Sealed With A Vow

Chapter 26- Homecoming

I was standing outside Derek's study, awkwardly shuffling my feet as I played with the zipper of my sweatshirt. I could hear him talking on the phone, and so I waited to open the door.

It was a Friday morning, and he'd decided to stay home to get some of his work done. I, on the other hand, was about to leave for a seven-hour road trip to Palo Alto.

Tomorrow was the Stanford Homecoming football game against Ohio State University. Both Charlotte and I would be attending it, along with Elliot and a couple of his friends as well.

I doubted we'd even win, though, because let's face it, the Buckeyes were amazing. I remembered when they won the College Football Championship last year. But who knew, we might get lucky tomorrow and end up defeating them.

Unfortunately, Derek couldn't come with me because he had to work this entire weekend. Now that construction was nearing completion for the new hotel over in Sydney, his company had been busier than ever.

When I didn't hear him talking anymore, I opened the door and headed towards his desk just as he was getting up. His face brightened, and he gave me a playful grin.

"You sure look happy to leave."

"Aww, Derek, you know I didn't want you to be home alone all weekend," I said, pinching his cheek.

"I seriously have to sleep in that huge bed all by myself?" He pretended to pout.

"You'll be fine. You're a big boy. " I smiled.

"Eh, that's debatable."

I laughed. Despite his tall, overpowering frame, he still acted like such a kid sometimes. There were days I'd honestly forget that he was my husband.

For example, just two days ago, I'd been baking cupcakes for a fundraiser of his at work, and he would sneak in a lick or two of the spoon no matter how many times I'd told him not to.

It was extremely annoying. Besides, I was sure none of his employees wanted his saliva in their cupcakes. But nonetheless, he was such a sweetheart.

"Oh, and before I go, I have just one quick question."

"What is it?", Derek asked.

"Umm...well, you remember when we drove your BMW to La Jolla?"

"Yeah?" He raised a brow.

"It's totally up to you, but I was just w-wondering if....uh." I was stuttering and hesitantly looked up at my husband, who had an amused expression on his face.

"You wanna drive my i8?"

"Yes!", I replied eagerly, beaming like a six-year old before quickly adding, "If you let me, of course."

"How good of a driver are you?"

"Pretty good," I said with confidence. He rubbed the back of his neck, contemplating his decision.

"I'm perfectly fine with letting you drive it to Stanford. I just don't want you to get in an accident or something like that. You know how fast that thing goes."

He went to go grab the keys and I followed him, mentally doing a somersault as I fought to hide the excitement that was bursting inside of me.

When we were both standing in the garage, he gave me a stern look. My small suitcase was next to me and I double-checked to make sure that I had everything.

"You sure you can drive this thing?", he asked in a serious tone.

"Positive," I assured him. I was about to reach for the keys from his hand, but he snatched them away from my grasp.