Limelight Love Story

13. The Away Game

When Tim woke up in the morning, he stretched his achy muscles, brushed his teeth, and then went downstairs to make a pot of tea. With a freshly brewed cup in his hand, he went back upstairs and knocked on the guest bedroom door where Lucy stayed. He refused to refer to it as her room, because he had every intention of moving her into THEIR bedroom when they were able to really be together. Until then, he could start practicing some good married life routines like waking her up in the morning properly. Their phone calls while she was away were great, but when she was home, Tim wanted to greet the day and her in a better way. Since she did not answer, Tim took a chance and barely opened the bedroom door to see that she was still sleeping. He set the mug on her nightstand, pushed the hair out of her face and gently shook her awake. When her eyes started to flutter open, he murmured, "Morning, gorgeous," and dropped a kiss to her forehead.

"Tim," she hummed cheerfully, smiling around his name, in her barely awake state and reached for any part of him. Lucy found one of his hands, so she brought it to her lips to kiss his palm gently then pressed it to her cheek for warmth as she made a happy sound.

She called him "Tim". Not "husband". Though he was, admittedly, a little wounded that it seemed to be a slip when she said "good night, husband" the night before, he had to look past that; Tim knew he had screwed up, but he would never make the same mistake again. Instead, he was going to continue to be the best husband he could be as she deserved, and hopefully, they could move past his mistake. "Time to wake up, Luce."

"Okay," she pouted and sat up while still directing his hand from her face to her sternum. Lucy blinked away the rest of her grogginess and smiled at Tim. "Good morning," she said happily. Waking up with him was always nice.

"I made you some tea," Tim said and presented the cup to her.

"You brought me tea in bed?"

"Why should mornings when you're away be better than when we're under the same roof?"

"True," she agreed. Their morning calls were her favorite, but having him in person was far better.

"Okay, I'm going to take a shower. Enjoy your tea."

"Can you stay for a minute?"

He smiled.

"Get over here." She patted on the side of the bed he occupied when they slept next to each other. The one he was meant to have for the rest of their lives. When Tim sat down, she immediately curled up into his side and brushed a kiss to his shoulder. He was still sleep warm, and Lucy felt like she might melt between her hot tea and him. "This is so nice."

Tim smoothed his fingers through her hair as he gazed down at her.

"I love the tea, but since you're here..." she tilted her head up to taste his lips for a second. "I like having you here in the mornings."

"Me, too. I'll stop by when I'm not working out."

She wanted to suggest that she move into his bedroom since their weekends in hotel rooms proved to be special in that they went to sleep and woke up next to each other only for her to sleep alone when they were at home. Yet, Lucy remembered that there were lines yet to be crossed due to their marriage still being a necessity for his career, so she did not voice her idea aloud. Instead, she replied, "I'd like that."

He would have preferred if she suggested they give up the pretense of separate beds, but there was one boundary they had to keep in place, and if they slept next to each other every single night, well, the temptation would drive him mad.

Suddenly, they both heard a voice coming from downstairs.

"Wes," Tim grumbled that his best friend's husband let himself into their house. He peeled himself away from Lucy, who whined when he moved off the bed and stepped downstairs.