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She might have broken me, but at one point she held me together, made me whole… made me happy.
Every life I imagined for myself was either a forever bachelor or married to a vision from my past. Even all these years later, that hadn’t changed. It was fucking stupid was what it was. If I could hate her, life could have been so much different for me.
Part of me hoped she’d walk back into my life one day, and now that she did, the vision was becoming clearer. I didn’t want to be a bachelor for the rest of my life. It might have worked for Clyde, but it’s not the life I wanted for myself.
I told Phoebe not to fall in love with me, but now I was more determined than ever to make her break her promise.
She was mine. Always had been. I just needed to keep her from running again.
Dinner was nice. The food was good, and the conversation was better than good. It was amazing. For a second, it almost felt like we were back in my college dorm, lying on my bed, watching some crappy show on cable and talking about everything and anything. It wasn’t until we walked into our hotel room that my bubble burst. We weren’t in my college dorm, but the bed in this room felt as small.
Laurent was also twice the size of what he once was, now covered in what I assumed was solid muscle. He’d always been tall, but the bulk was new, or at least new to me.
“You want to wash up first?” he asked as the door closed behind us, and I jumped.
“Sure. Unless you want to. If you want to, I can wait.” Oh my god, I was babbling.
“I offered. Go first. I’ll see if there’s anything on TV. Unless you want to turn in early.”
I glanced at my watch. It was barely nine pm. “Would you hit me with a million ofyou’re oldjokes if I told you sleep sounds nice?”
He laughed, and why did it have to be the greatest sound I’d heard in a long time? “No, I’m up by five most days, so I’m in bed by ten at the latest.”
“Me too.”
“Sleep it is then. After all, we have a big day tomorrow.”
“Don’t remind me.” I grabbed my bag and headed into the bathroom. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and pulled out my pajamas. If I knew I would be sharing a room with Laurent before we left, I’d have packed more than a skimpy nightgown. I planned on heading to my room, ordering room service, and giving myself a little spa treatment.
I should have guessed the step monster would find a way to mess it all up. My night of pampering would have to wait. I was happy I already had a pedicure and had decided against painting my own toes. Poor Laurent would have been subjected to chipped polish from a month ago.
An unexpected jolt shot through my body. Ugh. This was going to be a very long night. Maybe I’d be lucky and fall asleep once my head hit the pillow, avoid all that awkward silence and constant body shifting.
Unfortunately, the wine wasn’t doing its job. I didn’t feel tired; I felt rejuvenated.
I slipped into the skimpy emerald green nightgown and looked at myself in the mirror. It was even skimpier than I remembered. Jesus Christ. Maybe I should put my clothes back on. Or maybe I could put some holes in a pillowcase. Anything would cover more skin than this number. What the hell was I thinking?
Not like Laurent hadn’t seen all of me before. And I could argue he saw all of twenty-one-year-old me, but then there was the drunken innocent when I stripped to my underwear. At least the nightgown covers more than my bra and panties did that night. Barely.
I counted to three and swung the door open, hurrying to the bed as if the ground were lava.
“Hey, what’s th—?” Laurent’s words trailed off. His eyes locked on mine, freezing me in place. I attempted to cover myself, but it was a futile try. I didn’t have enough hands to cover all the places.
His mouth hung open, and I dropped my hands. This was ridiculous. We were grown ass adults. I’d seen him naked. He’d seen me naked. Hell, I bet we’d seen our fair share of naked people. There was nothing wrong with showing a little skin. Some young twenty-year-olds walked into the resort wearing less.
I shrugged. “Up until a few hours ago, we weren’t sharing a room.”
“Thank you, Marion.”
I scoffed. “She’s the last person who deserves your gratitude.”
“After all this time, she hasn’t changed much, huh?”
“No, and I swear it’s just not me being bitter, though I have every right. She’s just not a good human.”
“Then why does your dad stay with her?”
“That’s a really good fucking question. I swear she chopped off his balls and keeps them under lock and key.”
