AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I glance at Asher. Sex on a barrel in a barn is probably more up his alley.
Grace asks if I’d like a drink, and I nod. “Whatever you’re having.” I nod toward her half-empty glass of red, and I know whatever it is, it’s a Newlywed, and I’ll love it.
Just like I love her.
It’s getting stronger and stronger by the day, and as much as I’m excited to start another season with a new team…I’m dreading the moment I’m going to have to leave her.
We’ve grown close over the last few weeks, in part because of the amount of time we’ve been blessed with. That’s inevitably going to change when we’re away from each other for large portions of time. We’re going to shift to long-distance, and given the inception of our marriage, I can’t help but wonder what it’s going to do to us.
I hope it brings us closer. I fear it’ll push us apart.
I guess that’s sort of what turning thirty is all about. New fears, new pressures, new anxieties. It’s all about how I choose to deal with them.
Asher calls me an old man. Lincoln teases me even though he’s approaching forty. Grayson says he doesn’t feel a day over twenty-five.
My mom chats up Grace at the bar as she grabs me a glass of wine, and I notice Amelia is absent from this party. I’m curious what my family would’ve thought of her, though I know for sure they wouldn’t love her the way they love Grace.
It’s just the right fit.
She brings that glass of red and a wrapped box. “Open your present,” she demands after she hands me both.
I set my glass on the table beside me after I take a sip. “You threw me this party, Gracie. You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Open it,” she goads.
“We didn’t sing and eat cake yet,” I protest.
“I’m too excited for you to see what I got you for all that.”
I chuckle, curious enough to buck tradition to see what it is. And when I open it, I find a scrapbook inside with a printed page inserted in the front.
Spencer’s 30 Adventures for His 30th Year.
My brows crinkle together as I open to the first page.
Cooking Lessons for Two at Crow San Diego. Beneath the words, I find two tickets to the lessons she’s referring to.
I flip to the next page. A Hike in the Mountains. Run a 5K. Go Camping. Go on a Road Trip. Build a Sandcastle. Have a Picnic. Learn a New Skill. Lego Master Builder Competition. Ride a Roller Coaster. Unplug for a Day. Volunteer. Plant a Garden.
I glance through the pictures she chose to represent each new thing, which is always on the right side of the page, and the left side of the page is blank for us to add in our photos from whenever we complete each task.
“Grace, this is so thoughtful,” I say as I continue flipping through each new thing.
And with every flip of the page, I can’t help but think about how I want to do these things with her.
I’d love to head back toward Vegas and hike with just her. I’d love to keep running with her and eventually get to the point where we can run a 5K together. Camping? A road trip? Hell yeah. And the idea of a Lego competition against her is an actual turn-on.
She’s grinning when I look up at her. “I can’t wait to do each thing in there together.”
I reach for her and hook my palm around her neck, pulling her closer to me. “Neither can I.”
It’s blissful as we both revel in these feelings. We laugh the night away with my family. We munch on flatbread, and we drink too much wine, and when the evening draws to a close and our final guests leave, I take my wife back to the bungalow that feels like home now and thank her in the only way I know how.
Naked.
And then she gives me another birthday treat.
Head.
