away.
He’s here with you now, I say to myself. That’s all that matters.
Besides, right here, in this moment, I can see the way that he feels about me. He loves my body even though I don’t. He wants me in the way that every woman wants to be wanted. He wants me just as much as I want him.
Henry takes my hand and leads me to my bedroom. He turns around on occasion, kissing the back of my hand and listening to my giggles.
When we cross the threshold into my bedroom, he takes me into his arms. He lifts me up, wraps my legs around his torso, and carries me to bed. I know that I’ve gained a few pounds yet he carries me as if I weigh as light as a feather.
His shoulders are wide and powerful. He has always liked to take care of his body and all the time spent in motel rooms has not had a detrimental effect on him.
The muscles going down his stomach are taut and spindly. I can see every single indentation of his six pack, including that impossibly perfect V going down toward his groin as if it were an arrow telling me where to focus my attention.
I grab onto his hard and perfectly round ass and pinch it when he drops me down to my feet.
“Seems like all of this time writing and recording didn’t stop you from spending time at the gym,” I comment.
He laughs and a loose strand of hair falls into his face. I reach up and tuck it behind his ear.
“You know how I am,” he says. "Whenever I get antsy or depressed, I like to punish myself at the gym. It’s the only thing that makes me feel better.”
“Are you telling me that this is a byproduct of our breakup?” I ask, smiling at the corner of my lips and pointing at his sick abs.
“Listen, you really broke my heart, what can I say?” He shrugs and pulls me on top of him.
Lying next to him, it feels like our bodies belong together. They know each other in every way that two people can possibly know each other and it’s both familiar and sexy and impossible to resist.
"I’m sorry that I can’t say the same.” I laugh in a self-deprecating way, pointing to my love handles.
“Oh, no, I love your body just the way it is. Don’t ever change.”
I can’t help but blush and look away from him. When he sees me shying away, he brings my chin up to his and presses his lips onto mine.
“I mean it,” he says with utter seriousness. “If you want to change your body, you should, of course do it, but only if you wanna to do it for yourself. I find you incredibly attractive just the way you are. And don’t you ever think otherwise."
I close my eyes and tilt my head back.
He starts to kiss me, running his tongue from my neck down my body.
I close my eyes and lose myself in the moment. He knows his way around my body and my legs open up for him.
Suddenly, every muscle relaxes and I let out a deep sigh of relief. This is who I belong with. This is who understands me and this is who loves me.
When he climbs on top of me, and drapes his strong body over me, I feel like I’m finally home. After a few moments, his kisses become more frantic and his thrusts become stronger.
We start to move as one. I put my head back and arch my back. He goes deeper and deeper inside of me and then one moment I just let myself go completely.
I yell his name at the top of my lungs as he moans mine into my ear.
30
Aurora
The following morning, Henry and I make plans. Actually, we stay up all night making them.
“Whatever happens,” he says, lying in bed next to me with his fingers running up my thighs, “you cannot marry him next week.”
“I don’t want to, of course not, but I need to speak to my father. I need to really try to figure out another plan.”
“What’s gonna happen with Tate Media if you pull out?"
“That’s the thing, I don’t really know. My parents pretty much kept me in the dark about stuff and that hasn’t been the best thing as of recently.”
“Even now?” he asks.
I give him a slight nod, averting my eyes.
“I don’t understand. Why?” he asks.
“Well, to be honest, I’ve been kind