AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I love you too.”
I’m not a romantic guy but I was pretty damn sure when I came inside her I could write a poem about it. She was that amazing.
For a minute we just lay there, panting. Then I shifted so that she was next to the inner cushions. I kissed her forehead.
“They say you’re not supposed to be in a relationship when you’re in recovery.” I caressed her arm, holding her snug against me in the spooning position. “But the truth is, you started my recovery. You saw past the damage.”
“I know you think that you’re the damaged one,” she whispered. “But you’ve saved me too. Because you’ve given me something no one else has—total acceptance. You don’t see my issues as issues.”
“No. I really don’t.” I never had. “I think you’re unique, but in the best way possible.” And it all just felt right.
Then I forced myself to get up to dispose of the condom, even though I wanted to lie next to her for hours. I said, “Am I interrupting your Saturday?”
“Yes, I’m very busy,” she said, rolling onto her back and stretching her arms over her head like a cat. “Can’t you tell?”
“You know exactly how hot you are when you do that, don’t you?”
Most girls would demur, fish for a compliment. Sophie just nodded. “I’ve been studying burlesque.”
And holy shit. “What do you mean? Is it something you can show me?” Please, God, let it be something she could show me. I decided not to think too hard about who the hell she had been studying that for because it clearly wasn’t me.
Sophie nodded. “It’s a sensual dance class. I started going because I felt like with you I started to discover a better connection with my body. I wanted to explore that further.”
“I completely support that.” More than she could ever understand.
“I think I need to dole it out in increments though. Keep the element of surprise in our relationship.”
I remembered very fondly her blow job lesson. “Keep me guessing, baby. I’m cool with that.”
Her apartment was clean, bordering on stark, but that didn’t surprise me. Sophie had that need to keep things tidy. What did surprise me was she had the world’s biggest computer monitor. Behind it was a dry erase board with all kinds of math shit on it. I honestly didn’t even know what it was. It was numbers and letters and symbols. Equations of some sort.
As I stood there naked I gestured to the wall. “You working on something?”
“Yes. Isn’t it beautiful?” She sighed, clearly at the pleasure math gave her.
I looked over at her. “Gorgeous. It’s gorgeous.”
Her gaze met mine and she blushed.
“Hey, can I ask you something?” she said.
“Of course. Anything.”
“Do you remember everything from before? From us?”
I wasn’t sure what she was asking. “What do you mean? Yeah.” Every moment with her was ingrained in my memory and it had sustained me for the last month.
“I wasn’t sure if, you know, the alcohol had affected your memory.”
I shook my head, slowly. “I remember every single thing. And you can test me on it.”
She smiled at me, with a sweetness I didn’t deserve. “What was the song playing when you made me dance with you downtown?”
I traced her inner thigh with my finger, happy to have the feel of her skin next to me again. “That’s easy. I wasn’t even really drunk then, first of all. Second of all, it was Bon Jovi, “Seat Next to You.” Listen to it, and you will be even more in love with me than you are now because I’m fucking romantic.”
Sophie stared up at me. “I think you’re the kind of romantic that works for me,” she said simply.
I did work for her. As much as she worked for me. I’m a guy of conviction, a man who goes all in. I was committed to being an alcoholic, and now I was committed to being sober. And with Sophie.
