by Bri Stone
“I’m not opposed to turning.”
“We can turn over after.” I lick my lips, smirk at Melinda and scoot closer to her.
The afternoon sun is shining through my bedroom windows, a simple Monday afternoon after class. The day we agreed to do this. But, added a little something I’m terrified for. I’ve got cotton mouth, my huge hands a little trembly. I hide it by holding her thigh as I sit beside her.
The shorts she has on are barely there, her shirt—or technically my shirt—fits her like a dress, the yellow bouncing off her brown skin. Her tight curls are wild and free around her face, soft features and full, soft lips I never get tired of looking at. She widens her eyes at me, big brown globes that hypnotize me every time I get lost in them, but they won’t work now.
“Can we skip to that part?” she bites down on her bottom lip, bats her eyelashes with her timid expression. We never went over our sex history but it must have not been very good before me, her way of asking for it is kissing me a certain way, jutting her hips toward me when we’re lounging around or something.
“No, sweetness.” I take the box and set it in her lap, “here we go.” I take a deep breath.
Her hands go over the top, soft with two veins down the back that travel up to her forearm and disappear. Her fingernails are painted this pretty pale pink color, they skid across the cover as she moves to open it.
“Why are you so nervous?” she asks me, stopping.
“I’m not.” I lie, smiling at her.
She grins and shakes her head, “You are.” She traces the edge of my jaw with her fingertips, then cups my chin with her thumb just under my bottom lip.
“I’m… I’m excited for you. You can finally pick a school.”
“So, you can pick a team you don’t even like?”
I shake my head.
“Not really, I had to commit to one, that’s why I picked a central state. It’s you that’s compromising.”
“Do you even want to play for the Texans? I mean, medical schools here are great, and I applied to the Texas systems, but they aren’t—” her breath hitches.
“They aren’t your dream schools, I know that.”
“And you have to stay here, for the farm and your family too.” She curls her lips inwards.
“Yes, Melinda. But it shouldn’t be that hard. See where you got accepted, and then you decide. Don’t think about me, all I care about is your happiness, I can visit you. Farming isn’t year-round, neither is football. Anything is possible.”
She cups my face and leans in. “You sound very convincing.” Her warm breath kisses my lips and I smile at her.
“Because I mean it, I promise. Just open the box.” I swallow.
So many things could happen when she opens the box, I’m not prepared for all of them but I’m hoping of one. Dreaming of one. I sat on it for so long I feel like I have an ulcer. Before the draft, and after. My new agent Haley is great, worked with the talent scouts before she even signed me. I was first round pick for three teams, second and third round for up to twenty more. Melinda made me promise I would pick the team I wanted and not decide because of her, something about me making all the sacrifices and that she wanted to do this for me.
So, I tried to, and it wasn’t just for her.
The farm, my family, I have to be close to that too. And the Texans had me as a first-round pick for defensive end, it was a no-brainer, as was the lucrative contract. Minimum quarter of a million the first year with a twenty percent increase over five years. Everything I needed, and wanted, for my family and myself, I’ve got it.
All that’s left is my girl, her happiness, and our future together. I don’t take things like this lightly, not the way I was raised. This kind of commitment isn’t just a piece of jewelry, a statement, or even a promise. It’s sheer truth, at its origins and at the end. And I want it with her, I just hope she wants it with me too.
It passes in slow motion, when she pops the plastic top of the clear white box open, where a stack of her acceptance letters sit and have been for weeks. Along with it, my grandmother’s ring, on my mom’s side. My sisters pined over it, but as the son mom says I get to have it, and I honestly never thought I would use it until now. Until Melinda.
Her gasp is choked when she sees the ring, the cover drops in her lap and she lifts the ring. The band is pale gold, twined with etchings, and the diamond crowned in a gold cap, the size of her thumb, shiny and glinting in the sun.
Her fingers tremble so much, the ring falls through down into the box. She stutters and glances at me, her eyes glistening. I realize I’ve never seen her cry, I don’t know if she is about to now.
“Pete, what—what is this?” she whispers, her sweet voice barely audible.
I chuckle nervously, “A ring.”
She makes a face at me through her shock and it makes me laugh, only once. I tug at the collar of my shirt, like it’s suffocating me because I can barely breathe waiting on her.
“I know, I… I see that. Pete—” her lips roll at my name and I wince.
Melinda is unpredictable, more so in the beginning but she is better now. With me, at least. I have no idea what she’ll say to this—that we’re young, that she has to focus on medical school now—she could say anything.
“Don’t think about it too much, Melinda. I know it seems scary, but,” I move closer to her, lifting the ring in my stubby thumb and forefinger and taking her hand in the other.
“I love you, so much. And you love me too, yeah?” I peer down at her, tilting my head to find her gaze.
“Yeah.” She nods, swallows through her tight throat and licks her lips.
“So, that’s what this is. You’re the love of my life, Melinda. I want you to be my wife, I want to marry you.”
“I—” her voice croaks.
I’m afraid she’ll cut and run away, but I have better faith that she won’t do that. Time. She needs time. I’ll sit here as long as she needs it, tension floods from her shoulders at every second. And soon she looks back at the ring again, her eyes brighter than before. I know she is excited, she looks at chemistry homework the same way. She looks at me that way. I know I don’t know everything about her, I know we still have plenty of hoops to jump through, but she has to know I’m here for regardless of the other side.
Her eyes fly to mine and I smile at her.
“I can’t believe it.” She whispers.
“You should. It’s true.” My smile widens.
“I believe you… I just don’t know why. Why you would want me.” she shakes her head.
I drop my hand in her lap, her hand wraps around my wrist as I hold the ring. Staring down at our hands for a minute, I gather my words and look back into her eyes.
Our lips are inches away, so I kiss her, the softness of her lips wrap around mine and I suck her lips, my tongue slides over her lips and onto her tongue, tasting her minty, fruity taste that floods my body before we pull apart.
“I want you because you’ve made me better, since I have met you I’ve only ever been all about you. My life started that ordinary day in the gas station, you give me life, Melinda. And I want to share all of it with you. As your husband, with you as my wife. I want us to belong to each other because I love you. When I feel like I don’t have anything left, it feels absurd when I think of you because when I have you, I’ve got everything I need.” I scoot closer to her and take both her hands in mine, the ring pinching my palm.
“And I love you because of how strong you are, but even knowing that you still let me hold you, and you lean on me even when you don’t want to. Sometimes it’s just to humor me but I still appreciate it. I love that even when you’re afraid, you still push forward, and conquer everything. Including love, you love me, Melinda Charles. And I love you. So—”
I uncurl our hands and take her left hand in mine. I kiss her palm and she inhales sharply, her breath rising. I slide the ring over her finger, lucky that it fits well enough. She watches it glint in the sun and I watch her glow
with it on her finger.
“Take this ring, Melinda. And marry me. Maybe not soon or even next year. But you will be my wife, someday. Any day. I will always have you.” I kiss her hand over her ring and she squeezes my hand.
“Pete, you’re so crazy.” She extends her hand and looks at the ring.
I rub her elbow and scoot closer to her, my chest rubbing over her shoulder.
“Yes, for you. You have to say yes, so I can hold it against you.”
She giggles and nods. I poke at her lip, “Audibly.” I chuckle.
“Yes, Pete. I will marry you.”
I think I might be the one to cry now. My smile and laugh fill the room and I carry her in my lap to kiss her, the papers getting thrown everywhere on the bed between us as I carry her in my lap. Her arms wrap tight around my shoulders, I slide my hands up her soft thighs, her slender waist, where I stop and hold her tight to me.
Her breasts pillow on my chest, her lips tighten around mine. My tongue slides over hers, as the kiss deepens and she tilts her head to feel me deeper. Her hips drive into mine and her warmth seeps right through to my cock in my thin basketball shorts. My body reacts to hers so easily, we were just at it this morning before class yet here we are, bodies molding to each other, hearts throbbing for each other. I lose my breath in her and pull apart to catch it.
“I said we turn over after.” I chuckle. I cup her cheek; my thumb traces her rosy cheek as my fingers twist in her hair at the nape of her neck. She holds my hand and turns her head to kiss my palm.
My hands drop to around her waist.
“I know,” she sighs, absently picking at the envelopes.
Some are big and some are normal sized, but I doubt any of them are rejections.
“Okay, so let’s pick a place.”
“A place?” Melinda gapes and I smirk at her. “It’s medical school. Four years to become a doctor, so I can become a surgeon. It isn’t just a place—it’s a huge stepping block to the next big step that I need. It’s stressful.” She huffs.
I smile at her cuteness, her bottom lip protruding as her brows furrow. My thumb presses her lip before I tug her hair behind her ear.
“I know. But, you only applied to places you want to go. So open all of them, see what they said. And pick one.”
“There are a few in Texas.” She mumbles, I want to be glad she said that but I don’t want her to make that sacrifice.
“Yes, but that’s not your first choice.” I find the envelope with the Harvard seal on it.
“This is.” I hand her the bigger envelope.
She grabs it, shifting off my lap and crossing her legs. I adjust myself in my shorts, feeling the flush in my face as I do. Melinda giggles at me, her eyes slowly dragging from the shape of my cock in my shorts to my face.
“Open it—the letter.” I nudge her knee.
She fakes a frown at me, turns the envelope in her hands and takes a deep breath. She doesn’t tell me what it says until she reads the whole thing—accepted. Then she does that over and over for all ten of the letters. Not one rejection, as I predicted. Maybe that would have made it easier.
“Can we take a break?” Melinda stands up and stretches out, her thighs tightening as she yawns, her nipples peeking through the shirt. “I can’t decide now.”
“Uh huh.” I smirk.
We spent hours, she took her time. The sun is going down, I’m famished. I stand and place my hands around her waist.
“We can eat.” I kiss her forehead
She presses her palm on my chest, her now ringed hand, I take it and smile at it on her finger.
“Do you like it?” I realized I hadn’t asked her.
“Yes, I love it,” she whispers, her eyes training on it.
“It was my grandmother’s. My mom gave it to me over Christmas.”
Her brows raise, “You waited that long?”
“Yeah, I wanted it to be right.” I shrug my shoulders.
She lays her arms on my shoulders and reaches up on her tip-toes to kiss my cheek.
“Thank you, Pete.” Her hands cup my face and smile at me.
“You’re welcome, sweetness. I love you.” I kiss her, wondering when I might hear those words from her.
When we pull apart she swallows and licks her lips. She pulls away and looks at the ring again. I smile, happier than I thought I could be.
“I love you too.” She exhales deeply, her breath falling in short gasps. She smiles up at me, her eyes glistening again. “You… changed my life Pete, I don’t want to miss out on that without you. And I am afraid, of a lot of things. But not of us anymore, I want to marry you. Sooner rather than later.”
I laugh and hug her tight, lifting her up as she squeals and hangs tight on me and I spin her around. I kiss her like the sun is never setting, like the fields will never end.
“You still surprise me.” I chuckle against her lips.
“Well, here I go again. Before med school, I want to do it before I leave. And—” she wiggles out of my arms and I set her down. Then she goes scrambling around the bed and picks out one letter.
“I picked a school.”
“Yeah?” I smile, taking the envelope. She drops to her knees on the bed and looks up at me as I read the seal.
“UT Med? You would give up—”
“No, not give up.” she interjects, “I’m choosing. To have it all, with you. So, UT Med. And an August wedding.”
I laugh, “Surprised again. Whatever you want Melinda.”
I drop the letter and take her instead. In my arms, lips on hers, her arms around me.
There is so much happiness I could explode. I throw her over my shoulder, she squeals out loud as I run out of the room and bang on Jim and Daniel’s doors. We meet in the living room, and I tell them the good news. They take turns lifting Melinda and congratulating her, by the time they are finished she has had enough manhandling.
“Let’s go out and celebrate. Not much to do here, but we’ll find something.” Daniel suggests, and we all agree.
“Yeah,” I lift Melinda again and she laughs. “Let’s leave in a few hours.”
I run her back up to our room without a second breath.
PETE
* * *
Melinda has her hands on my face, I’ve gotten good at pretending I am asleep, so I can feel her do this to me and remember it.
She must not know I’m a light sleeper because she’ll touch me once and it will bring me out of my sleep. In the middle of the night too, she stirs around sometimes, and I wake up tug her in my arms and then she’ll go back to sleep. Then these times, she wakes up before me, traces my face or my chest, or both. I think she likes my lips particularly, as her fingers trail around there the longest. The pad of her finger dips to the lining of my lips as she drags it across, I keep my breath slow and even until my morning wood turns into the real deal. We’re naked, from last night. As we might have been every night since April, when the deadline to actually leave became a real thing.
Graduation passed, my mom cried, Melinda merged in with all our families and it was great—food, joy, family—and then my mandatory minicamp in June came, and she went with me. It was fun, hiding her up in the hotel until I came home beaten and bruised. The NFL is no joke. I had rookie transition and then July was kept clear. I showed Melinda all of Waco she hadn’t seen before, we took weekends away twice, stayed in the house, chilled with Jim and Daniel. Had a lot of ‘we’re leaving soon’ sex and kept our days on repeat. Preseason week one is in two weeks, the wedding is in one week. Mom has been planning her tail off with it, I see all the updates when I’m back on the farm to help. Melinda even helps, I taught her everything, the only thing she won’t do is the pig pen. Says she loves bacon too much.
The memory makes me smile and I give myself away, she knows I’m up now.
“Pete,” she rubs herself on my side. I stir even more, the tension in my lower belly waking me all the way up.
I open my eyes to her; a sleepy haze
doesn’t even cloud her beautiful brown eyes from me.
“Melinda. Good morning.” I cup her face and kiss her.
“Do you think I’m smart?” her lips play at a smile as she sits up on her elbow.
I want to answer, my words are caught in my throat, when I see her breasts sway and nipples harden from the cold air.
“Uh, yeah I think you’re brilliant. Why?” I lift my hips, the tip of my cock laying on my stomach pokes her thigh laid over my pelvis.
She curls her lips, her eyes dancing across my face. “You pretend to be asleep. Every morning.” She giggles.
My lips drop, I’m lost for words.
“Well, I feel not so smart.” I murmur.
She giggles, the sound is glorious to me. She lifts my head on the pillow, I move my arms around her waist, tracing down to the dip of her back.
“That’s okay. I know you’re smart.” I smile, we both graduated Magna Cum Laude, though she was way higher up than me. And she isn’t just book smart.
“It’s my favorite part, that’s why I still do it.” She sighs.
“What?” my smile is lazy, looking at her I catch the glint in her eyes.
“Waking up next to you, every morning. I can remind myself that—” her breath trails off.
“What, sweetness?” I lift up to cup her cheek, my thumb tracing her cheekbone.
“That you’re real.” Her left hand comes between us and she traces her ring. “That it’s all real.” She smiles with her lips compressed.
“It is, I’ll make sure it always is.” I kiss her, our fuzzy mouths making for a sloppy kiss before we pull apart.
“I know.” she sits up, not shy anymore at being around me in all states. My eyes follow her all the way to the bathroom before she swings the door shut.
I smile to myself, then check my phone. Mom has ideas for cake, the guys want to finish packing up some stuff, and my sisters are once again hounding me to basically kidnap Melinda for a day. I know she can handle it, I just don’t want to ask.
When I send appropriate replies, I get up and stretch, yawn a lot too. Melinda is in the shower when I go in to piss and brush my teeth, she’s humming to herself, some song I don’t know. It makes me smile, all the domesticity between us, the ease and comfort. It feels like a million suns to have really found my soul mate, absolutely.