She turned and kissed my cheek then grabbed her dress where I held it and headed toward the stairs.
I shed my suit jacket and tossed it over the back of my couch, left my cufflinks on a living room end table, and headed to the kitchen to get water. I took a long sip and paused when Jiselle walked in.
She’d thrown on an old college T-shirt of mine and a pair of my socks, her hair up in a little messy bun, a full face of makeup. I smiled as she entered the kitchen.
“You want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” I asked.
I was well aware that neither of us had eaten the food offered at the event and I needed to put something on my stomach.
“What kind of jelly?”
“Whatever kind you want. I have options, baby.”
“Apple?”
“Done.”
I grabbed everything and made us two sandwiches each while Jiselle dug through my pantry and fridge. She pulled out a bag of grapes, grabbed a cup, and filled it halfway.
When I finished, we went out the back door and sat at the small patio table.
We sat across from each other. I reached over, grabbed a grape from Jiselle’s cup, and tossed it into my mouth.
“Thank you for dinner and letting me tag along to your event,” she said after her first bite. “And for the purse.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
“That’s the second time you’ve called me that tonight,” she pointed out.
“And you don’t like it?”
“No. I like it. It’s cute.”
“Good.” I took a bite of my sandwich and nodded.
“Do you want kids?”
“What?” I blinked at her.
“Do you want kids?” she repeated.
“Of course. Do you?”
“Yeah. Stone and I think one or two could be nice.”
“You and Stone, huh?”
“Mhm.” She set her elbows on the table, clasped her hands, and rested her face on them. “We also talked about how I apparently have abandonment issues and think every man will be a cheater, liar ,and deadbeat in some way; so I want to make it clear that if you play with my fucking heart, Stone will stomp you out.”
I smirked. “I believe you.”
“Good. You should.”
“You know it’s okay to be soft with me, right?”
“Excuse me?”
“I love being slapped by you and I’d let you step on me and spit on me if you wanted without a second thought but if you ever just want to talk about your feelings without threats or acting aloof, I’m cool with that too,” I said simply.