Always Us

hang up

Spencer had been on the phone for over an hour when Olivia decided to get up from where she had been abandoned to go look for him. He had promised her a special night, in addition to a few other things, and this call had definitely not been on the list.

Searching for her husband—the word still made her giddy—, she strolled through the monstrosity of a house that they had moved into a few months back. Furnished with a tasteful mix of new and vintage pieces, it was beautiful. But with just the two of them, the excessive amount of space made finding each other somewhat difficult.

"Spencer?" she called.

Nothing.

Her hand fell to the small bump on her stomach. In a few months, the house would feel a little less empty.

"Babe?" she called a little louder.

Silence.

She walked down another hallway, getting distracted and imagining the walls covered in frames, filled with memories to come. Birthdays and holidays, NFL and little league games. A life time of happiness ahead of her and Spencer. At times, she could hardly believe it. She really married the love of her life.

Now, if only she could find him.

After checking three other rooms, Olivia wound up at the back of the house, where she finally found him lounging in an armchair, phone in hand. She wasn't sure why she hadn't thought to come here first. Because even though he never liked to admit it, she knew he preferred the coziness of her reading nook to his barren man cave.

He smiled when she entered his line of sight, as if his entire night has just been made because she came looking for him. His eyes followed her as she crossed the room to sit on the armchair across from him. Folding her leg up, she rested her chin on her knee.

He kept his eyes on her, humming in agreement at whatever Grace was telling him. It had been over two weeks since he last spoke to his mom. And even longer since he'd gone to visit her in Crenshaw. In fact, neither of them had accepted invitations for plans in weeks. They were four months married, and still riding the high of their honeymoon, with little to no desire to spend any significant amount of time with anyone else. Olivia's only interest was to savor every last drop of his attention before camp started.

"Yeah, I talked to them yesterday, everything's taken care of," Spencer's voice broke the silence.

Dillon's high school graduation party. He was going full stop on the event, considering how much of a struggle it was for the eighteen year-old to make it this far. And while he had hired someone to do most of the planning—party planning had never been his forte—, he was adamant that every last detail was done right.

So while he rattled on about guest lists and music selections, Olivia reminded herself of why she came looking, and her eyes drifted down his body, tracing each ab before wandering off towards his bicep, strong, but relaxed, as it rested on the back of his chair.

"I think they mentioned that they were flying in the night before." He winked at her, and she smiled softly.

She loved watching him like this, fulfilling the role he'd always strived for, the one he was a natural at. Since she'd known him, he'd always wanted to take care of everyone around him. Now that he had the financial means, he did everything in his power to make sure his people were good. It was one of her favorite things about him. And a quality that she benefited greatly from.

"Hang up," she mouthed at him. Though she loved his family almost as much as he did, he had made a promise to her. A promise that he should be fulfilling right now.

He shook his head and stood, crossing the room to stand by the window.

She unfolded her legs and slinked off the chair.