Three Little Words

She paused and gave it more thought. “Yeah, I do. I really think you’re The One. I know I shouldn’t tell you that, ’cause I don’t wanna scare you away or make you think I’m moving too fast, but… I dunno. I just know it’s right with you. And I know you feel the same.” She looked at me over her

shoulder.

“I do.”

“Not yet,” she joked. “We’re moving fast, but not that fast.”

“No,” I agreed. “But I don’t think we’re moving that fast. Besides, it took us a while—”

“It took you a while.”

“Fair enough. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted. But I’m glad I did.”

“Me too.” She sighed and leaned back against my chest. I cupped her breasts and squeezed her nipples, which made her wince. “Be gentle. They’re still a little tender.”

“Ah, right. Sorry.”

“I like it when you squeeze them, but you have to give them time to recover after you abuse them.”

“Got it.”

I wrapped my arms around her instead and then kissed the top of her head. She crossed her arms over mine, and we sat in silence for several minutes, until I looked out the window.

“It’s snowing.”

“Has been for a while,” she said. “Should be nice powder in the morning.”

“I hope Trip and Wren don’t have trouble getting here.”

“They shouldn’t. They keep the roads pretty clear, unless it’s a blizzard.”

She drank and then studied the light through the cut crystal. “I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately.”

“Wren?”

“Yeah. She really wants me to go all the way with you. I mean, it’s a full marketing campaign with her. So I started thinking about why. I mean, what does she get out of it? That’s when I realized you must’ve gone all the way.”

“Ah.”

“You probably know this already, but we tell each other everything. So I knew all about what you two had done… until last summer. Something was different between you, and she didn’t tell me about it.” She glanced back at me. “It just took me a while to understand what.”

“That’s something I don’t give you enough credit for,” I said. “You watch everything. And you figure out stuff on your own.”

“I try to. Sometimes it takes a while. And some things still don’t make

sense.”

“Oh? Anything I can clear up?”

“You can tell me all the things you’re holding back,” she suggested. “No, don’t. I don’t think I’m ready yet. I… have to get there on my own.” She chuckled at a thought. “My mom says I’m the most stubborn of all of us.”

“You probably are. You’re just like her, too, so you probably clashed.”

“We didn’t really. She’s… the exact opposite of Wren. She’s totally subtle. Not in a bad way, though. She has this… I dunno what to call it.”

“Soft power.”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“You’re the same,” I told her.

“I am not!”

“Oh yes you are. I can’t tell you how hard I had to resist when we were first dating. Every time you hinted or suggested or tried to get me to do something without saying so.”

“Is that why you make me ask for things?”

“Part of it. I don’t want you to feel guilty after—”

“Like Kendall.”

“Right. And I don’t mind you hinting and being subtle, but I want you to understand the difference between getting what you want and having it given to you.”

“You know,” she mused, “before I met you, I would’ve said those’re the same. But now I think I see what you mean. My mom gets what she wants, and she knows what she’s doing.”

I nodded.

“And if you’re right, and I do the same thing—but without realizing it—I never have to make a decision or take responsibility. That’s what you said bugged you about Kendall.”

“Exactly.” I had to suppress a chuckle as she swirled the ice and whiskey in her glass, the same way her father did when he was thinking.

“I’m glad you make me do it,” she said eventually. “It’s good for me.”

“I think so.”

“You still drive me crazy sometimes, and not in a good way.”

“Comes with the territory.”

“That’s what Marianne said, that marriage is a lot of compromises.

Something might bug you, but you live with it, ’cause there’s more you like than you don’t.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“And there are a million things I like about you, but only a few I don’t.

So… I compromise.”

“Same with me.”

“I still hate that you hide things from me, but I know you’ll tell me everything… eventually. It’s okay, though.” She gave me a sly look. “I have my secrets too.”

I totally took the bait. “Oh? Like what?”

“Like… I know that Trip must be like you and Wren. No way you’d’ve gone behind his back to sleep with her.”

“Um, no,” I said dryly.

“So he knew. Also, that comment you made about the size of his penis.”

She grinned back at me. “Bigger than a pencil. And it wasn’t like you’d seen it soft at camp or something. So… if I had to guess, you both slept with her.

Like, at the same time.”

“Well, we weren’t really sleeping.”

“Ha ha. You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do. And you’re right.” I studied her reaction as I said, “It doesn’t bother you?”