Elise straightened on my lap and peered at me curiously. “You know it makes my day when you talk about our future like that?”
I smiled a little and stroked her thigh. It’d been a while since I’d seen her in one of the jersey dresses she’d bought twelve of in different colors. “Then maybe what I say next won’t make you feel like I’m rushing into things,” I said. “You could help me look for a house. It’s going to be your home too, hopefully.”
She beamed and locked her arms around my neck, and it put us nose-to-nose. “I like your way of asking me to move in with you.”
I chuckled and captured her lips with mine. “I’ve heard it’s impolite to simply demand it.”
“With you, I come willingly and frequently,” she joked. “Get it?”
I laughed under my breath. “I get it. Clown.”
I definitely didn’t mind spending the next few minutes kissing the cute grin off her face. I was sporting a ridiculous smile myself, and it couldn’t be helped.
“We should go to bed,” I murmured. We had to be up early. The commute in the Bay Area was already sheer hell, and I was driving her back to San Francisco before dropping Grace off in Alameda…before going to work in Oakland…before coming back to Berkeley.
“Mmm, but sex first, right?”
I snorted quietly and squeezed her thigh. “I wasn’t planning on falling asleep right away.”
Around her, I fucking couldn’t.
“When’s your next evening off?” I asked. “I want to take you to dinner.”
“Next weekend.” She started dropping a trail of kisses down my neck, and it became near impossible to stay on track.
Next weekend was good, though. I would’ve started teaching my GED class in Alameda by then, and I should have less work to bring home at night.
Could life get any better than this?
The weekend after Thanksgiving brought us an unusual heat wave, something James and Mary took credit for. They’d come down to look at houses and time-shares around San Francisco—and to wish Grace a belated happy birthday. After breakfast, we met up with Ryan and Angel and drove out to the national recreation area on the other side of the Golden Gate, where a massive lawn waited for the picnic the girls had prepared. Three sides of the park were surrounded by forest and cliffs, with the visitors parking lot on the fourth.
Angel darted off with Grace to look at the “cute puppies,” which in reality consisted of a group of six dogs and their owners agility training. Mary and James stood a few paces away and spent some time catching up with Ryan, and Pipsqueak and I planted our asses on our blanket.
Grace was bundled up in soft coveralls, complete with beanie and mittens, and the rest of us wore hoodies or lighter jackets, but other than that, it might as well have been early summer in Washington.
I used a spare hoodie as a pillow and got comfortable on my back, and Elise rested her head on my stomach while she took on one of her mother’s crossword puzzles.
I thought about starting the book I’d brought, but I couldn’t find it in me to move an inch. Instead, I just lay there and soaked up the sun and drew my fingers through Elise’s hair.
Every now and then, I heard Grace’s peals of laughter and excited clapping when a dog performed a trick.
“I think I made a mistake,” Elise mumbled. “Laden, six letters, and I want it to be filled.” No pun intended? “But there’s a stupid R in the way.”
I hummed. “Fraught?”
“Fraught,” she whispered. “Yes! You rock. Thank you. The benefit of dating a teacher.”
I rumbled a chuckle and pulled one foot up to rest it on my knee. “I distinctly remember you pointing out once that English wasn’t my subject.”
“You remember the silliest things, sweetie. Stop doing that.”
I grinned to myself.
I really dug it when she called me sweetie. It was a somewhat new development.
“Oi! Lovebirds,” Ryan hollered. “They’ve got volleyball nets over the—”
“Don’t even!” Elise exclaimed. “I haven’t had a day off in weeks. I’m not moving my butt, okay? And Avery’s my pillow, so he can’t move either.”
I pushed up to support myself on my elbows, and I squinted over at a disgruntled-looking Ryan. “Looks like my hands are full, buddy.”
He snorted. “You’re fucking whipped.”
I wasn’t even going to deny that. I hadn’t seen Pipsqueak in five days, and only for a quick dinner then.
“Oh, let them be.” Mary chastised Ryan halfheartedly and returned to the blanket she shared with James. “I think you two are adorable.”
Elise held up a fist for me, and I laughed and bumped it with my own.
Ryan gave up on us and jogged over to Angel and Grace instead.
James found his spot next to Mary and dug out their coffee thermos.