Free Happy Birthday by Letícia Kartalian Page B

hand, which I hadn’t even noticed was touching me, climbed from my back to one of my breasts, free inside the t-shirt I was wearing, but as soon as I sighed, he moved away.
    “Doug,” I protested. “I miss you.”
    “I miss you, too, baby. I do. But we need to have breakfast and dress before people arrive.” He made me get out of the bed and, with a pat on my ass, pushed me to the bathroom, pointing at my hair.
    “People? What people?” I said a little bit louder from the bathroom, opening the cabinet to get a hairclip. “I refuse to believe they can’t wait until the afternoon to start coming...”
    “Kirs, it’s already past four, darling.”
    “What?”
    “You were tired, you needed to sleep. We voted, and letting you sleep won.”
    “You’re kidding, right?” I said when I got back to the bedroom, tying my hair in a loose bun. “Did you really vote to let me sleep late?”
    “BJ’s idea. Only one person voted in favor of waking you up.”
    “Oh, sure. Something like that would only come from you or him. Who voted to wake me up earlier?”
    “Katy.”
    “Shit, even she is a part of this?”
    “She called two hours ago,” he said with the mouth full of cookies, and I sat on the bed with the tray in front of me.
    “What did she say?”
    “That I should wake you and call everyone after having sex.”
    “Of course, that’s so typical of her. And the others?
    “They said basically the same thing, but John said you didn’t eat much yesterday and Suz told me to make you eat some cupcakes before the action ,” he said so easily with a naughty smile.
    Sometimes I was amazed at how much our friends would put their noses in our intimacy, but that smile....
    “You’re lying!”
    “Yeah, I am,” he laughed, showing his dimples, and I saw myself laughing together. “We really voted, and Katy said that, but the others just said they would be here later. But you know, that’s what they wanted to say.”
    “Oh, sure,” I laughed. “How about my parents?”
    “Your dad’s already called, and, like all fathers, said he would call again later, and your mom posted something on Instagram.
    “She’s all connected now,” I laughed.
    Only then I analyzed the tray full of things I love. Strawberries, chocolate, some cookies, which Doug had already eaten half, waffles, toasts, eggs and bacon, and two covered plates.
    I opened the one I knew contained my birthday cake, got it with one hand and, before the first bite, asked Doug to take my phone from the purse and took a picture of it in order to post on the IG with the caption “24, yeah!” After that, I hold the cup of pure and hot coffee with my other hand and took a big gulp.
    “This is really good,” I told Doug, who on other occasions would joke that everything he does is good. This time, however, he looked... nervous. Not the bad kind of nervous, the good kind. Almost like when he was to start a new project: excited, but apprehensive about the outcome.
    He looked at me in a way that turned me on and made me curious at the same time.
    “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, I will drop this tray on the floor and attack you.
    “That is tempting, but I think you need to eat and look better at what you’ve got there.” He grabbed a toast, put some eggs on top of it and give me to bite.
    After I had eaten everything, even some strawberries after the toast, I cleaned my mouth with a napkin and stared him.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Doug...”
    He licked his lips, as I always do, and messed my hair with his hand.
    Smiling, he nodded at the tray.
    “I’m not eating until you fucking tell me what’s wrong.”
    “Shit, K, you’re awful when people try to surprise you.” He shook his head and took the silver cover atop the other plate.
    “What. The. Fuck. What the hell does that mean?”
    Doug gave me that crooked smile I loved so much and hold the little red velvet box on his hands, and then opened it.
    “Exactly what