“Oh, the clothing definitely came off for this one,” I told her. “And damn, is he ever chiseled. Like, I knew I looked good, but when I saw him, I felt like I had to get to the gym and tone up a bit. You know?”
“That good. Damn, girl, I’m happy for you,” Raya said. “Did you happen to ever ask if he has any brothers?”
I laughed at her joke. She knew he didn’t have any siblings. It was one of the first things we talked about when I told her about him in the first place. But, she was clearly happy for me, which I knew she would be, and she was even more interested when I told her we went fishing on Saturday.
“I wound up asking him if he wanted to spend the night, and he did. He made me breakfast the next morning, and when I asked if he wanted to hang out longer, he said that he was going to spend some time with his buddy, but that he wanted me to come along so I could meet his friend.”
“Really? Already having you coming to meet the buddies? Hell yeah!” Raya pumped her fist in the air as she spoke. “That’s the way to get them. So when do I get to meet him?”
“I’m thinking about that,” I told her. “I want you to meet him soon. With how I feel about this guy, I would really like to hear what you think of him before I really get in farther than I can handle.”
“If you like him, that’s all that matters,” she told me.
“I do like him, I like him an awful lot. I haven’t told Mom yet about how fast we’re moving, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to be happy for us when she finds out. She was the one who brought the two of us together in the first place, so I’m sure she’s not going to be surprised when she learns that we practically live together now,” I said.
“You might want to leave that part off. I mean, if your mom is still like she was back in the day, she might not want to hear that you are suddenly all over each other. Does she still ask you about the pact?”
“Sometimes. I’m not sure if she’s going to with Trevor in the picture, or if she’s going to give me the privacy of letting me be an adult in that aspect. It’s hard to tell at times, but I’m just going to take it in stride. My mom wants me to be happy, I know that, and I know she already likes Trevor, or she wouldn’t have introduced the two of us,” I said.
“Right.” Raya nodded. “Tell her to get out there and find me a guy who will come in and sweep me off my feet, too!”
“He’s not exactly done that.” I laughed. “I mean, I’m far too independent to let him be the one to do that. I’ll be doing the sweeping, thank you.”
“Just not the floors. Sweeping your feet,” Raya said.
I laughed.
“Right.”
We continued to chat for a while longer about how things were going with Trevor, but it wasn’t long before I turned the conversation to her. I could happily talk about Trevor all day long, but I didn’t want to be that woman who got into a relationship and all of a sudden didn’t have a life outside of that relationship.
I had just got done telling her how independent I was, and I wanted to follow that with showing her I was still very much me and very much interested in what she had going on in her life. So, I wasn’t going to spend the entire time talking about this man who was quickly becoming my boyfriend. Not when I would rather hear more about her week and what was going on in her dating life.
Of course, with Raya, things were very much the same week after week. For someone who was always on the go and always doing something, she didn’t seem to make very much progress in her life overall. She was happy to just keep living with the same roommates she’d had since college and keep going to her job day after day.
I wanted to tell her to try doing something out of the ordinary, but it was difficult to talk to Raya about things like that without being roped into going along with her. And I wanted her to go out and find someone, not take me along for another one of her crazy ideas that wound up being terrifying adventures.
They made for funny stories after the fact, but I didn’t want her to think that I was going to be going with her on any of these ideas. Just something for her to do to get out there and meet someone who might be better suited to her than the guys she was finding on those dating sites she was always doing.
But, for the most part, it sounded like things were going well for her, and she was happy with how life was behaving itself these days. She wanted to settle down with someone and find that same love in her life, but she was happy enough without it.
We both knew it was just a matter of time, and I had a feeling it would be sooner for her than she was thinking. She was far too outgoing for her to be single for very long, and with us getting to an age where most of the men we knew wanted to also settle down and be responsible, I knew it wasn’t going to be long before I was the one talking to her about the changes she was experiencing in life.
I had to admit, I was interested to know how she would describe sex to me when she finally found out what it was like herself. She had such a way of describing things, I was convinced her version of that act would be something worth writing about.
It was bound to be comedy gold.
We continued to chat about her for a while before it was time for me to make it to the store.
“You want to come along?” I asked. “I’ve got to get a few things to drop off at Mom’s tonight, but it’s not going to slow me down if you want to come grab some things yourself. I’ll give you a ride back to your car when we’re done.”
“That’s alright,” she said. “I have food at home that I really need to be getting through. I don’t think I should bring more into the pantry until I’m able to see more of the pantry. It’s a little buried right now.”
“Sounds good,” I told her. I gave her a hug as she gathered her things, and we made plans to be seeing each other again soon.
“I have to make plans with you now. I don’t know when I’m going to see you again with your fancy new man,” she said.
I smiled. “Maybe next time you can meet him, too. Then we’ll all be friends and we’ll all hang out.”