Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
I must have taken too long to continue because she walks around the bed. “I think we’ve talked enough, Dustin.”
She pulls the covers back and climbs into bed, pulling the blanket up to her shoulders, her back to me.
I turn off the lamp and lie down on the bed, my body turned to her. She sighs softly, and I curl my hand under my cheek. “I’m sorry, Annie.”
She gasps, and it’s almost like she can’t believe she’s hearing those words from me. Hell, I should have started with that. “I’m sorry for everything.”
She rolls to her back and looks up at the ceiling but still doesn’t say anything.
“I know I messed up. Hell, I messed up a lot.”
I roll to my back too and throw my arm up over my head. “I don’t deserve a second chance, but I would give anything if in this next month, you could be open…”
My voice trails off because I worry I’m messing up again. She has given and given and given. She gave up her life, moved away from her family, all of it. And all I do is take.
When I don’t continue, she asks, “Open to what?”
I tense because this is so important, and I wish I was holding her instead of lying here trying to give her some space. I turn to face her. “You don’t owe me anything, Annie. Nothing at all. I know you don’t, and I feel like a dog even asking you this, but since we’re going to be together for the next month, I don’t want you to hate me this whole time. I’m going to prove to you that I can be different—”
“Different?” she asks. “I don’t want you to be different.”
My voice drops. “I mean, fuck, Annie. I don’t even know how to explain it. I’ve kept my guard up with you.”
She fully turns her body toward me and rests her hands under her cheek. “Why?”
I choke a little. “Well, uh, that’s a loaded question.”
She groans. “Forget it—”
I put a hand on her arm. “No, listen, I’ve kept my guard up with you because I knew… I mean, I thought you were going to leave me anyway. I thought you were just biding your time with me.”
“What?” she asks angrily. “You thought when I married you that I was just playing? That this was just something temporary?”
I let out a breath. “I thought… I thought you would come to your senses. I thought you would realize you could do better than me, and I knew when it happened it would destroy me. I just thought that if I protected myself it wouldn’t hurt as bad.”
She’s silent, and I wish that I had left the light on so I could at least see the expression on her face. When she remains silent, I continue, “But it didn’t work, Annie. When I came home that day you left and found you and your clothes gone, I lost it. And then that fuckin’ guy showed up to serve me the divorce papers… it destroyed me. I love you, Annie. I know that I didn’t do the best at showing you how much I love you or what you mean to me, but I’m going to make up for that this next month.”
The sheets rustle. And she raises her head. “You just said you love me.”
I smile into the darkness. “I do love you. I should have said that to you before now, and I’m going to be saying it to you a lot more. I’m going to show you, Annie, if you’ll just give me a chance.”
I wait for her to say something… anything, but the silence is too much for me. “Please,” I plead with her.
She blows out a breath, and her voice is thick with emotion. “This last year was the best and the hardest of my life, Dustin. I wanted to be here with you, but it hurt that you didn’t love me the same way I loved you.”
“Fuck, I did, though. I do. I can fix this,” I tell her. “Just let me.”
Desperate, I slide my hand toward her, and when I touch her arm, I trail my fingers down until I touch her hand and then wrap mine around hers. She doesn’t resist me or pull away, and I let out a soft breath. “Annie, I need to make this right. I can’t lose you. I just can’t. Please, we can take it as slow as you want to.”
Her silence makes me crazy, but she finally agrees. “I’m here, Dustin. I’m here for thirty days… but that’s all I can give you right now.”
I want her to submit to me fully. I don’t want there to be an expiration date, but if this is all she can give me, I’ll take it. “Can I hold you, Annie? Nothing else. I just want to hold you, that’s all.”