⋆⠀author's note & warnings: tiny little blurb i wrote a couple weeks ago. fluff, potential language warning.
read more for #9⠀⋆⠀series masterlist.
She let the door leading from the garage into the mudroom drift shut behind her as she placed her keys on her hook next to Joe’s. She slipped out of her shoes—today was an Asics day—and tucked them into the shoe cabinet where they were supposed to go. The last few weeks had begun to feel more like normal. Their time in LA came to an end, capped off with a trip to Baton Rouge for a foundation event at Top Golf and the opening of Joe’s new gym. Now that they were back home in Cincinnati, she could anticipate her fiancé’s whereabouts with confidence.
She could hear his voice floating through the house, on a phone call with someone. It seemed to be a professional call given the way he made sure he sounded moderately cheerful but still evenly mellowed in his tone. She padded down the hallway in her socks, pausing when Colby intercepted her path. She scooped him up with a grin, airkissing his nose.
“I missed you, my baby,” she murmured, continuing toward the bedroom while the kitten purred against her chest. The moment she crossed the threshold, she set Colby free and treaded over to her closet to slip out of her scrubs and into one of Joe’s more modest graphic t-shirts.
Joe’s voice grew louder as he wandered into their room, still mid-conversation. “Yeah, I’ll look at those tonight—”
He stopped when he saw her sprawled across the bed. She didn’t lift her head, but she felt the mattress dip as he sat beside her, his free hand running down her back. After several moments she flipped onto her back, unable to help the smile that pulled at her lips when Joe mouthed ‘Hi’ before turning his attention back to whoever was on the phone. She stretched her arms overhead, sinking deeper into the sheets with a silent yawn as Joe continued his call.
Between conversation Joe managed to find chances to mute his side of the call long enough to bend and press a kiss to her forehead or her cheek or eventually her lips while she lay beneath him. She smiled up at him, watching fondly, feeling warmth on her skin underneath the palm he rubbed over her exposed thigh, down to her knee, and back up again.
Joe ended the call with a soft tap of his thumb against the screen, tossing his phone onto the nightstand. The mattress shifted again as he stretched out beside her, his body curling toward hers. She turned her head just enough to catch the wear of the day in the slope of his rigid shoulders.
His head found its way to her chest her fingers already carding through his hair before he’d fully settled. “How was your press conference today?” she murmured, thumb tracing the outside curve of his ear.
Joe made a noise halfway between a sigh and a tired groan, his breath warm through the thin cotton of her stolen shirt. “It was fine mostly. Normal stuff. Got a few questions about you.”
Her fingers stilled in his hair for a second before resuming their slow path from crown to nape. “About me?”
Joe’s nose scrunched against her collarbone, his exhale ruffling the fabric. “Yeah. All horribly phrased, obviously fishing.” He tilted his head just enough to catch her eye, the dry amusement in his voice softening the visible tension in his jaw. “Someone asked if getting engaged changed up my perspective on preseason prep.”
“Horrible question,” she empathized with him through a giggle.
“Terrible,” he agreed, shifting slightly to press his forehead against her sternum. “Flacco hadn’t seen your ring so I showed him a picture.”
She brushed the golden brown hair flopping over his forehead back enough to press a kiss there. “Flacco’s a sweetheart,” she said, kissing his temple next. “I’m glad he’s back.”
Joe released a laugh through his nose, eyes fluttering shut as she scratched gently along his scalp. The late afternoon sunlight streamed through the sheer curtains, painting them both in gold.
They lay in mirrored silence for a while: her fingers in his hair, his palm over her ribs rising with each breath. His eyes slowly shut as his breathing deepened. “I’m gonna fall asleep like this,” he murmured.
“Then fall asleep. I’ll be here,” she whispered, kissing the crown of his head. His body molded to hers like they’d been designed to fit this way. She could feel the slow release of tension in his shoulders, before he completely stilled.
aniya and carl’s conversations are so sweet. i feel like they match really well personality wise. i just can’t tell if she’s fully good off of KC, especially bc she hasn’t seen the full context of how he’s been talking about her in casa.
aniya did say carl “checks off all the boxes” but i feel like sometimes when a woman says that, they’re trying to force themselves to like someone.
i hope the conversations with the girls has given aniya the push to recouple with carl
i don’t feel the buzz with them and i don’t think she likes him as much as she likes kc. but i think that talk with melanie after seeing the postcards helped her realize that she cannot move like she’s safe in there. i don’t think she’s fully off kc but i hope she trusts her intuition and keeps carl in the villa.
i just don’t want aniya to let kc get what he seems to be looking for and end up embarrassed or upset over him moving weird. i want her to do her big one even if she and carl don’t end up lasting outside of the villa.
truth be told, they have not seriously engaged with wedding planning yet. they’ve been trying to stay in the moment and enjoying traveling, trying new things, and figuring out what they want their marriage to look and feel like.
while they’ve talked about what they would and would not like (joe hates the idea of inviting everyone they’ve ever met, wifey hates the idea of having more than six people in their wedding party), they haven’t selected a wedding planner yet; and truth be told, they’ve floated the idea of a civil ceremony at a courthouse and a big reception instead of a fancy ceremony. nothing is set in stone yet though and it likely won’t be something that happens before his season starts either.
their friends & family are not surprised with the lack of planning considering how much they’ve been traveling and how little time they’ve had in any one place. wifey’s mother even made it a point to remind them that there is no rule that says they must get married exactly 18 months from when they got engaged. they’re open about not wanting the wedding to be more stress than what it’s worth and their friends and family are more than supportive.
i can see mat deciding one day (maybe during the holidays) that they should do some cutesy couple shit (his words 🙃) and then try to convince darling to bake cookies with him, and she’s just very slowly like “i will watch you, mathew, you’re doing all of the work and all of the cleanup and these cookies better be good” (they wouldn’t be lol but mat trying so hard and getting all excited would probably be kind of sweet to see so darling’s swayed a little by that)
i see him getting super serious about “cutesy couples’ shit” once he and darling are seriously dating because he wants their different eras (for lack of a better term) to be distinct.
he wants the cheesy matching outfits and the cliche ice skating dates and the sappy pet names and he wants to get along with her family and he wants her to get along with his. he doesn’t want to just be her boyfriend because technically he’s been that for a while at this point. he wants to be hers.
so baking cookies together where her only contribution is reading the recipe off his phone and laughing with her entire body when the cookies inevitably turn out fucked up sounds perfect to him.
LMAO ykw you’re not wrong bc idk why i expected just an OUNCE of decorum like just disgusting individuals
i just started episode 19 and all these casa men are lowkey ugly but if they give my clients the energy they need then i will be pleased because they simply cannot go back to those men 😵💫 which is tough because personally i really like sydney but i fear i must root against her