together.
“Where?”
“Here.” He pointed to a red mark I hadn’t noticed on my breast.
“That’s okay. Probably no one will see it.”
He stiffened. “Probably?”
“I mean it will be covered by my bra, so even if I undress for someone, like in a fitting room or at the doctor, they probably won’t see it anyway.”
“So you’re not planning on fucking someone else before it wears off?”
I tilted my head to look up at him. “Is this more than a one-time thing?”
Drew searched my eyes. “It is.”
“Okay, then. No one else will be seeing my marked skin, so we don’t have to worry about it.”
His jaw relaxed. “Good. Because that’s not the only mark I left.”
“What? Where else?”
“Here.” He touched a spot on my collarbone. “Here.” He pointed to a spot just below my ear. “And I’m pretty sure you’re gonna find a few more on the inside of your thighs.”
I laughed. “Those I definitely didn’t mind. But you can’t leave hickeys on my neck where patients can see them. Most of them are going through a hard time in their relationships, and they shouldn’t have to stare at proof that I’m out having a good time at night.”
“Got it. I’ll limit my marking to your tits, thighs, pussy, and ass.”
“You have a dirty mouth, you know that?”
He pinched my nipple. “You didn’t seem to mind it when I was inside of you.”
“Yeah, well…” I had nothing to say since he was right. I also felt my cheeks heating.
Drew chuckled. “You’ve ridden my face, and my saying tits and pussy still makes you blush.”
“Shut up.” I splashed water up at him.
Drew flicked on the jets, and I relaxed into his arms, enjoying the water massage. The whirling sound was white noise and had a calming effect on me. Although, I’d had something on my mind the last hour, and I couldn’t shake it.
After a while, the jets powered down, and I got up my nerve. “Can I ask you something?”
“Your ass is pressed up against my balls. I’m guessing it’s not a question I’m going to want to answer if you waited until now to ask it.”
Such a wiseass. I asked anyway. “What happened in your marriage that you wound up divorced?”
He sighed. “You’re already getting pruney. Sure you want to hear it? You might look ninety by the time I’m done unloading all the shit that went down with Alexa.”
Alexa. I hated her already, just from her name. “Give me the short version.”
“Met her my last year in college. Got pregnant after three months of sleeping together.”
He has a child? “Wow. So you got married?”
“Yeah. Wasn’t the smartest decision, in retrospect. But she seemed sweet and was going to have my baby. She’d also lived a very different lifestyle than I had growing up with money, so I wanted to provide for her and my child.”
“That’s very noble of you.”
“I think you’re confusing noble with naïve.”
“Not at all. I think it’s incredible that you wanted to make sure they had a good life.”
“Yeah, well…long story short, she wasn’t the sweet person she pretended to be in the beginning. But I kept trying for a long time.”
“What finally pushed you to end it?”
Drew was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice cracked. “It ended the night she got into an accident with my son in the car.”
Chapter 25
Drew, New Year’s Eve, Three years ago
I stared at the cross on my son’s wall. It had inspired me to pray exactly a year ago. The crib I’d hung it over was gone, upgraded to a plastic toddler bed in the shape of a racecar. But I’d rehung the cross after God dropped me an early hint that I was shit out of luck wishing for my dad’s health. He died three days ago.
After the service this morning, a few people had come back to our place for lunch. I was grateful they were all gone now—I needed the silence. I also wanted to have a few drinks in peace. I swirled amber liquid around in my glass.
The door creaked open, but I didn’t bother to turn around. Arms wrapped around my waist from behind and hands clasped together, covering my belt buckle in the front.
“What are you doing in here? Beck is at Play Place with the sitter. He won’t be back for another hour or two.”
“Nothing.”
“Come out to the living room. Let me rub your shoulders.”
The last year between Alexa and me had been tough. It’s not that we argued that