Stolen Tyme
Page 33
The very one I’m wearing tonight. For him.
The very song I sang then, I’ll sing tonight.
That song was the one I wrote on a lonely night seven years ago, after my first night with Xavier.
The nerves fly out the window with each shake of my hips. Xavier shuffles in his seat. This will be his slow torture for all the things I recognized first, long before he did.
I knew it was something then.
I knew I loved him.
I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.
I knew…it was always him.
All those things were why my heart always went back to him. Why it will always go back.
“Do you like this?”
“Fuck like—it’s love. Like I’m going to stalk you for the rest of my life.”
“You know what, X?”
“What?”
“That sounds like the best thing you have ever said to me.”
“Does it?” His voice is low and husky as I crawl over the stage. The beat of the music driving me, the lust for him burning through every muscle of mine.
My voice sings through the speakers; Xavier’s breath hitches while I unbutton his shirt.
I wanted to drag this out, but the urge is too great.
I unzip his pants, freeing his dick. “See, X, I was thinking about how we started.” As I straddle him, X’s rough hands squeeze my ass, gathering me closer into his hardness. “How much I wanted no one to be here, where you could fuck me on this very stage.”
“How the fuck did I get so lucky?” he groans out.
“I’m not sure, but I ask myself that every day.” Every day. Even with all the fighting. Even with the back and forth, having Xavier in my life made me blessed.
My lips meet his as we move in sync.
Faster, harder, deeper. And with a whisper of a bang echoing through the speakers, we both come.
My and Xavier’s feet dangle over the trampoline in the back yard, the spring air feeling great on my body. My father was long gone, and the baby monitor buzzing next to us.
“Tonight was perfect,” Xavier says into the night sky.
“I had this planned out. I had a whole speech prepared, but once I sat you down, nothing I planned worked out. All I could think about was you in that damn chair.” I bit my lip, remembering it. “So instead, I’m going to do it now.”
“The speech?”
“Yes. Please let me get this out before you say anything. That’s the one thing I’m going to ask.”
He nods.
“No, I need you to promise that. This is hard enough on its own to get out. If you interrupt, I won’t be able to.”
“I promise, I won’t.”
“I told you no that night, the one when you asked me to marry you, for so many reasons. Too many to go into right now. And, Xavier, don’t get me wrong…it was the right thing to say then. We needed to grow separately, then become friends. We never had that the first time. Each day I was pregnant, I thought, why couldn’t you have been like this before? Be the person I always knew you were. This patient man who knew his worth. Who understood and knew what standing up for the right thing was for. But you know what? None of that matters now.”
“What matters now?” he questions, staring at the corners of my eyes where the tears threaten to fall.
“Us. That family in there. I wanted to slow it down and let it all sink in. That didn’t happen before. And that’s what matters most. I can’t go another day without telling you. That center we talked about…it really is a circle. And that never ends.”
“Never does.”
Never will.
“And I love you. With everything in me, I do.”
He takes my cheeks between his hands and whispers against my lips, “I love you, too.”
“You have been interrupting me.”
“I know. But I want you to listen to me.” He takes the bag out of his pocket. “What I said back then still stands—this is my sign to you. I’m all in. You, Charlie, Hollis, and Caitlan are my life. You don’t have to wear it. But this is yours. It always belongs with you. Always will.”
“What if I want to wear it?” Tears now cloud my vision. Life goes too fast not to be with the people who make you complete.
“Then it seems we are getting married.”
“We’re getting married.”
“Yeah?”
The look he gives me holds a double meaning. One that I have my whole life to figure it out.
“Yeah.”
“Center.”
“Circle.”
Time mended us together, in this very spot, right here in the moment. It’s only the end of our beginning.
Now it’s our time for the middle, for our forever.
Epilogue
The dress is tighter than what I would want to wear, my hair curlier than I usually wear it, and the makeup caked on. But that’s what happens when you’re about to walk the red carpet.
“Okay. You guys need to do the whole red carpet this time. When we get into the building, you have to go straight to your seats for the opening, then back to the dressing room.” Tara ticks off as she goes through her phone looking for last minute things to remind us of. “Oh, and no hanky panky in the dressing room.”
X’s hand on my thigh tightens as I try to control my laughter. It happened one time, and she never lets us forget it.
Tonight marks the end of the whirlwind of our year. We married the day after he asked me. It was everything no girl dreams of, but exactly what I could’ve asked for. It was us, the kids, and Lock at the Justice of the Peace. I didn’t need the dress, the flowers, or the guests. I only wanted the people who make up my world there. And Xavier gave it to me.
Two months later, our single “Stolen Impact” dropped as the first single from Xavier’s solo album, and we have been busy ever since. Xavier’s career has soared, but he kept his promise and hasn’t been gone for more than one night, and still refuses to tour.
I decided to pause my show for right now. At least ‘til the kids get older. It takes too much time away, and for now, writing is enough for me.
The limo stops right at the start of the red carpet, and X turns his head, reaching out for my hand. “You ready?” he says, playing with my ring on my thumb. He gave up twisting his for mine long ago.
“With you by my side? Always.”
“Because we are each other’s centers.”
And we are.
Always will be. With our family being the circle.
The first time we met, we were just two people, separately living on borrowed time. We came together to live on love in our own stolen time. In the moments, in the memories of the past. We went out and got what we wanted. Now there is no time to pass.
Now…now it’s just our forever.
Our time. Nothing borrowed or stolen about it.
Acknowledgments
Jon—You are my world and I couldn’t imagine my life without being able to fall and you be there to catch me.
Nene and Connor—I do this for you, even though I will never, ever, ever, never let you read my books.
Booski— shhhhh… don’t tell anyone where that body is buried.
Sarah—Best sister ever.
Whore one and whore two—Thank you for taking this and making it shine.
TWOTS— You ladies are the most amazing group ever!! I’m in amazement how seven girls can come in strangers and become a family! Thanks for the push, the laughs, a shoulder to lean on, and sisterhood.
Stephanie— I love you so very much and your friendship means more than the world.
Jill—I hate you. Say that with love. Duh.
Robin from Wicked by Design- Thank you for taking the picture and making it a one of kind piece of art.
Blogs—I love you all. Thank you for shares and the reviews.
Readers—Your support means the world to me, to have the love and messages keeps me going. Each and everyone of you are one of a kind.
Last but not least—ANXIETY. You little shit head has taught me so much about myself. But most of all when going gets tough, even though it took me months and months, I made you my bitch.
About the Author
SL is a self-described book junkie. She spent her whole life with her head in the clouds, dreaming of characters and imagining how their stories will play out. It wasn’t till later when those stories in her head became too much to handle and made it onto paper. When SL isn’t reading or writing, she is spending her time with her two crazy kids and husband. Where they reside in a home just outside of Atlanta. SL is true buckeye fan and lives for the weekends where she can drink a glass of wine and devour the books waiting on her Kindle.
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