Page 37 of Four Times Forever

However, when the operator stopped telling me to leave a message after the tone—--because Lily got a new phone and she didn't have that deadpan voicemail she used to have anymore, so I couldn't even hear her damn voice on that— I almost spilled my whole guts and told her everything that I just did and why.

So, I hung up, cried like a baby, and called her again.

"Hey, girl." Going for 'chipper', I failed. "So, something's come up. Something major. I can't give you the details, but you know I would never miss your wedding, miss the chance of you being there for my child's birth..." Oh damn, here came the waterworks again.

I just killed a man because he threatened my life and my baby's life, and no one gets away with doing that. I also watched my husband kill two men and that sent my hormones skyrocketing. Have I always been this fucked up? The point is that I walked out of there without shedding a single tear. There was no reason for me to be bawling like a baby at the thought of never seeing my best friend again.

"...if it wasn't something serious," I pushed through. "But whatever happens, you'll always be my child's godmother. Even if we never see each other again until twenty years from now. I'll always talk about you to them, let them know about the woman who was with me through the worst and held my hand through the best. I love you, Lily Thornbread, and I'm so proud of everything you've overcome. I'm so happy that you found love. I know I'm leaving you in capable hands. Until we meet again, sis."

My breath rattled as I hung up the phone and walked over to my husband.

"You done with your phone call?!" he yelled before seeing me.

My mouth dropped open at the utter audacity, and I stepped around to let him see me before slapping him in the back of his big blond head. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

He winced. "Ouch. I didn't know you were..."

"Mm-hm." I thrust the phone at him.

He scowled at me as he took the phone and carried it to the cockpit. He whispered something to the pilot who asked him if he was sure. By the time the plane took off and we were high enough in the air, my husband smirked at me with that crazy look in his eyes.

"Wanna see something cool?" he asked.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he started strapping himself up with a bunch of shit. My chest hurt and I started to get up.

"No, no. You stay there. Put on your seatbelt. Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere," he promised with a wink.

I hated the way my stomach flipped and knotted.

The higher up the plane got, the drier my throat became. This man liked to bring me as close as possible to the precipice of a heart attack. Watching him kill, running for our lives, now this. I needed to book myself a new therapist as soon as we touched down wherever we were going. Tyler didn't tell me because he was afraid I'd spill it on my phone call to Lily.

"Okay, Sir. Whenever you're ready," the pilot announced over the speaker.

Before my fucking eyes, the exit door began to open.

"There's no fucking way you're jumping out of that..." I shouted over the wind.

Instinct made me reach for my seatbelt and stay seated at the same time. Go after my idiot husband or protect my baby?

I was going to kill him.

Tyler pulled his phone out and the idiot tried to throw it out the window. I guess he forgot how the wind worked because it went flying at his head and smashed into the wall behind him. He dodged it and screamed in delight. The wind, like a cat who cannot be told what to do or when to do it, decided it was okay with receiving the phone on its own timing and sucked it through the exit door.

"Okay! You can close it now!" he yelled.

His words were washed away by the wind. His lips and skin were all peeled back against his face, like a fucking cartoon. It was the most horrifying thing I'd ever seen.

"Close it now!" I yelled on Tyler's behalf.

Even though I wasn't my husband, the pilot listened, thankfully. The exit door began to close.

"Woo hoo! That was amazing! Wasn't it?" my husband screamed as the noise slammed to a quiet.

I couldn't feel my face or my feet when I stood up. He was still grinning from ear to ear. On shaky legs, I walked over to him and raised my hand to slap him across the face.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I screamed.

He grabbed my arm out of the air, pulled me to him and smashed his lips against mine, all while he was still strapped up against the jet wall, and damn it, my panties became wet.

---