Page 215 of Perfect
I have no idea what she sees on my face, but it makes her tear up.
The ceremony is casual, and Miles ties our rings to a stuffed cat, which makes Alex cry. A moment later, she has to reassure Miles that she’s crying because she’s happy.
The wordsI doare barely out of Alex’s mouth before I cup her face in my hands and pull her into a deep kiss. Her hands wrap around my wrists, and I only remember that we’re not the only ones in the room when I hear Jessica whistle. I shoot Alex a quick, guilty smile and brush the tears off her face before letting a very amused Bailey walk me through my own vows.
We put on music and drink and eat, and Alex gets drunk with her girlfriends while Miles eats far too much cake and passes out on the couch. The longer the festivities go, the more I start glancing at the clock on the wall. I want to celebrate, but everything feels too surreal.
I got everything I ever fucking wanted, and it’s so much better than I thought it would be.
I pull Alex tightly against me as we finally shepherd everyone out of the house. The second the door is closed and locked, I spin Alex around and press her up against the door, dropping to my knees and telling her I love her over and over again between slow, soft kisses that make her moan before I drag her downstairs and spend the rest of the night showing her exactly how her husbandshouldtreat her.
***
“Honey,no.” I grab Alex’s left hand in mine, momentarily distracted at the sight of the rings on our fingers, and she yanks her hand out of mine, shooting me a dirty look. I groan as she grabs the boxed mac and cheese and drops it into the basket.
“I’m not going to makeyoueat it. It’s for Miles.”
“I don’t understand why Bailey and Dylan allow him to eat that garbage, and I don’t understand how he prefers it to whatImake him.”
Alex laughs at me, rolling her eyes. “You tried to feed him duck a l’orange last time.”
“So?” She snorts and grabs more mac and cheese.
“He’ssix, Theo. He wants kid food. Our kids are going to eat this, too,” she says, shaking the box at me. I cross my arms and glare at her.
“Over my dead fucking body, Alexandria. It’s not even realchee-” I stop talking when I see Ben round the aisle.
Ben, who hasneverapologized to Alex. Ben, who still lives in the area, surprisingly. Ben, who freezes when he sees me and looks scared when I smile at him.
Before Danny, I’d have beaten the shit out of him purely on principle, but seeing him doesn’t bother me at all now. Alex follows my gaze and notices him, and I feel her hand press into my thigh, her nails digging in.
“Hi, Ben.” He turns around and walks away quickly without so much as looking at her. “Okay, rude,” she mutters before she looks up at me suspiciously. “Why are you so chill? You’ve never been chill aboutanything, especially not Ben.”
I shrug. “I know for a fact he’s not stupid enough to bother you.” She narrows her eyes at me, her face becoming apprehensive.
“Why? What did youdo?”
“Depends on your definition ofdoingsomething.” I lean down to kiss her, but she pulls away, leveling me with a stern stare that I'm sure will terrify our kids someday.
“What the fuck doesthatmean?” I pull her close and tuck her hair behind her ears, smiling softly at her. She’s going to hate this, but I’m not going to apologize for it.
“Benmighthave received a copy of the crime scene photos.” Her jaw drops.
“Theodore Robert Anderson,youdidn’t,” she hisses.
“Technically,no, because I had someone else mail them.” I flash her a guilty smile. “I told him once that I’d kill him if he ever touched you again, and I wanted to make that point explicitly clear while I was away.” I study her face carefully as she frowns at me briefly before snorting out an exasperated laugh and shaking her head.
“No wonder he never showed back up to trivia,” she says quietly before she levels me with another stern look. “Don’tthreaten people like that again. Ben could file a restraining order because of those photos, and Ineverwant to talk to another cop again in my life.” I nod, running my hands up and down her arms.
“Whatever you want, sweetheart.”
“I mean it, Theodore,” she says sternly.
“So do I.”
She melts against me slightly. “Promise?”
“I promise.” Alex seems satisfied, giving me a small smile and winding an arm around my waist as I wrap my arm around her shoulders and hurry her away from the aisle of processed foods before she reaches for more mac and cheese or thinks too hard about our conversation.
