way to my semi hard cock. Her lips tease. Fuck. I want to kiss her. But I can’t.
It’s not what she wants.
Not now. She made that clear three months ago on the night we couldn’t deny ourselves any longer, but also one which would tie us together forever whether we like it or not. My hands slide from her cheeks to her long blonde hair and I grip probably a little too tight, but it takes every ounce of restraint I’ve got to stop myself from smashing my lips to hers. To stop myself from caressing her, worshipping her. Loving every inch of the body I’ve had committed to memory since the night I very first had her in my bed.
The cool night air rips through me, along with my past. Our past. How did we get here? How did we get to this point after all of these years?
“When did everything become so complicated?” I whisper, her forehead still warm against mine.
She sighs. Her shoulders drop and her words crush me. “We’ve always been complicated, Roamyn.” She pulls out of my embrace as the truth leaves her lips and slices me with reality.
We have always been complicated. Right from the fucking start.
Anger resonates, I want to blame the world, I want to blame the Marino’s and every-fucking-thing for tearing us down before we ever had a real chance to rise together. But I can’t. For the most part, no one is to blame. Life happened. Fate brought us together too early. We were on two separate paths with different goals. Our lives entwined but we weren’t done growing. We weren’t done finding ourselves and our places in this crazy world. But I hang my head low with regret because I played my role in our heartbreak. Whatever we’d grown into, everything I was afraid of but craved at the same time. I just wish I realized what it was sooner. By the time my head caught up with my heart, it was too late.
My palms begin to sweat and my knuckles turn white from gripping the railing on the rooftop edge. The glowing night lights of New York City haze over in front of me. My mind clutches at ideas, anything to convince Ali now is our time. Believe in us again. Maybe this is how it all had to happen, to finally bring us together. Fate sure as hell hasn’t made it easy. All she needs to do is give me the words and I’ll spend the rest of my life giving her my all. I’ll give her and our baby everything my mom and I never had.
I twist my head sideways and my breath catches at her form. Her long hair whips behind her in the wind as she pours her worries into the world beside me with just once glance. A lump closes up my throat and I can’t swallow past it. I can’t speak, the words won’t come out. I’m choking up like I always do when things get serious. But I can’t sit back anymore and worry about what to say, not now.
She’s strong.
She’s my woman.
My Ali.
My love.
Fucking years of keeping her at a distance to keep both of us safe. Such a waste of time. We’re in just as much danger apart as we are together. Goosebumps rise on her creamy skin and she flicks her eyes to mine. My pulse quickens, she’s so fucking beautiful. Gray-blue eyes hold me captive until she folds her arms protectively over our unborn child and my heart swells with an unrecognizable feeling. It’s love, amplified. It’s unreachable, untouchable to others. Nothing can tarnish the connection, the love. Love for our baby.
“Ali.”
My fingers itch to reach for her, to cradle my hands around her stomach. To never let her go. My feet move on their own accord but Ali raises a hand, halting me.
“Roam, stop. I need you to hear me out. Before we end up ruining everything like we always do.”
The knife already cutting into my heart, twists.
“I’ll listen to whatever you have to say. If you just let me in.” I creep forward and lace her fingers through mine. I bend to look her in her eyes and show her I mean everything I’m about to say. “If you let me in, I’ll make you feel so damn good nothing else will matter. We’ll have our baby, we’ll give her everything we never had, and we’ll do it loving each other as much as we