Amber slowly opened her eyes, only to glare at him as a dark look flitted across them. “Right now, no. I would prefer you sticking to my back and shoulders. Maybe later, though. After we’re done with our walk and other workout and such.”
William returned her dark look with one of his own. “Of course,” he grinned at her, nuzzling her neck. “Definitely not right now. We’d get too caught up in whatever that’ll come if we do. Wow, you have a lot of knots in your shoulders. When was the last time you actually properly relaxed?”
“Oh, definitely,” Amber murmured, closing her eyes again to better feel his touch. “Um… I don’t know, I guess. I don’t go out much since most of my coworkers like to, ah, drink.”
William quirked an eyebrow at her response, his fingers working down her back. “And you don’t go out with them?”
“No,” Amber admitted in a sigh, the word barely even audible. “I don’t trust myself around that stuff. I had, uh… I relapsed a couple of times… while we were separated…”
William stopped massaging her, only to wrap his arms around her and pulling her to him, water sloshing at the movement. “I’m sorry…” he murmured. “But you stopped. I’m so proud, Blue. So much.”
Amber simply shrugged a little, though she did lean into his embrace. “It took a while, but yes. I’m here now and past it,” she sighed. “Thank you for not being weird about it or anything.”
“Well, I do want to scold you, but I’m proud you stayed away from alcohol,” William murmured. “I won’t let you go through that again. I promise.”
“Thanks, Will,” Amber breathed, closing her eyes and leaning into him. “Now… Who said you could stop?”
William laughed, hands on her shoulders again as he pressed against the knots. Just to tease her, he pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. “Satisfied?”
Amber grunted softly and reached back to poke him. “Tease. Yes, I am satisfied, thank you. Maybe you should become a masseuse.”
William wiggled his fingers in her sides. “Do you want these hands on another woman, Blue?”
“Hey! No tickling!” Amber exclaimed, squirming. “No, I don’t. So no masseusing for you, then…”
“Hey, you poked me first,” William kissed her neck again affectionately. “And I thought so.”
Amber huffed playfully and leaned back into him. “We seem to have completely forgotten the whole reason we’re in here…”
“Apparently,” William chuckled. “We should relax, not tease each other.”
“Yes, yes we should,” Amber chuckled. “And wash up, too.”
(boop)
A couple of hours and a short walk later, Amber and William had arrived at her apartment. She sighed as she pulled her keys out, glancing back at him with a smile before unlocking the door. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been to her home before, but this time was different. This time, he was looking for something, looking for things they would need to get rid of and things they could add. She only hoped that they wouldn’t have to argue about anything.
“Do you have a BBQ grill, Blue?” William questioned as he stepped inside, eyes looking around. “I have one, but mostly because the guys like to come by and eat like pigs.”
“No, I don’t have one. I don’t really have much room for it, either,” Amber said with a shrug. “The balcony is too small, I think, and that’s the only outside space I have.”
“Well then,” William stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Should we simply get a bigger apartment?”
Amber turned to look up at him, blinking widened eyes to get them back to normal. “Well, I mean… I guess we could. I guess I hadn’t really thought about it. Plus, we’ll have two people, now, so that might be a better idea…”
William stared back at her, lifting his hand to gently caress her cheek. “I don’t mind leaving behind my things, you know,” he murmured. “And we don’t have to move if you don’t want to.”
“No, no! I like that idea. I like it a lot, actually. I just… I don’t know… I had really not thought about it,” Amber said with a shrug, smiling a little as she leaned into his touch. “But that sounds like it would be really wonderful, love.”