Our Way
“The sex is just…” I press my fingers to my temples and mimic an explosion. “No words.”
“I told you. Pussy love is the best love.”
“No shit.” I clink my beer with his, and we both chuckle.
“How are you getting along?”
“Great, haven’t missed a beat.” I shrug. “It’s so familiar. You know, like I was always meant to be with her.”
He smiles. “You seem happy.”
“I am.” I smile. “For the first time in my life I feel… finished.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know when you’re with someone and there’s always something wrong simmering in the back of your mind about them?”
“Like what?”
“Eliza is the first person I’ve been with who has ticked every single want and need of mine.”
He smiles. “That’s great man, I’m so happy for you. You two are fucking great together.”
“With everyone else I’ve been with, there has been something holding me back from moving forward, you know?” I sip my beer. “Like I couldn’t possibly fall for them, but I don’t have it with her. I have to constantly remind myself to slow down.” I smile wistfully. “It took all of my strength not to drag her into a church and make her marry me in Majorca.”
His eyes widen. “Fuck!” He shakes his head in disbelief. “Are you serious? You really are all in?”
“Totally fucking all in.” I chuckle. “It just feels so right, you know?”
He shrugs as he sips his beer. “Wish I did.”
I frown. “What does that mean? Everything all right?”
“I don’t know.” He drags his hand down his face. “I’m having a fucking midlife crisis or something.”
“Why?”
“Jessica. I’m just… it’s not the same as it used to be.”
“Why not?”
“We’ve started fighting all the time, and she’s on my case about every fucking thing, pressuring me to get engaged.”
“You don’t want to get married?”
“I do… just not sure if it’s to her. You know when you’re with someone and on paper everything is perfect… but something is missing, and for the life of you, you can’t put your finger on what that is?”
“Yeah.” I watch him. I know this feeling. It’s all I’ve ever known before now. “I do.”
“Maybe I’m just freaking out about marriage. People say nerves play tricks on you. These doubts about her seem to have come from nowhere. I woke up one day and, like, bam!”
“I have heard that.” We fall silent for a moment. “Can you imagine Mom and Dad if you broke up with Jessica?”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Don’t even fucking go there. I’d never hear the end of it.”
I chuckle as I imagine my mom crying, and dad lecturing him about ruining his life. “Hey, do me a favor: don’t tell Mom and Dad about Lize and me. I want to tell them in person. I’m going to take her home in a few weeks.”
“Sure thing.” He smiles. “They are going to lose their shit.”