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“So, it’s a pattern and not me?” He asks.
“Yes, but a lot of the lies revolve around you. The money’s a hard thing to deal with.”
“You should have told me that.” He shakes his head.
“At eighteen, no. Now, yeah, I should have.” I shrug and shuffle my feet a bit.
“And the rest of Paris. All the things we said and did? The things we shared. Lies?”
“I meant what I said. You’re the only absolute truth in my entire life. And I’ll fight to deserve you.”
tony
Her hair is luminous in the hot sun, and her black dress is floating all around her in the very slight breeze. Her dark eyes are so full of pain, but there’s a dimension to them I’ve never seen before. It’s like I finally have all of her in front of me. She’s waiting for me to respond. She’s rocking on her fancy heels, and I have no choice but to love her. But can I live with her and have her? That’s the fuck of it all. I love her, and I always will, but I’m not sure if I won’t end up devastated. Or if she’s fucking lying to me now.
I grab her face and kiss her hard. She clings to me the way I’m clinging to us making it through this.
“My head is so turned around, my love.” I run my hands through my hair and look over the manufactured lake and see a rainbow spray of a fountain. For a moment, I’m transported to the Bellagio, when she and I visited them early after the sunrise before we parted.
Her breath hitches. “You still love me.”
“That’s never been the problem. How do I know you’re not going to leave me like you have twice?” I say my biggest fear and I shuffle my feet and look around.
“It’s not in my immediate plans,” she says, drawing my face back to hers nipping at my bottom lip.
“And those would be…” I grin.
“Anything you want. To get through the rest of this, I need to be with you. If we break up then let this be the end and if we find our way, then let this be the beginning of a new era of Mak and Tony.”
“Either way I get laid, right?” I whisper ghosting over her lips.
She kisses me so fucking deeply it’s like I can feel her everywhere. We thrash and moan and gasp releasing all our tension.
I say with a lilt in my voice, “I’m trying to trust you but I love you so very much.”
She laughs hard, and then she doesn’t. Her face straightens out as she adjusts herself away from my rising cock. It’s as if she wants this sentence to be taken more seriously than our situation deserves.
“And I’ll always love you. As I always have.”
My body fills with confidence and warmth I’ve only ever known in her arms. “You do know we can’t be together until the financial circus is settled and things in my life clear up. I hope you’ll still be here when I figure it all out.”
“I do and I will.”
I grin widely. “That has a nice ring to it.”
“NO RINGS!” She takes a stance. “And no presents. No money. I don’t want any of it. Do you understand? I’m not those other women.”
“But I like to give presents,” I whine.
“Fine.” My eyes light up. “But your limit is a hundred dollars.”
“Plane tickets?” I ask, crooking my eyebrow.
“To where?”
“Clandestine getaways with me.”
She crosses her arms. “I’ll allow it. I don’t love you for your money.” I slam my lips to hers and our tongues volley in admiration that this is all that matters.
