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She nods before resting her head against my chest again. I don’t know how long we stay like this, with her in my arms, me stroking her head, and her gripping my biceps like she never wants to let go. But soon, I hear a key in the door, and just like that, our time is over.
The ride to the rehabfacility is quiet. Too quiet. I think even Drew feels uncomfortable at some point because he turns the radio on for at least some white noise. Will is seated in the back of Drew’s Mercedes next to me in order to give us our last few moments of closeness. I lift my head from his shoulder when I feel his finger drawing circles on the inside of my palm.
“I’ll call you when I can. And you can come on Thursday…if you want. Apparently, that’s their family day.”
“I’ll be there.” The idea of needing space went out the window the second he told me he was getting help. I smile at him, and he places a kiss on my forehead. He holds his lips there a beat longer than usual and I wonder if he’s putting up a brave front for me.
The rest of the ride is silent, my head on his shoulder and our hands clasped. When the car slows to a stop I feel a full panic attack coming on, but through some deep breathing I manage to stop it. He helps me out of the car and presses a kiss to my lips when I hear a throat being cleared. Will’s lips move from mine, much to my disappointment, when I see a man in a dark brown sports coat and jeans walking towards us. I furrow my brow into a scowl at this man’s intrusion of our privacy while we’re trying to say goodbye.Can you give us a minute? He’s not even on the premises yet, good God.
“Tuck,” he nods at the older man and my eyes widen.His therapist?His eyes seem to be fixed on me and I give him a small smile. “This is Charlotte Pierce, my beautiful fiancée. Charley, this is my mentor, Mitch Tucker.”
He smiles a warm smile at me. “It’s very nice to meet you. Will speaks very highly of you. I am sure you will be the main focus of his time here.”
I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing given that the main point of this stint in rehab is for him to work through the issues lurking below the surface.Which brings me to a nagging question, am I an issue?
“Being a better man for her is the number one priority,” Will says and I look up at him.
“You’re already the best,” I whisper.
“Well, we want it to stay that way,” Tucker interjects.
At this point, Drew gets out of the car and makes his way to where we are, probably wondering if someone needed to tell Tuck to give us some space.
Which I would not mind in the slightest. I know he means well, but can he give us a minute?
“Drew, just…check in on my girl every once in a while?” Will looks at his brother, and I’m happy to see the start of their relationship being repaired after so long.
“You got it. Everything is going to be fine. You go and get yourself better. I’ll watch out for these two while you’re gone.”
Tuck’s eyes snap to me immediately in question and then back to Will. Drew puts a hand over his mouth and then looks at me and then at Tucker. “Shit, you hadn’t told him? Were you not planning to?”
Will shakes his head at him and rolls his eyes. “I was planning to.”
“Well, we have even more to talk about than I thought.” Tucker looks at me. “Congratulations,” he nods, “on the baby…and the divorce, of course.”
Will looks as if he could ring his neck. My face falls even more hearing the judgment laced through his words, and Will tightens his hold on my hand.
“Watch it,” he growls, and I can sense the tension working through his back and shoulders instantly. “Give us a second, Tuck.”
“Will, the sooner—” he starts, when I feel Will tense next to me.
“ONE SECOND,” he raises his voice. His posture is rigid as he stares Tucker down.
Tucker puts his arms up in defense and takes a few steps back. Drew gets back in the car leaving me alone with Will. “I’m sorry about that,” he whispers as he cups my face, and his lips find my right cheek, then my nose, then my left cheek before he rubs his nose against mine. “I have to go.”
“I know.” My eyes find the ground sadly.
He lifts my chin gently. “I love you.”
A smile plays on my lips hearing his words. “I love you, too.”
He leans in to kiss me and what I expect to be a short, sweet kiss, turns into a kiss that I feel in every bone in my body. His hand finds the car behind me, effectively boxing me in as his other hand weaves through my hair, and his tongue strokes against mine. I know this kiss, I love these kisses. These are the kisses that come just before we make love. The kisses we havewhilewe make love. As much as I love this kiss now, I’m disappointed that this one in particular is leading to nothing.Space actually.It’s leading to a week of space.
When I pull apart, his pupils are dilated, and his mouth a bit swollen from my nibbling on his lip. I stroke his jaw, and he kisses my open palm. “Get in the car, Charley. If you don’t, I won’t be able to walk away from you.”
“But…”
“Please,” he pleads.
