I decide it’s probably the former.
Wrapping my arm around her waist, I hold her tighter to me, allowing myself to revel in something I never thought I’d get to do ever again.
I must fall asleep with her in my arms because the next thing I know, I’m facing toward the window with the sun blinding me despite the fact my eyes are closed.
Rolling onto my back, I pry my eyes open, a dull thud behind them from the whiskey I demolished last night makes itself known. I glance to the side to find her curled up still fast asleep.
Her eyes are lightly closed, her cheeks are rosy red like when I whispered dirty things in her ear last night and her pink full lips are slightly parted, making me regret not kissing her. But I know that one kiss would ruin everything.
I need to get her down the aisle first. I need to know she’s serious, that she wants this as badly as I do. Because now she’s here once again, I’m going to fight like hell to make sure she stays.
She was right with what she said last night. I did end things with her the day she left, but only because I was so angry, hurt, no… devastated, that she was leaving. It was harsh, I knew that at the time. She didn’t have a choice. Her dad had a job in the city and she and her mom were having to follow, it’s what families do. But she left me behind and all I could do at that point was self-preservation and I stupidly thought that hurting her as she was being dragged away would help. Hindsight is a great thing because in the days, months, even years, that followed, I’d have given everything for the long-distance relationship she was so confident we could maintain.
I’m still skeptical that it could have worked, but knowing how miserable I was when she left, I’d wished I’d given it a chance to fail before ruining it before it even started.
With a sigh that’s laden with regrets, I push from the bed, grab a pair of pants that I’ve discarded on the floor and quietly leave the room in the hope of letting her sleep.
Yesterday was stressful enough for me, I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for her.
I shower then head downstairs for coffee and to get to work, now I’ve got a housemate it’s even more important to get this house into some kind of fit state to live in.
Dragging open the door to my workshop, I take in the almost finished four-poster-bed I’ve been working on the past few weeks.
The bedrooms weren’t top of my priority list until Mom’s surprise announcement that the six of us had brides on their way. The prospect of having someone to share a bed with spurred me into action. I didn’t want to consummate my marriage to a stranger on a mattress but even less so Gabriella. She deserves more than what I can offer her right now. She deserves more than the way I’ve treated her since she suddenly reappeared in my life.
I lose myself in the finishing touches to the bed, not noticing the cold surrounding me or the bitter air that’s whipping into the large space thanks to the doors I didn’t shut, I’m too focused on getting our marital bed complete and ready for its first night.
With my AirPods in and music blaring in my ears, I don’t hear when she joins me. It’s not until my skin tingles with awareness that I look up at the doors and find her leaning against the wall, still wearing my jersey but with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, that I realize I’ve got company.
“Shit,” I mutter, putting down my sander and pulling my AirPods out. “Hey,” I say, a smile twitching at my lips. It feels incredible after the anger that fueled me yesterday.
“Please, don’t let me stop you,” she says, gesturing for me to continue.
Resting back against the counter, I watch as her eyes drop down my body and her teeth sink into her bottom lip.
My temperature spikes and my cock once again swells with the thought of being inside her, of finally making her mine.
“Enjoying yourself, were you?” I ask, my brow quirking up in amusement.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“That’s a real shame, little mouse, because you don’t have time to stand around enjoying yourself.”
“Oh?” she asks, her head tilting to the side and reminding