Page 25 of Impending Consent

“I choose to hope for the best with people?”

“Even me?” She smiled smugly.

“Especially you.”

For the next few minutes I watched her walk around the room, exploring before she settled on the foot of the bed. I leaned against the dresser directly across from it when she folded her hand in her lap.

“Well I’m here, so now what?”

“That’s up to you.”

She glanced over her shoulder and her eyes perused my body. “We could break in my new bed.”

I smiled slowly. “As much as I’d love to be inside you again, I don’t think sex is the best place for us to start.”

“Why not? As much as you’d love to be inside me again, I’d love to let you.”

I chuckled, raked a hand over my head, and pinched the back of my neck. “Our sexual chemistry is not the area we need to work on.”

“We don’t need to work on anything. I promised you a year. That’s what I’m offering, but nothing about his situation is real, Rival. Just the consequences of our actions but that doesn’t mean we can’t make the most of this year we’re stuck with each other.”

“I’m not stuck with you, Sail. I’m choosing to accept you as my wife.”

“Right and you’ve told your family about me?”

I shook my head. “Have you told yours?”

“My siblings know but I haven’t told my parents. If this is so real to you, why wouldn’t you have told your family?”

“My boy Jairo knows. He was one of our witnesses but I’m sure you don’t remember.” I smirked and she rolled her eyes.“And my mother is very traditional, which means she will be offended that she wasn’t part of this in some way and definitely pissed that she wasn’t here for the ceremony.”

“Which means your mother hates me already and we haven’t met yet.”

I smiled at the perplexed look on her face. She seemed bothered by the idea of my mother hating her but I didn’t read too deeply into the idea. Sailor was a bit selfish but she was a good person. I didn’t take her as the kind to kick puppies or take candy from small children.

“She won’t hate you. Knowing my mother, she’ll dump all the blame on me, especially since she’s been pushing marriage for the past couple years.”

“What?”

“According to her, I’m basically at my time to be put out to pasture and she wants me married before that happens.”

Sailor took me in, studying my face then lowering her eyes to my body. “How old are you? Which I know is an incredibly stupid question considering we’re already married and I should know. I bet you already know how old I am…” She spoke lowly, as if only for her own personal reference. “But yeah, how old are you?”

“Thirty-eight.” I smiled and waited.

“You’re thirty-eight. Well shit, you look good.”

“Thanks, I suppose it’s a compliment that my wife finds me physically attractive. Maybe we can get beyond that and move to general like.” I winked and she frowned.

“You already knew I found you attractive. That’s how we ended up married in the first place.”

“Sexual chemistry and attraction differ from general like and attraction.”

“Not really.”

“They do. Sexual attraction is mostly physical. You don’t have to like or admire someone to want to have sex with them. It doesn’t mean you crave their time, attention, approval, or acknowledgement. It basically means there’s chemistry and you’re agreeable to making them cum.”

“I don’t crave time or attention from men, which is why I don’t want to be married to you.”

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