Page 112 of On The Edge
“Yeah, we can. But will she let us?” I counter.
“Um,sheis right here.” Melody pushes me out of the path of the water. “For the record, I’m not interested in your money. I’m proud of you for it, but I’d never expect anything from it. Don’t insult me by implying that. I’ll smack you next time.”
I twist Mel so I can rinse the soap off of her quickly while Reis tries to convince her to let us pay for every need or want for the rest of her life. He doesn’t need to convince the rest of us, we all will gladly whip out our black cards to buy her anything she wants.
If she’s happy, it’s money well spent.
“Reverb, I just want to take care of you. To prove that I can now.”
“You always could. You always did. You,you all, were all I needed.” Her hand cups his jaw and I bite my tongue to keep from breaking the moment. “You’re all I need.”
Instead of speaking, I just drop a kiss to her shoulder.
“But…I, we… It’s,” Reis' struggling for words, something that doesn’t happen to him frequently. I put my hand on his shoulder.
“She wants us. We’re hers. Wholly. Totally. No matter what. Money or no money.”
“That was never in question,” Reis says, looking directly at Melody.
“Good.” She smiles at us both, nudging me softly before leaning up to kiss me. I can see in her eyes just how much she appreciates that I see her. “If I need something, I’ll ask, but I don’t want to be financially dependent on you guys. Until we are all married, your money is your money, and my money is my money.”
Both Reis and I stop. Freezing completely like we’re being rebooted. She dropped the ‘M’ word. Melody just shrugs as if she doesn’t realize what she said. I start moving before Reis does because I don’t want to bring attention to the fact that Melody just dropped that she’s already thinking of us married.
Sometimes she’s like a baby deer; if you move too fast, she emotionally gets spooked and runs away.
I pull open the curtain, and that brings Reis back into his body. I’m sure he just envisioned her in a wedding dress–I know I did–and he starts moving. He’s silent, but there’s this blinding smile on his face.
We all step out, wrapping our girl in the biggest towel we can find. Reis then hands her a mini bottle of water. The look on his face says there’s no room for her to disregard his orders.
Mel opens the bottle, rolls her eyes, but downs the water anyway.
“Good girl,” Reis hums softly, pressing a kiss into her neck before walking over to his clothes.
“You know we’d do anything for you, right?” I ask her softly, rubbing her arms over the towel to help her dry off.
“I’m starting to,” she answers, matching my tone. The honesty is hard to swallow, but I’d rather her be honest than lie for my sake.
We fucked up, and there’s no timetable on her to trust us completely again.
Reis steps back into his boxers and sweats before coming up and hugging her waist from behind while I hold her face gently in my hands.
“We’ll spend every single moment proving to you just how much you should trust us. How much we love you. And one day… One day you won’t doubt it.” I pour as much trust and intention as I can into my words, into my expression. I want her to know that every last beat of my heart is hers.
Reis nods against her shoulder, his body covering her back completely like he’s decided if he can’t speak, he’s going to imbue his love into her by touch.
Mel smiles brightly and I know right then that I’m going to marry this girl. I don’t know how, I don’t know what that will mean for the group, but somehow, this girl is going to be mine. Forever.
TWENTY-SEVEN
I yawn loudly,pulling out blankets and pillows from the compartment under the seat and start making the bed more…bed-like. It’s time to rest, she needs it.
The three of them stumble out of the bathroom with big, goofy smiles on their faces.
I kind of feel bad for what the guys are about to find out. They look so happy. Relaxed. In love. Melody’s in the middle of them, the ends of her hair dripping, but I can see the way her eyes are simultaneously so happy and so tired.
Kai smiles at Mel, but it doesn’t completely reach his eyes. Reis and Markus both clock the weird tension. Reis looks at me, and I flatten my lips into a line when Melody turns to smile at something Markus whispers to her.
When she looks at me, I give her a genuine smile, and wave her over. Mel happily climbs over the end of the makeshift bed and into my arms. The bench-bed isn’t the comfiest, but I have her curled into me. It’s fucking perfect.
