Page 52 of Love Without Demands

“I’m not moving, Dwight,” I told him with finality.

He gritted his teeth and glared at me. “So you want to continue doing the long-distance thing after we’re married? I want to share a bed with my wife.”

“Maybe you can go share a bed with your mommy since you’ll be right next door,” I snapped, letting my anger get the best of me.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Lehra. Just get a fucking job in Detroit and stop making everything so difficult.”

“Why don’t you apply for jobs in New York so we can live therelike we planned?” I said pointedly. “There are lots of architectural firms in New York besides the one you currently work for.”

He shoved his hands onto his hips and directed his gaze at the corner of the room, and that’s when I knew. He didn’twantto move. Or maybe mommy dearest wouldn’t allow it.

“Look, we can decide all this after the wedding, okay?” he muttered. The eyes that I’d loved for so long came back to me, and I was almost bowled over at the realization that… I wasn’t in love with Dwight anymore.

While I was still reeling and trying to sort through my feelings, he went on. “We’ll switch everything about the wedding back to how it was before, and you’ll be nice to my mother and stop being a bridezilla.”

I was snapped out of my self-reflective stupor at those words, and every cell in my body vibrated with anger. “Bridezilla? Have you lost your fucking mind?” Taking a few steps forward until I was right in his face, I gritted out, “I’ve been the farthest thing ever from a bridezilla. I’ve acquiesced to every damn thingyourmotherwanted, even though this wasn’t her goddamn wedding. I’ve dealt with her bitchy comments and your pussy-ass mama’s boy shit until I’m blue in the face.”

Dwight’s eyes widened in what looked like fear. “Lehra…”

“No, don’t you use that tone with me. I’m done, Dwight.” Pulling the ring from my finger, I shoved it into his hand and drove the point home. “Done.”

Chapter 15

Dwight looked down atthe sparkling ring in his palm, and his eyes lifted to mine in incredulity. “You don’t mean that.”

But I did. I’d been carrying a heavy weight, like a thousand pound blackbird roosting on my shoulders, and I hadn’t even realized he was there until my words gave him wings. Forced him to fly away and leave me light and free.

“I do mean it. I’m not going to live like this.”

“But we can get through this. I love you, and you love me.” I stared wordlessly at him, and his head cocked to the side. “Don’t you?”

“I did love you, Dwight, but…” I heaved all the air from my lungs before taking a fortifying breath. “You’ve been chipping away at it until there was only a thread left hanging.”

“But there’s a thread,” he cajoled. “We can rebuild what we had around that.”

“That thread was snipped the second you called me a bridezilla.”

His hand dragged down his face, and he suddenly looked very tired. “I didn’t mean that. I know you’re not, Lehra. You’ve been nothing but sweet and accommodating. I should have… I should have supported you.”

“Thanks for saying that, but the damage is done.” My thumb and forefinger stroked one of the soft robe ties as I gathered my words. “For future relationships though, you need to think about your priorities, Dwight. Your family will always be your family, but you have to make room at the top of your heart for the person you love. They need to come first.”

He swallowed hard. “I’ll work on it,” he said, and I liked to think he actually would. But probably not. “Can I kiss you goodbye?”

“You haven’t kissed me for months, Dwight. Why would you want to kiss me now?”

“But it would have been uncomfortable since my mother was always with us.”

“Think about that statement, and you’ll see exactly why you’re now single,” I retorted, walking to the door of the hotel room and opening it in an invitation for him to leave.

Two people fell into the room, one landing on her knees.Nicolette. Gianna helped her up, and their guilty eyes darted to each other and back to me as they stood side by side.

“We were just going to get some, uh, ice,” Nicolette muttered, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. I looked pointedly at the eavesdroppers’ empty hands, and apple-red bloomed on their cheeks.

“But we realized we forgot the bucket,” Gianna said, grabbing Nic’s hand. “We’ll just go get that.” And they sprinted across the hall and knocked furiously on the guys’ door. “Let us in. Now!”

Once they slipped inside, I allowed my slight smile at their antics to fade away and turned back to my former fiancé. “You can go now.”

He trudged like his feet were made of lead and stopped beside me. I looked up at him, and he seemed to find the finality in my gaze because he nodded. “Goodbye, Lehra.”

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