Page 41 of The Road Back to Us

“Cole, it’s fine. Really. I think they’ll have a great time there, it’ll be fun.”

I let my shoulders fall as I leaned against the doorframe.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind calling and fixing it.”

“It’s totally fine. I’m kind of tired anyway, so I wouldn’t be much fun. They’ll have a better time there.”

“Okay,” I said, nodding in agreement. “Do you need anything?”

“No.” She shook her head and smiled. “But you can come lay with me if you want to.”

I tried to push out the thoughts that immediately flooded my brain, thinking of all the things I wanted to do to her in that bed besides laying with her.

I kicked off my shoes and climbed into bed beside her, laughing as she watched me with something that looked a lot like desire in her eyes.

“I know I was a huge bitch earlier,” she said softly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take things out on you.”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize. I get it.” I rolled onto my side and studied her face.

“It’s not okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. You were trying to be there for me, and I treated you like shit. That’s not okay, Cole. You deserve better than that.”

I scooted closer and rested my hand on her hip after she propped herself up on her elbow to look at me.

“Believe it or not, this is what married people do,” I said gently, not wanting to freak her out by reminding her that we were still, in fact, married. “They fight. They have disagreements. They have times when they can’t stand the other person. But at the end of the day, they find their way back to that person because that’s where they want to be. I’m not scared of you, Lyric. Nothing you say or do will be bad enough to push me away. I know that things are really scary right now, but I’ve got you. I promise.”

“How can you be so calm through all of this?”

I shrugged and pursed my mouth to the side as I considered how to answer that.

“I’ve been through worse,” I answered honestly. “I’ve already lost you once, Lyric, and that was one of the worst things that I’ve ever had happen to me. If I can survive that, I can survive anything.”

Thirty-Seven

Lyric

We fell asleep together on the bed, holding hands after I cried when Cole told me how badly I had hurt him when I left. It was like he had pulled off the Band-Aid I had slapped over my heart when I packed my stuff up and left, and now my heart was bleeding, and I couldn’t stop it.

I woke up first, surprised when I found myself wrapped in his arms with his hands protectively holding my stomach. I glanced over my shoulder, checking that he was still asleep, before I decided whether to try to move. My bladder was full, and I desperately needed to pee, but he looked so peaceful that I didn’t want to disturb him.

“Go pee,” he mumbled, sleep thick in his voice as his eyes stayed shut.

“Sorry,” I whispered as I climbed out of bed, immediately missing the warmth of his body against mine.

I went to the bathroom and then washed my hands, wondering what would happen now that we’d crossed another line and fallen asleep cuddling. I knew better than to overthink it, but I was on a slippery slope, losing any resolve I had left of not being with Cole. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with him; it was that I knew things wouldn’t work out for us the way we wanted them to because so much had changed between us over the years.

I stepped back in the bedroom, glancing at the bed before deciding to sneak out and find something else to do—anything that gave me space from the man I desperately wanted to be next to again.

“Stop it,” he said, rolling onto his back as the sheet pulled down and revealed a sliver of his toned abs. “Come back to bed and stop overthinking everything.”

“How do you know I’m overthinking?” I planted my feet firmly where I was standing, more so I didn’t give in and go running to him.

“Because I know you. Now get your ass back in bed before I bring you back to bed.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, lacking a more mature response because the thought of him taking me to bed sent inappropriate thoughts through my head and a heat that spread straight to my core.

“Fine,” he grumbled, pushing the sheet away as he got up and headed toward me. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Before I could question what he meant, he reached down and lifted me to his waist, his hands firmly gripping my ass as his cock pressed against me in the best way. I closed my eyes and tried not to show any reaction, but his soft chuckle confirmed he knew what he was doing.