Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
The small bathroom attached to his room was convenient, and once inside, I shut the door and stared at myself in the mirror.
The bathroom was tiny, with a single-person shower stall and an array of manly looking things on the counter. Everything in here smelled like Beckham. Memories of what we’d done last night, of how our skin had been sweaty and pressed together, played through my mind. As I stared at my naked body in the mirror, I noticed there were small bruises on my hips, and when I looked down, I saw there were fingerprint-sized blue and purple marks on my thighs as well. Heat bloomed in me, and I instantly got wet between my legs.
Beckham had given me these, a mark. His mark.
After using the bathroom, gargling some mouthwash, and running my fingers through my “the morning after a good fuck” hair, I headed back into the bedroom and saw Beckham lying in the same place, his arm still over his eyes. But when he heard me enter, he pushed himself up and grinned. God, I loved him so much. His muscles flexed and bunched with the littlest shift of his body, and I felt myself heat all over again.
When I was close enough to the bed, Beckham pulled me down onto the mattress, and I happily laid beside him, curling against his big, muscular body, resting my head on his chest, and listening to the beat of his heart.
For long moments, we just lay there, needing nowhere to go, no rush, just letting the aftereffects of finally being truthful to each other, finally giving ourselves over, consume every part of us.
“How is your dad?” I finally asked. I expected him to tense, to pull away. This was absolutely a sensitive subject, painful. But he never stopped running his fingers up and down my arm, and he kept me close, stayed relaxed.
“He’s really well, actually. He asks about you all the time.”
I felt a twinge of guilt that I hadn’t stayed in contact with Rob as much as I should have. He’d been a part of my life for years. But after everything, I’d felt weird, guilty. I felt if he saw me, he’d only be reminded of my mother and what she did.
“I miss him. I need to be better at checking in with him.”
Beckham kissed the top of my head. “He’d really love that.” We stayed silent for a few seconds. “He met someone, by the way.”
I felt a smile filter across my face at the sound of that. I sat up slightly and looked down at his face, saw the smile he wore as well.
“He really likes her.”
I felt happiness for Rob and was so thankful my mother hadn’t ruined his life. “I’m glad. I’m really glad he’s happy again.”
Beckham pulled me back down against him, and I wrapped my arm around his waist. I was thankful he didn’t talk about my mother, didn’t ask about her again. She didn’t need to intrude on this moment. I’d come to terms long ago that the life she led didn’t include me. And when it did, it was only on her terms. And that’s not a life I wanted to have.
I didn’t want to be someone’s backup, someone to stroke their ego, to make them feel better.
I wanted to be someone’s priority, and I found that with Beckham.
“I hope this goes without saying, but I don’t want you to leave, Lenora. I want you to stay here with me, to share this room with me… to be mine.”
God, I’d wanted to hear him say that for so long.
“There is no arrangement. There never was. As soon as you asked to move in with me, I knew I’d make things right and make you stay here with me anyway I could. There was no way I could have let you go again.”
I shifted on the mattress so I could look at him. I wanted to stare in his eyes as I listened.
“I’m not saying I’m perfect. I’m far from it. I’ll probably make mistakes down the road, piss you off, make you wish you could punch me in the face.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
His expression sobered. “But know this. I love you, Lenora, more than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything in this fucking world. And that’ll never change. It’ll only grow as time passes. I’m in this for the long haul with you. Forever.” He cupped my cheek and leaned in to kiss me softly. “And I think you want that too.”
The way he said it was poised a little like a question, and so to reassure him, I kissed him back. “That’s all I’ve wanted for so long,” I murmured against his mouth.
“I want you as my wife someday, Lenora. Someday soon. So fucking soon. I want to have a family with you, make a home with you. I want the world with you.” Beckham pulled me in for a hug, and I melted against him.