186 Miles (22 page)

He
hooked his thumbs into the strings of my thong and tugged them over my hips,
drawing them down.  I squirmed. 

“Relax,
Ray,” he warned. 

I
missed him so much.

For
approximately one minute, possibly less, he teased me with his tongue.  That
was how long it took before I screamed out a climax that was more intense than
I had ever experienced in my
entire life
. 
Sixty seconds.
 

Vince
propped up on his elbow, looking oh-so-proud of himself.  He smacked me on the
hip and gave a short laugh.  “You alright, babe?”

I
stared at the ceiling, panting and basking in the aftermath of my freakishly breakneck
orgasm.  I gave him a thumbs-up.

“Come
on, then.  Food,” he said, bouncing on the edge of the bed.

I
put my arm over my eyes, trying to catch my breath.  “Vince?” I breathed.

“Yesss?”

“Thank
you,” I drawled, rolling over onto my stomach.  I spread my arms wide, nestling
into the pillow.

He
grabbed me by the waist.  “Up you go, lazy.  Put some clothes on so we can
eat.”  He smacked me on the bottom.

I
growled.  “Oh,
now
you want to eat?”

“Lady,
come on.  I mean it,” he teased.  “I need you to fuel up.  I’ve got plans for
what you’re going to do to me later.”

I
turned and smiled at him.  “But you need your
rest
,” I whined.

“Are
you serious right now?”  He nabbed my dress from the floor and threw it at me. 
“If you don’t get up, I’m going to withhold all sexual activities from here on
out.”

I
swung my legs over the side.  “Fine.  What do you want me to make?”

*

“Jack
and Elsa want to come this weekend,” Vince announced after dinner.

“Is
that right?”

I
smiled at him.  When they were at the hospital, it was obvious that
something
was going on, but when Elsa finally broke, I
still
couldn’t wrap my head
around their news to save my life. 
Getting married?
  She hadn’t even
told me that they were really
together
.

“How
did my mom take it?” he asked. 

“She
didn’t seem surprised, oddly enough.  It’s totally nuts, right?”

“I
guess.  Kind of.  Jack’s always been pretty spontaneous though.”  He wrapped
his arms around me and leaned in for a kiss.  “Want to go outside and sit on
the patio?  We haven’t done that in a while.”

“Yeah,”
I said.  “Let me go change though.  I need yoga pants or something.”

*

We
sat on the loveseat together.  He leaned on my shoulder and leisurely rubbed my
stomach. 

“You’re
feeling better,” I speculated.

He
sat up.  “Ray?”

“Yeah?” 

Oh,
boy.  He looked serious.

“Do
you think you’ll want to marry
me
someday?  I know I said I wouldn’t ask
again, and I’m not, but… after the accident, I’ve just been thinking…”

I
cut him off.  “Yes.”

He
stood from the sofa and dropped to his knees in front of me. 

Oh
God, oh God, oh God… please don’t ask me now.

He
buried his head in my lap and dug his fingers into the tops of my thighs.  I
winced.  My stitches were still healing.

“Seriously?”
he whispered.

“Don’t
ask me yet.”

“What?” 
He looked confused.

“Just
trust
me.  I won’t make you wait long, I promise, but you can’t ask
today.”

His
face lifted.  “Soon, then.”

It
was silly.  A formality.

He
leaned in and kissed me roughly, biting my bottom lip.  “I can’t wait.”

*

Work
on Monday was a hustle.  I went from one meeting straight into the next. 
Everyone came by my desk to ask about the accident.  Word had spread fast. 

So
glad to hear that you and your husband are okay
.  I heard this more than once.

Lauren
sent me an I.M. around 4. 

Get
in here.  I want to talk to you for a sec.

I
walked into her office a few minutes later.  She motioned for me to close the
door.  I took a seat across from her.

“What’s
up?”

“You
and Vince?  How is he?”

“He’s
good.  Well, he seems fine.”

“You
ready?”

I
paused.  “Yeah, I
guess
, right?”

I
had told her my intentions.

“Oh,
God, Rach… this is fucking huge.  What do you think he’ll say?”

I
scrubbed my face with my hands.   “I hope
yes
.”

“What
about you?  You look stressed.”

“Here’s
what I’m stressed about.”  I took my voice down to a whisper.  “I think most of
these people here think that it was
Ryan
that was in the accident with
me.  Does no one remember the email that went out about him, you know… dying?”

She
lifted her hand, gesturing with her middle finger.  “Ah, fuck these bitches. 
Go.  You’ve got a date.”

 I
stood up and straightened my dress.  “Wish me luck.”

*

My
hands were swollen. 
Fuck.
  I tugged and pulled at the ring on my finger
for five minutes.  Soap, lotion, twisting. 
Finally!

I
studied it for a few minutes and gave it one final cleaning before placing it
in a little velvet pouch.  I arranged it in the back of my jewelry box.

What
to wear.  I changed out of my black work dress into a sleeveless, ivory lace one
with a scalloped hemline.  It had a deep V in the back and was
crazy
short. 
I pulled on a pair of orange patent leather wedges.  Clipping a matching orange
accent pin in my hair, I reapplied my lip gloss for the millionth time.

I
was a wreck.  I had moisturized, coiffed, waxed, planned… but my nerves were
shot.  This was the night that would change our lives forever.

*

“Vince?”
I yelled.

“Coming,”
he responded, hobbling out of the office.  I knew his boot was uncomfortable.

Ugh. 
Why was I so nervous? 
 I
straightened my dress and took in a few deep breaths.

“Hurry. 
We’re going to be late.”

I
checked my lip gloss in the mirror again, keys in hand. 

“Where
are we going?”

“It’s
a surprise,” I responded.

“I’m
excited.”  He smiled.

“Let
me grab a jacket really fast.” 

I
went to the front closet and pulled my thin, black leather jacket from the
hanger.  It was cropped and adorned with grommets.  I loved it and hadn’t worn
it since last spring.  It fit like a glove. 

“Wow,
you look fantastic.  That dress is…”  He didn’t finish the sentence.  He just
smiled, flashing his dimple.  He looked so
amazing
.

“Thanks. 
So do you.”  I clutched the front of his shirt and pressed a soft kiss to his
lips.  “Every girl will be jealous of me tonight.”

It
was typical for a late September evening in Indiana; cool and a bit crisp. 
Vince was wearing dark jeans with cuffs, a white Breeders t-shirt, boots (well,
one boot) and a black slim fit leather jacket. 
We matched!

I
armed the alarm and held my hand out for him to take.  I laced my fingers in his
and held our clasped hands with my free one.  I didn’t want to let him go for
even one minute.

I
opened his door for him and waited for him to get settled, helping arrange his
foot.  I bent down and pressed a light kiss to his lips.  “I love you.”

He
cupped my face in his hands.  “I love you too.  So much.”

*

We
drove to the park just a few miles from our house.

“What
are we doing here?” he asked.

“You’ll
see.  Come on.”  I walked over to his side and opened the door.  Stopping at
the trunk, I popped the lid and grabbed a packed bag and two low seat beach
chairs.

The
closer we got, the more people there were.  Chairs were strewn throughout the grass.

I
took the chairs and opened them, positioning them towards the back of the
crowd.  “Let’s sit back here.  More private.”

There
was a huge screen mounted to the side of the fence.  “A movie?”

“Yes.” 

Once
he was settled in his chair, I dug in the bag and produced a blanket.  I laid
it on top of both of our legs.  “In case you get cold.”  He shuffled his chair
closer to mine.  “Oh, I almost forgot!”

I
dug back in the bag and brought out a bottle of champagne and two plastic
cups.  I popped the plastic stopper and poured us each a glass. 

“Are
we celebrating?” he asked, nudging my arm.

“Oh,
yes,” I teased.

We
talked for a few minutes when the screen came to life.

He
turned to me, recognizing the opening right away.  It was
Scott Pilgrim vs.
The World
.  Vince and I had seen it a few months back on cable and had both
insanely loved it.  When I told him that I thought it was the most romantic
film I had ever seen, he laughed at me.  We constantly quoted it to each
other.  Sometimes, he would call me his “Ramona.” 

He
squeezed my hand.  “Oh my God, did
you
do this?”

“You
mean, did I rent out the whole park so that we could watch this movie
together?  No.”  I laughed.  “I got a Nuvo and saw that it was playing here
tonight.  I guess I thought it was a sign.”  I handed him a big bag of
Skittles.  “Your favorite.”

He
laid his head on my shoulder.  “You are
so
getting some tonight, Stephens.” 
He rubbed his thumb over my ring finger, as he often did.  “Hey,” he said, his
face soft.  “You took it off.”

I
nodded and stared at the screen, pushing back a lump in my throat.  I was
ending
it with Ryan.  I would always have our memories, but that was the last piece
tying us together.  Once I took that ring off, I could forget.

After
the movie, we gathered our things and trudged back to the car.  Vince held my
hand.  I could tell his foot was bothering him.

“Rachel?”

I
turned, recognizing the voice. 
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Trent,
hi!  Hillary!”