Page 88 of Only You and Me

“How about we give you a minute to get your breathing back to normal and then try again?”

I nod and he grabs me some tissues from the end table, then sits next to me and rubs my back in soothing circles while I get my bearings. I blow my nose and grimace at how gross I must look.

When I feel like I can talk again, I sniffle and turn toward him.

“So, Emily and Fitz wasted ten years…” Ben says, encouraging me to talk.

I nod and turn my head to face him. “They cared about each other all that time. And fear and lack of communication kept them apart. Ten years they could have been doing life together.” I brush away more tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand.

“Okay…” He runs the hand he’s not touching me with through his thick black waves and I know he’s not connecting the dots.

I blow my nose again. I’m not sure why he’s still sitting with me when I’m such a hot mess.I clear my throat and inhale deeply, then let it out slowly.

“And it got me thinking that… that we lost almost ten years, too. Now that’s all I can think about. I was so hurt back then. I was afraid to really trust you and then when everything blew up, it broke me, and I was so angry. It was easier,”—I take another deep breath—“it was easier to tell myself I hated you than to work through things.”

He winces at my words. “I deserved it. I was young and stupid and as much as I wanted to be with you, I wasn’t mature enough. I should have been patient—asked you to tell me more about your reasons—when you didn’t want to tell anyone about us. Instead, I acted like an asshole and made you feel betrayed.”

“You did,” I agree.

He laughs, but it’s sad.

“But it wasn’t all your fault. I’m to blame, too. I’ve tried to move on. I’ve dated and tried to find someone I could care about the way I cared about you, but I can’t. Because I’ve never really hated you. No matter what I told myself.”

His eyes brighten slightly and it’s clear my words have given him a little bit of hope.

“What are you saying?” His voice is barely above a whisper.

“I’m saying that I don’t hate you. Not even a little. That even though we accidentally got married and our sixty days are up, I don’t want this to be over. I’m still scared to rely on someone else, to let myself be vulnerable, but over the last few months you’ve let me do that in little baby steps without ever making me feel weak or less.”

“Because you’re not weak, babe. You’re the strongest woman I know. And relying on each other doesn’t make us weaker, it strengthens us, both as a couple and individual people. So, we can give this more time? See if you’re okay staying accidentally married to me?”

I shake my head and the hope and happiness that was just flitting across his features drops off.

“Oh.” He drops his hold on my gaze. “I guess I misunder?—”

“I’m saying that I love you and I want to get married to you on purpose. I don’t need more time. Because I already know.”

His eyes fly up to meet mine and a tentative smile lifts the corners of his mouth, his eyes misting. “Yeah? You’re serious?” His voice is gravelly.

I pull my lower lip between my teeth and nod. “I’m serious. It’s what I want. Only you and me.”

“God, I love you.” He leans forward and kisses the side of my mouth, then plants tender kisses all over my face. “I never thought I’d get this chance again, but I promise I’ll do everything I can to make you happy, to make all your dreams come true.”

* * *

BEN

After a few minutes of kissing, we’ve shed our clothes and they’re tossed haphazardly across the room—on the coffee table, the arm of the chair and Trina’s panties are hanging from a lampshade. My cock aches as it’s hard as a rock and I’m dying to be inside of this woman—my wife.

Trina climbs onto my lap, straddling me with her knees bent. “I need you inside of me. Now.”

As she slides her slick, soaking wet pussy over my dick, I slip inside her and feel my eyes roll back in my head.

“You feel so fucking good, babe. It’s perfection when we’re joined like this.”

Trina moans in response to my words and I lean forward, bringing my mouth to hers, kissing her again. She pulls back and smiles. “Let me look at you.”

I growl with satisfaction as I focus my eyes on this beautiful woman, the woman my soul recognized as its other half, even when I was just a teenager.

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