“I can tell,” he nodded. “I know it’s hard but I can tell you want it and whatever I have to do to make our marriage work, I’ll do it.” He lifted his hand in an attempt to stroke my face but then he curled his fingers in and pulled his hand away.
It crushed me like a sour note under the thumb of a novice.
“Promise?” I asked. My voice trembled.
“Yes, Sutton. I promise. I took those vows for a reason.” I nodded and rubbed the back of his hand while I stared at him. How did I get so lucky?
Most men would have cheated or left by now. Not Lennox though. He was determined to stick it out so I was determined to fix things. It didn’t matter how deep I had to dig into myself. I’d do it because I was worth it. Our marriage was worth it.
So I sat beside my husband with my hand resting on his. I hoped somewhere deep in my heart that we could break through the wall between us before I ran him off. Our conversation flowed as usual and I even laughed a little. I thought I wouldn’t be able to laugh until my fingers were fully healed.
That was the magic of Lennox though.
We stayed outside for an hour, staring at the beautiful stars and Lennox even sang me a song. He sounded horrible, but that wasn’t the point. I loved every horrible second.
When we got ready to go into the house, I looked to my right and saw lights on in the other villa we shared space with. “Hey, have you met our neighbor yet?” I asked. I locked my arm with Lennox’s and he smiled a little, rubbing the back of my hand.
“Yeah. I met her. Nice girl. Her name is Margot.” His eyes smoldered but he stamped out the flames immediately.
“Margot?” Her name set off bells in my mind. Not pleasant bells but loud, blaring alarm bells. My throat tightened and I slid my hand down my neck in vain, hoping to loosen it. My skin was tender like everything about our neighbor irritated me not only on a mental level but a physical one too.
“Yeah. She’s from Baltimore too. I met her at the bar.” We walked inside the villa and into the bedroom. I wanted to probe more about Margot but Lennox was on to the next topic. He had an itinerary planned out and he wanted us to get a jump on it in the morning.
“Was she pretty?” I asked him out of the blue. I couldn’t let it go. It tugged at every loose thread in my mind.
Lennox chuckled and looked at me. He’d come out of his clothes and seeing his sculpted chest was a distraction, to say the least, but my insecurities kept me on track. I looked into his eyes, waiting for his answer.
“Was she pretty? Are you talking about Margot?”
“Yes. I mean you left out the entire part of your evening where you saw our neighbor at the bar so I figure that must mean she’s pretty, right?” My defenses were a mile high and nothing would sate me until I heard the truth.
Lennox climbed into bed and sighed heavily, folding his hands over his torso. “Yes, she’s pretty.”
“Prettier than me?” I asked in a small voice.
“Are you serious, Sutton? Look, let’s go to sleep. We have a lot of ground to cover in the morning.”
I couldn’t though. I couldn’t sleep anymore if I wanted to. I was charged up from all the sleeping I’d done while Lennox was out at the bar with our pretty neighbor Margot.
That was it.
That was how I was going to lose him.
I had to get myself together.
With soreness and hesitation sinking into my muscles, I reached over and touched Lennox’s chest. His skin was warm under my palm.
“Sutton, what are you doing?” He asked.
“I missed you today,” I told him, sliding down further. When I reached his dick, everything pulsed between my thighs. It ached so intensely, I actually needed a release. God, why was I hurting for him so badly?
“That’s why we’re going to spend all day together after we wake up.” Lennox rubbed my shoulder then turned over. I never felt so rejected in my life. I didn’t know how to handle it. I sat there in bed grappling with it for a moment.
Darkness inched in around me and made all sorts of thoughts flood my mind. Soon, Lennox was snoring beside me. He was probably worn out from spending the evening with Margot. This was exactly how marriages drifted apart.
First, he spent time with another woman then before I could even try to fix myself, he’d be inside of another woman. I got up from the bed and went out back where I had a clear view of Margot’s villa.
How pretty was she?