Textual Relations

by Cate Ashwood

  “Apparently. Calvin’s on his way over. I’ll call and ask him to pick up a few bottles on his way.”

  “Or we could announce last call and kick everyone out so I can give you your birthday present.” His voice was dripping with suggestion.

  “You already gave me my birthday present,” I said, remembering my shock when I’d opened up the box containing the vagina needlepoint. Once the laughter had subsided, he’d given me my real gift. It was every book Dalton Fellows had ever written, and while I was unwrapping them, he hung the needlepoint on the wall in our front entrance.

  “This is your other birthday present.”

  I quirked one eyebrow. “Is it a blowjob?”

  He took a step back and hit me with the dish towel. “Why you gotta go and ruin the surprise like that?”

  “What if I promised to act surprised later?” I teased.

  “All right. I suppose that will do.” Asher kissed me before heading back out into the living room. I called Calvin, then finished up with the peppers, adding them to the dish and throwing it all in the oven.

  When I ventured back out, Megan and her new boyfriend had arrived. She kissed my cheek in greeting. “Happy birthday, Henry.” She handed me a little box wrapped in bright orange paper. “It’s just a little something to brighten up your kitchen.

  I thanked her and she introduced me to Andy. They’d only been dating a short time, but the look in her eyes? It reminded me of how I felt when Asher and I had first met: excitement and lust mixed with a healthy dash of fear. It was a good look on her.

  So much had transpired in the year since my last birthday. I’d met and fallen in love with the man of my dreams—or rather the man I’d never dreamed of—and come out to the rest of my family and my friends. That had actually been rather anticlimactic.

  After a moment of initial shock, my parents smiled and told me they were happy if I was happy. I think the fact that Asher had brought my mother flowers and my father a bottle of scotch helped soften the blow, but one evening spent with him and they were as in love as I was.

  Megan had been the most understanding of all. She told me that she had her suspicions when I’d brought up my “student” who needed advice, but like my parents, she wanted me to be happy.

  I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something horrible to happen to offset the good in my life. It almost seemed unfair that our lives had meshed together so smoothly, that I’d found a career I loved in a city I loved and after a little trial and error, a man I loved.

  Asher pointed out that it had taken me a solid thirty-two years to get to that place, so he figured I’d put in my time.

  Midway through the fall, we’d realized that Asher never went home anymore. Most of his belongings had migrated to my place, and so after a brief discussion over a couple of plates of spaghetti Bolognese, we’d hired a realtor.

  Asher had insisted my house would be fine for us, but I wanted to start new with him, to find a place that was ours together. It took a couple of months to find the perfect one, but eventually, we’d made an offer on a three-bedroom fixer-upper a few blocks from the university and only a five-minute drive from the rec center.

  So here we were, one gutted kitchen, a set of hardwood floors, two new bathrooms, and three coats of paint later, surrounded by everyone we loved, having a birthday-slash-housewarming party.

  I’d never been happier.

  Cate discovered her love for books of all kinds early on, but romance is where her heart truly lies. She is addicted to the happily ever afters and the journey the characters take to get there. Currently residing in White Rock, B.C, Cate loves living just a stone's throw from the ocean. When she's not writing, she can be found consuming coffee at an alarming rate while wrangling her children, her husband, and their two cats.

  Cate loves to hear from readers. You can contact her at cateashwood@gmail.com or on her website http://www.cateashwood.com.

  If you’d like to get up-to-date information, exclusive excerpts and content, and giveaways, be sure to sign up for Cate’s Newsletter.