Medley

104: COME AWAY WITH ME.

Second half of the game starts off promising for the Ravens, who score a touchdown on their first run, followed by a missed field goal by the Packers.

The bet Harry proposed begins to seem like a good idea.

"Are you ready to do whatever I want?" I goad.

"Careful there, baby! This ain't over 'til it's over..."

He was right.

Green Bay manages to score a touchdown and a field goal and stop Baltimore from adding any more points to the board.

Packers win 24 to 20.

We hang out for a moment after the game to say our goodbyes to Tony and Gloria, whose invitation to lunch tomorrow we have to politely, and sadly, decline since we have our flight to New York scheduled for the morning.

Harry is meeting the rest of the band there, and they're leaving at night for Japan. I'll stay with them until then and later catch a flight back to Baltimore by myself.

Again, the few people that did recognize Harry do not attempt to come talk to him after the game. We walk out of the stadium arm in arm like the rest of the couples in attendance.

On our way to the parking lot to find the rental car Harry's been driving, I stop walking and stand in front of him holding both of his hands.

"Thank you for tonight. It was a great date, I had a lot of fun."

I plant a kiss on his cheek and step back, but he pulls my arms and holds me close to his chest again.

"I love seeing you this happy." He mumbles in-between kisses.

Kissing in public is refreshing. But where we are, no one cares who he is or what he does. People walk by and don't notice us.

Tonight is one of those rare occasions he gets a taste of the freedom he resigned to when he was a teenager.

"My Ravens lost and I'm still happy. Imagine that! And it's all because of you."

The parking lot is almost clear by the time we get there. It started snowing heavily half-way, so we slowed down our pace while everyone else rushed to their cars.

When Harry digs into his pant pockets to find the keys, I entertain myself drawing hearts on the accumulated snow on the trunk of the car. Harry comes looking for me once he's located the keys as I sit on top of the trunk and ask for a kiss, without a second thought about my jeans getting wet.

"I believe you lost a bet you have to pay for, Brant." He says after our lips disconnect.

"I'm not a sore loser. I pay my debts."

"I hope so..."

"So... what do you want me to do?" I lock my hands around him and he looks at me nervously.

What perverted thing has he come up with that he's so scared of telling me?

"I want you to move in with me."

Oh.

That's not what I was expecting.

"That's really low. You're not playing fair, Har."

My voice is firm, but internally, I'm shaking.

"Why? The bet stated that the loser had to do anything the winner wanted. I won, and that's what I want you to do."

"We've been over this a million times alread-" He cuts me off.

"Exactly! And we need to stop that. It's time we do something about it."