating candles placed on every single step leading to upstairs. Travis walks to the table, his walking is a bit off, and all I can do is laugh and put my hand to my mouth, missing my face. "I told them this was off-limits." He grabs the bottle of champagne out of the silver bucket. The bottle is leaking water everywhere, and he couldn't care less. He leans down and grabs the bowl. "Can’t forget these," he says to me, laughing, and I walk over, putting my purse on the edge of the table, but it falls right off, making us both laugh out loud and picking up the other bowl. "Follow me." He smirks at me, nudging me with his head, and his eyes light up so bright I’m mesmerized and walk over to the staircase.

"Don’t do it!" my head yells at me as my stomach flutters and the heat starts to rise up my neck from the nerves that are filling my body. "Just call it a night and go." But my feet are already following him up the stairs. The glow of the candles helps lead the way as we stop at the top of the stairs. It’s just a one-bedroom open-concept loft style. The king-size bed is in the middle of the room but is up on a raised platform. A four-poster bed at that, with white sheets draped around the top. Rose petals in the shape of a heart are in the middle of the bed with Mr. & Mrs. pillows. I stand beside him, swaying from side to side as I try to get myself balanced. "Is this weird?" I say the words out loud, hoping that he tells me that we should just call it a night. I look around to see the rose petals are scattered everywhere. There isn’t a piece of floor that isn’t covered with at least one rose petal. In the corner of the room beside the bed is a deep white tub that can fit more than two people. I step into the room just a bit more, but my balance is a bit off, and I see that the tub is filled with water and rose petals, candles floating on the top. "If this is weird." I look back at him. "I can go." He just stands there taking in the room, and then shakes his head.

"After today," he says, looking back at me, "you being here isn’t the weirdest thing that has happened to me.” He walks over to me and hands me the bowl of strawberries that he is carrying in his hand. "Hold these." I look down at his hand that is reaching out, trying to focus on grabbing the bowl from him. I giggle while I take it from him, and then he turns back, walking toward the bed. I stand here nervously, wondering what he is going to do. I watch with bated breath and a fit of nervous giggles as he walks over to the bed and grabs the cover by the corner, and he rips it off. The rose petals that were perfectly placed in the middle of the bed fly everywhere. "This way." He slurs a bit, walking to the door in the middle of the room and opening it. I follow him toward the door and step onto the balcony into the dark night. A breeze runs through me, and I shiver. "Thank God." He looks around and puts the cover down on the wooden balcony floor. He kicks off his shoes and walks to the middle of the blanket. "Come on." He motions with his head, and I put the bowls down to take off my shoes.