Page 49 of Worth Risking It

I deflated and huffed, my palms on his knees once more. “Baby, you don’t need to impress me. You never did. I mean, it’s nice, and all, but it’s you I fell in love with.”

His mouth twitched with the hint of a smile. “You really don’t give a shit about all that, huh?”

“No, Milo.”

“You wanna sell the house and move into this one?”

Grinning, I propped my elbows on his shoulders and folded my arms behind his neck, toying with his hair. “Sure. Yearlong summers with an inground pool. I can handle downsizing.”

His hands roamed to my back, his fingers splaying out over the top of my ass. “And if I asked you to sign a prenup?”

The smile fell, my heart skidding to a halt. Narrowing my lids, I filled my lungs and turned my profile to him, grinding my teeth. “Theodore.”

He cursed, dropping his forehead to the center of my chest, his hair tickling the underside of my chin.

“Fine. I’ll sign it. Draw it up, and I’ll sign it. Not a problem. I don’t care about the money. Want the ring back? Take it. Want to sell the house? Fine. I don’t care, Milo. I don’t care about any of it.”

Sitting up straight, he peered down the length of his nose. In a quiet tone, he muttered, “You are so amazing, Chazzy. I love you so goddamn much.”

I held his cheeks with a partial glare. “And I love you, Milo, not your fucking money.”

A bushy brow lifted with half a smirk. “But my money got you.”

“No, your money bought my body. I still have it all, too, if you want it back. Every last dime, I never spent any of it. I used my allowance to open Wanderlust Masseuse, not the five grand a week for the massages. Want it, have it. You won my heart.”

The smugness fell, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I don’t deserve you.”

I squinted, tipping my head. “You okay? What’s wrong?”

A shoulder rose and fell, one side of his face scrunching. “Just…thinking about all the times I fucked up with you, and you stuck around. I never wanted something real with someone and…I keep fucking up because I don’t know how to do it.

“Baby girl, my whole family is whores. Both my parents have lovers, my brothers, even my sister and her husband have affairs. It’s all I’ve ever known and…”

Groaning, his frame sagged forward. “I want to make you happy, and I’m worried I can’t give you that.”

I gazed up at the sky, batting my lashes. In my gut, I knew I no longer had a foot to stand on against his affairs, for I was just as guilty. Where did I get off demanding fidelity when I was pouncing on Wyatt the second he was out the door? I was in love with his best friend, yet I wanted him to commit to only me?

My heart skipped and my stomach cramped when a thought crossed my mind. What if, one day, Milo fell in love with another woman? I had always heard women who had been cheated on saying they wished the guy had at least loved the other woman, because it wouldn’t hurt so much.

I disagreed. I would much rather him fuck, cum, and walk, than share his heart with someone else.

In that moment, I realized my betrayal was much worse than his. He was just doing what he had always done his whole life. He was getting physical needs met when I wasn’t around.

I was giving a piece of my heart and soul to another man.

Disgusted with myself, I closed my lids and bowed my head, rubbing at my temple. “Milo, when you go on your trips without me and pick up a lover…”

My skin flushed with dread, hating that I was verbally setting lines in my life that could never be taken back. I had to compromise, however, for I could not give up Wyatt.

“I just don’t want them in my hometown and…I don’t want any step kids or diseases brought home to me.”

His nostrils flared and a muscle in his jaw twitched. “As long as I spend the rest of my life with you, I will do whatever you ask me to, Chazzy. Right here, right now, lay down the rules and I will agree to them. Whatever it takes to keep you.”

My focus darted around the pool area, my brain reeling and my heart racing. Gulping, I licked my lips and gave a single nod. “Yeah, I know. I told you what I want, no STD’s, no step kids. Now you tell me what you want.”

“Just you,” he answered without hesitation. “Just you, as my wife, giving me babies, loving me, forever.”

Arching my brows, my emotions burning my eyes, I whispered, “You already have that.”