In answer she held up her left hand that had a thin gold band with one square-cut diamond on it.
“Oh my God!” We both squealed and everyone stared.
“He finally popped the question. It’s not going to be for a while, but at least I have a ring on my finger.”
“It’s about time!” I gave her a huge hug. “Does this mean you’re moving out of your craptastic apartment?”
“I’ve been looking for nicer places, and I think I found one. I’ll have to take on another job, but I think we can swing it.”
“Good for you, being all adult-like.”
“Maybe you’ll be next. They say one wedding brings on another. Maybe one engagement brings on another, too.”
“I don’t think so. Marriage isn’t really our thing.”
“Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes.
We chatted about my night with Hunter, with me giving her a few details about our night.
“So it was good?”
“I can’t really imagine it getting better.”
“Oh, it will. Top is the best. Trust me.”
“I’ll put that on the list of things to try.”
“You have a list?” she asked.
“No, but I’m sure Hunter does.”
We both laughed.
“Boys. They always have that on the brain.”
We giggled some more as she finished her fries and we went to our class. I gave her a few whispered details, and she told me more about her wedding plans while a movie rolled and we pretended to take notes. I had a hard time focusing. All I could think about was being naked with Hunter, and how I wanted to be naked with him again.
I beat him to human sex, so I got out my e-reader and pretended to be engrossed in whatever I was trying to read. I didn’t even know what it was.
“Miss Caldwell,” a voice said next to me, making me grin uncontrollably. I stifled it.
“Mr. Zaccadelli. How wonderful to see you again.”
“What brings you here on this lovely day?” He moved past me and sat down, giving me a kiss on the cheek. My lips wanted more, but I didn’t want to look like a slut.
“I am here to study the sexual practices of humans. How about you?”
“The same. What a coincidence.”
“Isn’t it?” He kissed my cheek again.
“Hey, baby.”
“Hey.”
“I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”
He twisted our fingers together as Marjorie walked in and started class.
If I’d thought I’d had a hard time focusing without Hunter in a class, it was even worse when he was there. He kept whispering to me, touching me and making me remember the night before.
“Will you stop it?” I hissed as I tried to take notes, and he stuck his tongue in my ear.
“Why, does this bother you?”
“You are interfering with my learning, Mr. Zaccadelli.”
“That’s the point, Miss Caldwell.”
“I’m going to have to report you to Marjorie.”
“Go ahead. I’m sure she would approve of us having a healthy sex life.”
I gave him a good pinch on his leg.
“Next time, I’m pinching something else.”
“Maybe I’m into that.”
I ended it there and went back to my note-taking. “You are a bad influence, Mr. Zaccadelli,” I said when class ended.
He nodded. “I try to be, Miss Caldwell.” He dove toward me and gave me a huge kiss. I heard someone make a noise of disgust behind us.
“Ready to go?” he said.
“Sure.”
I walked him to the library, where he had his shift, and then I went back to the apartment.
“Sweet Jesus, is she alive?” Renee said as I walked through the door.
“Barely.” Through the day, I’d become more sore, especially with sitting down so often. I’d taken some pain medication, but I still had a twinge every time I moved.
“Details, now,” she said, pointing to the one end of the couch that wasn’t covered in notebooks and textbooks.
“Where’s Paul?”
“He had a geology seminar, and don’t change the subject.”
“Dare?”
“At work.” I sat down with a minimum amount of pain. “Little sore, are we?”
I blushed and nodded.
“Good for you. Means you did it right. I cried after my first time, but that’s probably because I was fifteen and we had no idea what the hell we were doing.” I couldn’t imagine. “You were smart to wait.”
“How did you know —?”
“Sweetie, I’m not a moron. You had virgin written all over you.” I’d never actually come out and told them, but I guessed it must have been obvious.
“So, how was it?”
“Good,” I said, smiling. Hunter would have been mad at me. Good really wasn’t the word to describe it, but I didn’t want to share our special moment with anyone.
“Oh, it had to be more than good.”
“Maybe it was.”
“As I said, just let me know when I need earplugs. This is your place and I’d hope if I brought Paul here, you’d be cool with that.” I’d have to be.
“Sure.”
“Great.” She shut her book with a slam. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Nene.”
“God, that nickname is never going to die.”
“I’m baby now, so I know how you feel.”
“Ooohh, baby. That’s so cute.”
“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
“Just Hunter.”
“Not even him.”
“Good girl. You wear the pants.”
“I do.”
“Have you seen your doctor yet?”
“Uh, no.”
“But you’re on the pill, right?”
“Yeah.” I’d had horrible PMS since I was much younger, so as soon as I could I got on the pill to regulate my hormones. I’d been taking it for so long that it was second nature.
“Well, just be careful. Urinary tract infections are not fun.”
“Ew.”
“Cranberry juice is in the fridge. Go see your gyno. That’s all you have to do. I’m just looking out for your vaginal welfare.” That made me blush.
“Thanks.”
“Anytime, girl.”
She nodded and went back to homework, as if we hadn’t just been talking about my vaginal welfare. I made a note to call my doctor to set up an appointment. You could never be too safe.
I figured homework was a good idea for me as well, so I got a bunch of mine done while Hunter was gone. My comforter was still damp, so I went and threw it in the wash downstairs. I was still going to buy another, because the blood hadn’t completely come out.
By the time he got back from work, it was dinner time and Paul was over. Mase had decided to join us before he picked Darah up from work.
“So, we have an announcement to make,” Hunter said, grabbing my hand and holding it up for the world to see. “We are together. Aren’t we, baby?”
“As long as you stop calling me baby.”
“You know you love it.”
“Not really.”
“Okay, okay, enough with the cute, we get it,” Renee said.
“Aw, come on, Ne. Be nice,” Paul said.
“I think it’s great. Welcome to the family, Tay.” Mase gave me a huge hug. “Not that you weren’t already a part of it, but I know Hope will be thrilled and Harper will be over the moon.”
“Thanks.”
Hunter pulled me to his chest, rocking me back and forth and giving me another kiss. It was like we couldn’t get enough of each other.
“Okay, dinner. I’ve got rice and veggies and teriyaki sauce. So it looks like stir fry. Anyone have objections?” Hunter said.
We all shook our heads.
“Stir fry it is.”
Hunter divvied up the tasks, giving me the task of chopping peppers. I was really good at it, apparently. We all bustled around the kitchen, knocking into one another and laughing and generally making a mess.
When we finally sat down, it was pretty late for dinner. Hunter claimed the recliner, and I claimed his lap. Hey, it was the best seat in the house.
My phone buzzed with a text from Tawny. I read it, but it wasn’t anything major.
“You okay?” Hunter hadn’t seen the text.
“Yeah, fine. I just have to call her later.”
“What are you whispering about over there?” Renee said, pointing her fork at us.
“Your mom,” I said.
“Hey, don’t you dare insult my mother.”
“Oh, but it’s fine for you to?” I said.
“You didn’t have to spend eighteen years of your life with her.”
“True story,” I said.
I missed Hunter in the shower, but I just didn’t feel comfortable doing that when Renee and Paul were in the living room studying. Hunter also had a lot of work for econ that he’d been putting off. We had another of our study sessions after my shower.
“You know, if I copied my notes onto your skin, I bet I would learn them a whole lot better,” he said.
“You’d have to write really, really small. There’s not a lot of me to write on.”
“Oh, I’m sure I’d find room.”
“I’m going to go back to studying now.”
“Me too.”
Somehow, we both went back and got some more work done. Darah ducked her head in, saying hello and that she was happy for us. She was exhausted and Mase decided to stay the night with her, and Paul was taking Renee back to his place.