He stared at me like he was waiting for something.
I knew what it was. “I love you too.”
Ash didn’t react overtly but a small explosion happened deep in his eyes. He lowered his hands to his sides then stepped closer to me. His hands moved to my hips and he held me close. “I don’t know what I’m doing…but I know how I feel. I miss my life before you came along. I didn’t have a care in the world and I’d never been heartbroken. But with you, I’m so happy but in so much pain at the same time. I’m not sure how to handle it.”
“I know what you mean.”
“I’m sorry if I do stupid shit and say the wrong things. I’m learning here.”
“I am too.”
Instead of kissing my lips, he leaned in and kissed my temple. He’d never done that before, and it was the first time I felt an embrace like that. His lips felt warm against my skin, and I felt his chest expand as he did it. Then he looked down at me, all the love in the world glowing in his eyes. “Let’s go home.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ash
I wasn’t a dick.
Honestly.
I wasn’t one of those bossy and controlling boyfriends that wouldn’t let their girlfriend do anything or go anywhere. I really wasn’t. I just didn’t like the fact men were paying to touch her and show her off. I didn’t like knowing they walked her to a dark alley where no one else could see them.
It wasn’t unreasonable.
It really wasn’t.
But Alessandra wouldn’t budge. She had a false sense of security since she knocked that asshole out with a stapler. She thought she was invincible and nothing could ever touch her.
Well, she was wrong.
I snuck up on her when her back was turned, and if it weren’t me that was testing her limits, something much worse could have happened. Now I felt even more uneasy about the whole thing.
There were a million other jobs in the city. Why couldn’t she take one of those?
This whole thing was making my head explode.
It didn’t bother me before because I didn’t really think about it. She was just some girl I was casually seeing and the relationship would never go anywhere. But after she became something more, I started thinking about where she went when she had to work in the evenings. I started wondering if the other guys wanted to fuck her as much as I did when I first saw her.
I’m sure they did.
How the hell did I get out of this? Could Alessandra and I really have a future if I was constantly stressed out about this? This woman was the one. I couldn’t tell you how I knew that information or when it happened, but it was true all the same. She was the one person I couldn’t shake. She was the first woman to make a real man out of me. My dick didn’t operate for anyone else. It was like she had the batteries.
Everyone has their own story of how they fell in love. It was something the girl said or did. Or it was something she wore or some crap. With me, it was the sex. I’d never been more satisfied with a woman in my life. But it wasn’t just lustful. It was spiritual. She and I communicated during intimacy since the first time we were together. It was almost supernatural. And then when she started seeing other guys…I didn’t like that shit one bit.
I was such a pussy for falling in love but whatever. It is what it is.
***
Alessandra and I hadn’t spoken of her job since that terrible night a week ago. I didn’t bring it up because I needed a break before we had another row. I needed to sleep with her, hold her, and spend time with her before I told her off and stormed out all over again.
I knew this fight wouldn’t disappear overnight. We needed to pace ourselves.
I walked inside her apartment without knocking, like always. “Baby, your man is here.”
She looked up at me from the couch. “And I’m so happy to see him.”
I jumped over the couch then plopped down beside her. The cushion next to her bobbled up and down when my weight was added. “Show me how happy you are.”
She smiled in a way I loved. Her eyes sparkled like she’d never been so happy, and when she looked at me,