before he cheats | a.cole

sixty three

Adam pulls into the parking lot of his apartment building. He moved into one of the bigger apartments in the building on the fourth floor of the five-storied building.

We walk into the apartment and he sets the titles by the door. Adam says, "There's a bathroom attached to my bedroom. It's the only bathroom that has a bathtub in the apartment." I nod and head back to the master bedroom that Adam sleeps in. I walk into the bathroom.

I begin to peel away the ring attire from my body. Adam has found his way into the bathroom and has started to fill the tub as I undress. I look in the mirror so see bruises forming all over my body. I have small cuts everywhere.

I see Adam walk up behind me and he rests his hands on my shoulders. I look at him in the mirror. He says, "I'm proud of you, princess. You did so well tonight."

"I'm really paying for it, though," I say, looking up at him.

He looks down at me and says, "You'll be okay. A couple of bruises and cuts won't kill you."

I turn around and face him, still looking up at him. I say, "I never thanked you for your support. You were at ringside the entire time and I hope you know that you're the reason I was able to win both my matches tonight."

Adam smiles down at me and says, "You did that all on your own. You won both your matches all on your own." The tub is finished filling up and he turns off the water. "Alright. It's ready for you, princess."

I smile and step into the lukewarm water. I lower myself down, sighing softly. Only my neck and head are out of the water. This feels so good. Adam gets undressed and gets in, sitting behind me. I lean back against his chest and I feel him begin to rub my back gently. I smile and close my eyes.

"I'm feeling a little deja vu," I say.

Adam asks, "How's that?"

I respond with, "Because you rubbing my back is how we got here in the first place." I'm not wrong. He kissed me after a little shoulder massage in my apartment. That happened close to three months ago at this point.

He laughs softly and says, "You're right."

I open my eyes and look up at Adam. He looks down at me. I lean up and put my face in the crook of Adam's neck. I smile, feeling happy for the first time in a while.

Adam wraps his arms around my shoulders, holding me close to him. I close my eyes.

He whispers, "Stay with me."

I look up at him and say, "I can stay the night."

"I mean live with me," Adam says. "I have this whole apartment and no one to share it with."

I blink at him as he talks. "Adam," I say. "We've barely been dating for three months. That is way too soon to even start thinking about living together."

He says, "Well I've thought about it. Even if we have to sleep in separate rooms but I would love to wake up next to you instead of an empty bed. Think about all the late night cuddles we could have or all the good morning kisses. We have a day off and we can sit and watch movies. We can travel to and from the Performance Center and Full Sail together."

I sit up and look at him. I wait until he's done talking before I speak. "You've been thinking about this, haven't you? You've been thinking about asking me to move in with you," I say.

Adam nods and says, "I might have been making a pros and cons list." He smiles at me. "I talked to Roderick and Marina about it the other day. I know it's too soon but we could both benefit to living together."