Till Summer Do Us Part(131)

“Fuck, you’re so warm. This is what I want. You, naked…all the time.”

“Even when I go to work?”

He tilts his head to the side. “No, this body is for me and me alone.”

“You claiming me?” I ask.

“Damn right. Why do you think I still wear this bracelet? Mine. You’re mine.”

God, I could hear him say that over and over and never get tired of it.

He kisses me again, but this time, it’s a chaste kiss. “Now, I have a question for you.”

“Okay,” I say. “What is it?”

“After you had sex with Matt, was there something you craved? Something you might have wanted?”

An orgasm?

I think back to the times when Matt and I would have sex and how he would roll out of bed after, clean up, and then go off to his office. It was so cold. Made me feel used.

I nod. “There is something.”

“What is it?”

I look into his eyes and say, “I wanted desperately to be cuddled.”

His brows shoot up in surprise, but then understanding sets in. He takes my hand in his and slips us into my bed. With my back to his chest, he pulls me into him and drapes his arm over my stomach.

“You’re telling me he never did this?”

“No,” I answer.

“What a fucking fool.” He kisses the back of my neck. “Once again: his loss, my gain.”

I sigh into him, realizing just how much I’ve been missing out on.

How much I was sitting in the dark, thinking the way Matt treated our marriage was normal. But if I truly think about it, he was never as attentive as Wilder, even in our early days.

And that’s the big difference. That’s what Wilder has taught me. That I deserve better.

That maybe…just maybe…this is where I was supposed to end up all along.

“You know, there’s only one thing left to check off on your bucket list,” he whispers. “Because we’ve done a cooking class, a movie in a theater, the kiss cam, skinny-dipping, watched some porn…and now, just one more thing.”

“What is it?” I ask, not able to remember.

“Paddleboat.”

I chuckle. “Oh right, because Matt never wanted to do anything fun.”

“Exactly.”

I turn in his embrace to face him. “You really went out of your way to do all those things for me.”

“Pips, I never went out of my way. It’s all things I wanted to do.”

I bring my hand to his cheek. “I want to say you’re too good for me, but I don’t think that’s the case, Wilder. You’re…you’re just perfect.”

He smiles. “That’s what I like to hear.” Then he leans forward and kisses me.





Chapter Thirty-One





WILDER

“Is today the day?” Sanders asks as he putts a golf ball across his office toward a cup we set up.

“Today is the day,” I say.

“Nervous?”

I shake my head. “No. Not in the slightest.”

“You think she’s ready?”

“Yeah,” I answer. His ball goes off to the right, so I step up to the tee and get in position.

“What have the last two weeks been like?”

“Well, still reeling over the scandal of you not being a real therapist.”

He rolls his eyes. “Grow up.”

“Grow up?” I chuckle. “Dude, you’re selling a scam.”

“And yet, you’re still here.”

I let out a heavy huff. “Yeah, I know, something might be wrong with me.”

“Nah, you’ve just been swooped up by the Sanders Effect, trademark.”

“You really have issues.”

“Am I the one with the issues, or are you?” He lifts his brow, causing me to laugh.

I think I’m the one with the issues.

“So once again, how have the last two weeks been?”

Moving on with the change of subject, I glance up at him, a smirk on my face.

“Ah.” He nods. “No need to say more. I can see from the look on your face that it’s been good.”

“Really fucking good,” I say. “I’ve stayed at her place almost every night. I’ve taken her to mine a few, made her dinners. We joined a pinochle league, and we are fucking terrible.”

Sanders chuckles.

“But we’re learning, and that’s all that matters. We’re still doing our cooking class and killing it. I’ve brought her flowers at work, and honestly, I’ve had the best fucking time. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy. At least not for a really long time.”

I felt immense pride when my app sold. It was an incredible experience. But this feeling? Feeling so connected to a woman that dreams are made of? Nothing could ever surpass that. She’s simply it for me, and there’s both joy and relief in feeling that.

I putt the ball and miss terribly, pushing it to the left.

Sanders retrieves our balls as he says, “How is Mika?”

“Doing well. We, uh, we had brunch with our mom the other day. It was at a restaurant, and I gave Mika an escape route if things got too heavy. He wound up staying through the entire thing, which I was proud of, but fuck was it awkward at first.”