Page 147 of Say I Do

“I’ll poke you again if you piss me off, Harlow,” she warned. “Don’t do it.”

“Okay, okay,” he panted before he laughed. “I love the hell out of you, Benito.”

I pressed my lips against his. When I pulled back, I sighed. “I love you too.”

“Gay!” Giancarlo yelled.

I raised a foot and kicked the back of his seat as hard as I could. The car swerved.

“Goddamn it, Benito!” Harlow yelled. “Don’t get us killed!”

“Seriously, I want to go home and screw my girlfriend,” Chelsea muttered.

“Chelsea!” Melony snapped.

“Sorry,” I said. “That was my instincts kicking in. Fuck off, Gin.”

Gin chuckled. “I’m just saying I called it.”

I was going to kill him.

Two weeks later

I climbedout of the car and rounded it. We’d parked near the water, watching the waves crash against the shore. Now we sat on the hood together. It felt good to take in a deep breath and actually be able to breathe. I glanced over at Harlow.

“Are you okay?”

He lifted his shirt to show me where he’d been patched up. “All good. The stitches are healing me up quickly.”

I sighed. “The pain?”

“I hardly feel it.” He shrugged. “Besides, I’ve had worse. My husband likes to spank me for fun.”

We chuckled at the same time. He leaned over, laid his head on my shoulder, and we fell into a comfortable silence. There was nothing better than dissolving into silence with Harlow. As the world fell away, we were encased in our own little bubble. I wanted to stay like that forever. Fuck the rest of the world and the trouble we had ahead of us. I just wanted to breathe.

“Cigarette?” Harlow asked.

I reached into my pocket and pulled the pack out. We’d both dressed in hoodies, sweats and kept our sunglasses on. The media attention had grown tenfold overnight as people asked about our wedding, about the gunfight, about the fire. I answered the questions I’d been coached on by my lawyer and kept my mouth shut for the rest. Just like everyone else. Now, Harlow and I wanted to be left alone.

I slipped a cigarette between his lips and flicked my lighter open. Harlow inhaled before I pulled the flame away. I lit up myself and we fell back into our quietness.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?” I muttered.

“We’re in a lot of shit, huh?”

I glanced at Harlow before I nodded and stared at the water again. “Yep. A lot of shit,” I repeated. “But we’ll crawl our way out of it.”

“You think so?"

“We’re both too stubborn not to.” I laughed.

Harlow chuckled. “You’re right about that.” I heard his rustling around before he tapped my arm. “Here.”

I turned and froze. The stack of papers in his hand was all too familiar. Brycen’s journal pages. I stared at them as they fluttered in the wind, trying to get away. But Harlow held onto them tightly. I saw his face as he searched mine.

“What are you doing with these things?” I muttered. “I thought you would have thrown them away by now.”

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