Till Forever

by Elena Matthews

  “Not at the expense of losing you!” I yell vehemently, unable to control the panic and anger in my voice. This here is the fighter coming out in me, and unfortunately, it isn’t pretty.

  I feel like I’m holding on for dear life, and she keeps loosening her hold.

  The tears that seem like an endless stream continue down her face.

  “You’re forgetting one thing, Mia. In those plans I made, you were in every single one of them. Every. Single. One. But plans can change, and plans do change. That’s why contingency plans exist—for when the original plan doesn’t pan out. The contingency plan? We travel the world together. Experience new life-altering things together. Grow old and gray together. Die together. Then, we spend an eternity in a spirit world together. Because you and me, baby, we’re in this thing to the very fucking end. Till forever do us part,” I say, repeating the words I used in our wedding vows on a rough growl, the vows I meant every single word of.

  The silence that follows is deafening. The only sound I can hear is the thrashing of my heart against my chest as I stare her down, my breathing erratic.

  Her gaze averts from the intensity of mine. She sucks in her bottom lip, her chin trembling, and she wipes at the wet cheeks with the pad of her fingers. I notice she’s shaking, and my eyes follow the way goose bumps rise along her naked skin with a sudden chill. As if she remembers she’s still naked from the waist above, her arms instinctively begin to cover herself, vulnerability evident in her body language. She’s closing up on herself, and I’m the only one to blame.

  I know she has every right to push me away, but I feel like she’s pushing me away for all the wrong reasons. Pushing me away because she’s stubborn. Pushing me away because I hurt her, and this is her retaliation, her way of hurting me back. I know she still loves me, but I’m determined to push through the resistance to get to the other side.

  My breathing slows down, the silence calming me.

  I open my mouth to speak, but Mia beats me to it by clearing her throat.

  “Um, I…should, um…go,” she says in a timid voice, a little unsure. She nods, almost to herself, before clarifying, “Yeah, I need to leave.”

  She turns and hurriedly makes her way to the door, but I’m quick on my feet to stop her as I block her path, still naked as the day I was born.

  “Mia, there’s no way I’m letting you drive with the amount of wine you had to drink tonight.”

  She defiantly rolls her eyes, pursing her lips. “Fine, I’ll grab a cab. Now, get out of my way.” She tries to forcefully push me away with her shoulder since her arms are still crossed over her chest, but her small frame has no impact whatsoever.

  “What? So some dirty cab driver can take advantage of you? No way.”

  She gives out a humorless laugh. “How do you suggest I get home then since you’ve also been drinking?” she points out, as if I were insane.

  Hell, maybe I am.

  “You drive. In the morning.”

  Her eyes widen with realization, and she grows even more furious.

  “Tyler, the last thing I want to do is have a sleepover,” she mockingly spits out, “especially when the one person I need space from is you!”

  My pride takes a little bit of a blow at hearing her say she needs space from me, but I’ve got an excellent poker face, and I pretend her words don’t affect me.

  “I don’t expect you to sleep with me. You can stay in here, and I’ll take the guest room.”

  Her eyes drift shut, and I witness the lonely tear escaping from the corner of her eye.

  “Tyler,” she sighs, reopening her eyes, “I really can’t be around you right now. I’m just…I’m feeling so overwhelmed. I need to be alone.” Her words are calmer, but they’re also etched with a soul-crushing pain that seems frighteningly haunting, and it’s enough for me to take a step back. Enough to give her the space she obviously needs.

  “Okay,” I say with an accepting nod. “I’m still not letting you drive or get a cab, so I’ll call your dad or brother to come pick you up.”

  I turn, heading toward my dresser to change into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. As I cover my junk with my shorts, I feel Mia’s presence beside me. I stay silent as she reaches into the drawer and takes out a Star Trek T-shirt that has a Spock hand graphic with the words, Live Long and Prosper. She proceeds to pull it over her head, and I stare, mystified at seeing the T-shirt fall effortlessly over her naked skin and jean-clad thighs.

  She glances at me with an emotionless expression on her face. “I’ll stay, but I’m sleeping in the guest room.” She swings her eyes over to the bed and then back to me. “Everything in here…is too overwhelming.”

  And, with that, she makes her way toward the door, and my eyes never once stray from her as I watch her pad out of the bedroom and slip into the hall.

  Even though we were at each other’s throats not even five minutes ago, I smile.

  Not because she agreed to stay, but because she’s wearing my T-shirt.

  But not any T-shirt.

  The T-shirt.

  Mia

  I lie in bed and look down at the T-shirt, smoothing it over with my hands. I don’t know what possessed me to grab this shirt. I guess I wanted some kind of comfort.

  Tyler was wearing this T-shirt the first time I ever met him. We were at a costume themed birthday party, one my friend Alex was throwing for her fiancé—now husband. I’d recently broken up with my boyfriend, so it had taken a lot of coaxing to get me to come. When I did, Alex forced me to wear this ridiculous The Flash costume since it was a comics-themed birthday party. The costume barely left anything to the imagination. I mean, it wasn’t much different to the uniform I used to wear at Hooters, but I was twenty-six, not twenty-one anymore, and wearing such a slutty outfit felt ridiculous. I felt ridiculous, especially with hips I always deemed as too large and legs too skinny.

  Well, that was before Tyler came sliding over and indefinitely turned my frown upside down. I’d never felt more beautiful than I did after spending five minutes in Tyler’s presence. In that one moment when he appeared in my life, it all changed for me.

  I know I shouldn’t, but I close my eyes as I allow the memory to swim into my mind.

  I looked stupid.

  I was a newly single twenty-six-year-old spinster, dressed as a character named The Flash. I’d had no idea who The Flash was until I Googled her. Then, I was mortified to learn The Flash was in fact a he, and I was simply wearing an outfit designed to sexually exploit women. Because why else would they make an outfit based on a male character for women? At least, if I’d worn the man’s costume, it’d have covered a hell of a lot more skin.

  Sexist pigs.

  I stood in the corner of the sitting room, nursing my third drink of whatever this pink shit in my glass was, with a scowl permanently etched on my face. This wasn’t the fixed expression I’d had when I arrived, but the more guys who hit on me and squeezed my ass, the more my scowl grew.

  In short, I didn’t want to be here.

  I rolled my eyes when I felt another guy sidle up to me, and I awaited the stupidity that was bound to spill out of this douche-bag’s mouth any second now.

  After a few beats, he spoke, “You look like you’re having just as much fun as I am.”

  His words surprised me.

  I sensed the obvious sarcasm in this guy’s voice, and as I turned to him, I blinked in shock when I saw how insanely attractive he was. He was Channing Tatum-meets-Jensen Ackles attractive. In fact, he could have been Jensen’s brother for all I knew. However, I didn’t let his good looks fool me.

  I replied coolly with, “Why? Have you had guys hitting on you with pathetic one-liners and groping your ass all night, too?”

  He raised a brow, and I saw the humor dancing in his eyes, but he didn’t let himself smile.

  “I can’t say I have, or I’d have to beat the shit out of any guy who had the nerve to touch my ass. I’d be happy to kick the shit out of the guys who to
uched yours. Just point them out to me.”

  I had to refrain myself from the barest hint of a smile at his alpha-male declaration. I’d known the guy all of twenty seconds, and already, he wanted to beat other dudes up for me. I didn’t know whether to be offended by his obvious violent tendencies or flattered that he’d honor me like that.

  “Are you only saying that because you want to grope my ass, too?”

  He smirked before saying, “Only by invitation.”

  “Good to know,” I replied, liking his response.

  Feeling at ease in this stranger’s presence, I pivoted my body toward him and glanced down at his Star Trek T-shirt that had the words, Live Long and Prosper, below a Spock hand graphic.

  “I see you made the effort tonight,” I stated with a lightness to my voice that almost felt foreign to my own ears.

  He glanced down at his T-shirt, smiling. “Yeah, and this is the farthest extent it will ever go. I hate costumes. I do, however, love Star Trek.”

  I nervously smoothed down my dress, pulling at the end of the skirt, desperately wishing I could add on a few more inches in order to cover more of my thighs. I felt fricking naked. “I wish I’d worn a T-shirt—although not a Star Trek one, as I wouldn’t be seen dead in it,” I said with a look of utter disgust, smiling.

  He snorted. “Hey, that’s uncalled for. Star Trek is awesome.”

  “Hmm, I’ll have to take your word for it,” I replied dryly, a smirk on my lips.

  His lips pulled up into a matching smile. He lowered his gaze to take in my outfit, but unlike the jerks who had been practically eye-fucking me all night, wishing they had X-ray vision, his eyes only took a quick sweep before returning to my eyes.

  “So, do you not like The Flash?”

  “Can I let you in on a little secret?” I edged closer, and he eagerly closed the space between us. “I had no idea who The Flash was. Wonder Woman was taken, so my friend forced me to wear…this,” I said, sweeping both hands in front of me.

  His laughter filled the air between us, and my breath constricted at the very sound. Husky, carefree, and sexy as hell.

  “Well, regardless, you’re rocking the hell out of that outfit.”

  I frowned. “I’m not sure I agree with that statement. I look ridiculous.”

  He looked serious for a second before shaking his head. “I apologize if I sound like every other douche bag here, but you look smoking hot. Red is definitely your color.”

  Ten minutes ago, if any other guy had said this, I would have wanted to sucker-punch them, but the way the words had fallen effortlessly from this beautiful stranger’s mouth made me feel something I hadn’t felt in a long time.

  I felt beautiful.

  I felt sexy.

  I felt desirable.

  However, this outfit still wasn’t doing it for me. Smoking hot or not, I still felt preposterous.

  “If it were any other color, I would have stayed home tonight, but still, I’d prefer to be wearing a burlap sack instead of this dress.”

  His grin widened before he tilted his head to the side, staring down at me, almost lost in thought for a few seconds. “I have an idea,” he said.

  He took hold of my hand and pulled me through the throng of bodies dancing on the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the living room. He navigated us upstairs until we came to a stop outside the bathroom. Immediately, my hackles began to rise, and I snatched my hand from his, feeling the wrath heat my skin with anger.

  “I don’t know what you think’s going to happen, but I’m not sleeping with you,” I snapped, folding my arms over my chest.

  He looked surprised at my sudden outburst before shaking his head on a hearty chuckle. “Wow, the douche bags have really set the bar for the rest of us tonight, huh?”

  I sighed a breath of relief before laughing. “Sorry, I seem to have a one-track mind.”

  “You don’t have to tell me!” he exclaimed, still laughing. “I mean, I’m no saint—I’ve slept with my fair share of women—but I at least buy them a drink first before any groping and sexual activities begin.”

  He winked, and I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.

  If not, at least he was honest, and after coming out of a two-year relationship filled with only lies, honesty was refreshing.

  “Okay, so if you didn’t bring me up here to sleep with me, what did you bring me up here for?”

  “Well, it has some of the similar traits as sleeping with someone, as it involves taking off our clothes, but that’s the extent of it, I promise.”

  I shook my head, not understanding. “I’m not following.”

  He inched closer until every ounce of skin I was showing—which, quite frankly, was a lot in this hideous dress—was affected by the warmth that radiated from him.

  “You change into my T-shirt, and I…” He glimpsed down at my dress, and he didn’t need to finish his sentence before I roared with a fit of laughter.

  “Are you kidding me? You can’t wear this. It won’t fit you. Plus, you said you don’t wear costumes.”

  “For you, I will, and, baby, trust me, I’ll make it fit,” he responded with a shit-eating grin, almost like I’d just dared him and he was not backing down from the challenge.

  “You’re really serious?” I said, unable to control my laughter.

  “As a heart attack.”

  “Are you drunk?”

  He shrugged. “A little.”

  “And you’re doing this because…”

  “To prove to you that not all guys are jerks and to see you wear a Star Trek T-shirt when you said you wouldn’t be seen dead in one.”

  I rolled my eyes at his Cheshire cat grin.

  “Okay, fine. Anything is better than showing any more of my ass in this thing. Instead, you can show yours,” I goaded.

  He stepped backward until his back met the bathroom door. “You have to promise me one thing though.”

  “And what’s that?” I asked, stepping forward, unable to keep the smile off my face.

  “Keep your hands off my ass.”

  My mouth twisted with humor, and I shook my head. “You’re something else.”

  “It’s what I always aim to be.” He opened the bathroom door and swung his hand in the same vicinity. “Ladies first.”

  I strutted past him and stepped inside the bathroom. He entered behind me before closing the door and twisting the lock.

  He turned to me, and for a few long seconds, we simply stared at each other. During that time, my stomach flipped at how intense his beauty seemed under the brightness of the spotlights. It took him speaking to pull me out of my spell.

  “Okay, let’s do this.”

  “Turn around,” I demanded in a no-nonsense tone.

  His brows drew in, and he glanced down at my attire. “You do realize, stripping down to your underwear isn’t much different than the outfit you’re wearing,” he pointed out.

  And he’d be right if I wasn’t almost naked under this.

  “Yes, but it is when I’m not wearing a bra, and quite frankly, I don’t know you well enough to show you my tatas.”

  He choked out a laugh. “Your tatas? What are you? Twelve?”

  “Just turn around.” I rolled my eyes, trying to hide my smile.

  “Fine,” he said, sniggering, as he turned to face the bathtub.

  “You’d better not try to peek,” I muttered as I whipped the dress up over my head.

  “Wouldn’t dream of it, sunshine,” he said in a playful tone that had me immediately doubting him.

  However, he stayed put when I asked, “T-shirt, please?”

  My jaw almost dropped to my feet as my eyes became trained on the way his muscular back and shoulders rippled when he peeled the T-shirt from his body. I’d never found a back so sexy before, but his was the definition of sexy. The skin was smooth, tan, and…

  “Here you go.”

  His words pulled through my thoughts on a blink as he held out his T-shirt. I grabbed hold
of it before quickly slipping it on. It was huge and two times too big, but thankfully, the length fell just above my knees, and I felt a lot less self-conscious in my own skin.

  “You decent?” he asked a few seconds later.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, now, it’s your turn to turn around. I don’t know you well enough to show you my tatas.”

  I snorted out loud at him using my line and decided to follow suit. “Your tatas? What are you? Twelve?”

  “Just turn around,” he mocked.

  And I did as he’d said while giving a roll of my eyes. I looked at the tiled walls as I heard a zipper being pulled down and then the ruffle of jeans shifting down his legs. Around thirty seconds passed until he told me to turn around, and when I did, I was unable to control myself as projectile laughter escaped my lips.

  “Oh my God!” I clutched hold of my stomach through my hilarity as my eyes raked over him. “You look…”

  The halter neck of the dress looked like it was choking him while the rest of the dress stretched out to make room for his muscular chest and the length covering just below his crotch.

  “You look like the Hulk just before he tears out of his clothes!” I cackled, struggling to catch my breath.

  He feigned offense with a pout, pointing to himself. “What? Are you saying I don’t look sexy as hell in this little red piece?”

  “No, not at all. Your underwear really finishes it off.” I indicated to his black boxer briefs that peeked out just below the dress.

  He beamed, looking down at his attire with a shake of his head.

  “Oh, you’re missing a few things,” I said, realizing I was still wearing the eye mask, the satin gloves, and thigh-high boot covers. I peeled the boot covers down my legs, revealing the red peep-toe heels that had been hiding beneath. I threw them at him before making work of the gloves. I stepped up toward him once he pulled the boot covers up his legs. “Arms,” I demanded.

  He held both arms out with a quirk of his lips, and I focused intently as I placed the glove on his right hand, stretching it over his thick arm before meeting resistance at the top of his forearm. I moved on to his left arm.