AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Bye, Tim,” I say, nodding. He winks at me, making his way to Drew’s. I stretch my legs, smiling at her, and she blushes.
Jay kisses her forehead. “Catch you tomorrow, baby.”
“See you tomorrow, Dad,” she says, watching him go.
She picks up my glass with both hands and takes a shuddering sip. When I reach out to help her hold the glass, she shakes her head. I love this about her; she’s not afraid to do what she wants. She closes her eyes for a moment, and when they lock on mine, she’s smiling at me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask her.
“Nothing. I’m happy,” she muses.
“Happy?” I murmur, taking the drink from her and downing it. Looking at the wheelchair, my stomach turns. After a while I tell her, “I’m not going to race anymore.”
“What?” She sits back with an angry scowl on her face. Her pupils are dilated. She is high as a kite.
“I’m not racing again,” I tell her, more calmly this time.
She shakes her head angrily. “And why the fuck not?”
“Don’t swear.” I stand, placing my glass on the table. “I don’t want to.”
She pushes my drink over the edge in one swift movement, and it shatters into a million little pieces on the floor.
“Horseshit.” She points her finger in my face. “You live for the ride. It doesn’t say live to ride, ride to live on your back for nothing.”
“I don’t want to ride anymore. I want to stay here with you,” I grunt.
She shakes her head. “Do not put this on me. Don’t use me for some fucked up excuse. You wanted to be number one. Don’t you dare use me like this.”
I pull her chair toward me, and get right in her face.
“Oh no? Tell me what I should do then. Leave you, like Jay did years ago?” I yell.
She slaps me hard across the face. It stings like a motherfucker but I guess I deserved it. “Don’t ever talk that way to me again,” she says, biting her lip. Her body shakes with anger.
I blow out through my nose, calming myself. She shoves me out of the way and tries to stand. I pick her up in my arms like I’ve been doing ever since she came home from the hospital and walk her inside my apartment. She doesn’t meet my eyes, and I don’t blame her when I set her down on my bed.
I strip and slide in next to her. I kiss her shoulder and I turn her face toward me. She’s crying, but she lets me hold her. “I love you, Shorty. I’m sorry for being such an asshole sometimes.”
Sky
“I love you too,” I whisper, not breaking eye contact. I kiss him, my hands clutching at his hair, pulling and tugging the way he likes it. I kiss his jaw up to his ear, and he doesn’t hold anything back. He takes me into his arms and holds me like he never wants to let go. “Don’t give up your dream for me,” I say.
“You are my dream, Shorty,” he hesitates but after a while he says, “but I promise I won’t.”
We kiss for a long time and I memorize every smile, every whisper, every moment.
He falls asleep in my arms and I stay up until the morning light shines through the window. I watch him sleep, his chest peacefully moving. I’m starting to let him go, one day at a time.
I grab a blank piece of paper from the nightstand and start to write. Loving him is the best thing I ever did. I know he’s a broken man, and I know I’ve hurt him but I wouldn’t want to change a thing. Because all the mistakes I ever made led me to him.
I write down each memory, every smile, my pain, and my love. Lately it has gotten harder to put the words to paper, and I know there will come a day when even picking up the pen will hurt too much.
I turn the pages and read what I have written.
To the love of my life.
I wipe away my tears, and let my trembling fingers skim over the words.
