“Oh, thank god. I wanted to impress you by buying actual groceries. I can scramble eggs but that’s about it.”
I threw my head back and laughed and tried to remember the last time I felt this free. No commitments, and no one needing an answer immediately to something I didn’t have time to think about. “Baby, I can’t wait to cook for you.” I meant it. Cooking was something I enjoyed when I had a little time to myself, but the past year that hadn’t happened more than a few times. And the fact Devon didn’t know I cooked said a lot about how little time we’d had together outside of the band.
“Now I’m going to hold you to it.”
“You better,” I said and passed him a plate with his sandwich and opened a bag of chips. “What did you want to drink?”
“I could go for a beer.”
“That sounds perfect.” He walked over to the fridge and took one out for each of us. We opened them and he tapped the neck of his bottle to mine.
“To us,” he whispered.
“To us,” I said and we took a drink before digging into the sandwiches.
“I know it’s only a turkey sandwich but it’s really good,” Devon said.
“Everything tastes better when you’re camping,” I said, echoing my grandparents’ words.
“Must be all the fresh air.” He took another bite and shook his head at the taste. “What card games do you know?”
“I know a few. Poker of course. Have you played king’s corner?”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s like solitaire but you play it against each other to see who gets rid of their cards first.”
“That sounds fun. How about war?” he asked.
“I haven’t played that in years.”
“Sounds like we’re playing a round of war,” Devon said before taking another bite.
The rest of the afternoon passed with the two of us playing cards and talking. We talked about everything, and I hated the fact it had taken us a year to find the time to just sit and get to know each other better. The more I knew Devon the more I liked him. He may have been a flaky teenager, but he was a focused adult, and he had so many things to talk about that had nothing to do with the band.
“What’s your favorite movie?” he asked me.
“That’s a tough one. I don’t know if I can choose just one.”
“If you had to . . .”
I loved watching movies, and what he didn’t know was when we weren’t together, that’s how I spent most of my time. It helped me relax and take my mind off everything else. “Maybe Rocky Horror,” I said. “It’s too hard to choose.”
“Rocky Horror?”
“No, don’t tell me you’ve never watched it.Rocky Horror Picture Show?”
“Nope, I have no clue.”
“Well, looks like we’re watching it,” I said and turned on the television. There were a few streaming channels and luckily enough it was there. I glanced at Devon and when the logo came up, he looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“What exactly is this?”
“Don’t worry, it’s a little weird but you’ll love it.” We settled onto the couch and after taking a break to make popcorn, by the time Frank-N-Furter had the two travelers trapped in his castle we were both laughing.
“I have no clue what this is but you’re right, I love it,” Devon said.
“They used to play this at theaters and people would go in character and act it all out,” I told him.
