Page 85 of Saving Forever
My head snaps up and I shake my head vehemently. “No! Never. Not like that.”
He visibly relaxes. “Okay, so what then?” Then he seems to have an idea what I’m trying not to tell him. “Wait, are you saying the sex was a little rough?”
“Not rough.” I rest a hand on my locker and look down. “Very…” What the hell is the word for impersonal? “Cold,” I finish quietly.
“Cold?” He looks confused for a beat but then nods. “Meaning, no romance? You were kind of in and out, worried about your own pleasure and not hers?”
“No. She had pleasure. I just…turned my back and went to sleep. No talk, no cuddle, nothing. My back.”
He winces. “Oh. Oh, shit, man. Why?”
“I do not know.”
“And this morning she was out of the house before you even woke up.”
“Yes.”
“Now I understand.” He looks thoughtful. “Okay, let’s think about this. You didn’t hit her or hurt her or say something mean, right?”
“No. I said almost nothing.”
“This is totally fixable. After practice, we’re going shopping.”
“Yes?” I stare at him in confusion.
He just smiles. “Obviously, you have a lot to learn about being married.”
“So much,” I agree sadly.
“Don’t worry. Really. What you did was kind of shitty but it’s not the end of the world.”
“I want to make up to her.”
“I’ve got you, buddy. Trust me.”
After practice, we head to a high-end mall not too far from the arena. The first stop is a jewelry store, where I leave with a beautiful tennis bracelet that I know she’s going to love. The next stop is a place I’ve never been to and have never even heard of.
Build-A-Bear.
Why the fuck am I going to build a bear?
But West is on a mission so we sit there and choose a very non-descript brown stuffed bear. Then I have to choose a heart that will be sewn inside.
It’s ridiculous, and I’m a little surly about it, but as we get into the process, I start to understand the point.
I choose a specific heart—which essentially represents my own—and then when I give her the bear, it will be like giving her a piece of my heart. The romantic part of it is both understated and beautifully poignant. Something I never would have thought of in a million years.
West is obviously much better at this relationship stuff than I am.
Because then we have to pick out clothes for the bear.
And they have hockey uniforms, right down to skates.
It’s as sweet as it is ridiculous but now that I’ve wrapped my head around the romance of the whole thing, I’m into it.
“One more stop,” West says as we exit the store. He also bought a bear for Serena, just as a way of showing her he loves her, but he chose a different hockey uniform, so they aren’t identical.
“Your last stop will be flowers,” he says, “but you don’t need me for that.”
