21-
"See? It's everything you've ever wanted."
Gabe slid his hand along the curve of my back and eased himself down until he was almost on top of me, cheek pressed to mine, looking out the window and staring with me. I felt almost as if my privacy was being invaded, that he was a bit too close and that sex was on his mind again, but his touch was kind of comforting, so I let it slide. Literally. Down my leg until he was completely enveloping me.
"Gabe, I've wanted a lot more than just new neighbors."
"Oh?" He smiled, spun me around, and kissed me deeply, his hands sliding up once again. He was tugging at the hem of my shirt and said through kisses, "I know something else you want..."
I laughed and backed away. "Nice try, Romeo."
"Come on! Who wouldn't want..." He eyed the room comically, his eyebrows bouncing up and down as he surveyed the room for strangers. "...sexual pleasure?"
"I swear, Gabe, of all the men I've dated-"
"Oh! Oh! And there it is! She just has to bring up the ex. Well, if that's how you're gonna be, I refuse to orally stimulate your precious love flower. You're not getting any tonight."
"Ha! Then neither are you, bucko." Gabe was silent. I smiled in triumph.
"So..." he muttered. "New neighbors?"
"Yes, Gabe. New neighbors." I walked back to the window and, this time, Gabe followed but didn't slide his arms around me. We leaned into the window and looked out at them. It was a young couple, just like us. They were toting large boxes into their house, hauling them off the moving truck that they'd rented, and they were doing it silently. That unnerved me. I remembered the day that Gabe and I had decided to move in together, and how we'd immediately gone out and celebrated. And how much laughter there had been on that day we'd moved into the townhouse, a quaint little antiquity hidden a few blocks beyond Main Street.
And now there was this new couple.
Young, pretty, and full of silence.
"Think we should go greet them?"
Gabe shook his head. "Nah. Terra, do you remember how we spent our first night in our brand new house?"
"Hm. Together. On the hearth."
"And the couch."
"And the bed."
"And the porch."
"And-"
"Yeah. I think we'll visit tomorrow."
"They're young."
"The day after tomorrow."
"I'll get the fruitcakes ready."