“Well, when I was scrolling the internet, I also saw a bunch of stuff from before the Super Bowl.”
“Before the Super Bowl? Like what?”
“You dated some pretty famous people.”
Tim nodded. “That was a long time ago. I’m sure you dated several guys before you got married?”
“Yes, but not supermodels or famous actresses. Tim, I’m not even on the same scale as those women…”
Tim shifted, grasping Jessica around her trim waist. “Jessica, come on. You’re just as beautiful and believe me,ten timesmore interesting than most of those girls.”
She hung her head and whispered, “But I have battle scars.”
His brow wrinkled. “What do you mean, ‘battle scars’?”
She averted her eyes and palmed her soft belly. She was only eleven months post birth with Jo-Jo, her body not even close to what it was before she started having children. And she’d had four.
“Jessica?”
Looking straight at him, she confessed her inner struggle. “I have stretch marks, Tim. A lot of them. My stomach is soft, and my boobies are sagging and sad.”
Tim pressed his full lips together and chuckled softly. “Your boobies are sad?”
Jessica giggled. “Yes. They’re sad. And I’m not sure I’m ready for a man who is the epitome of fitness to see me in all my sagging, sad glory. Don’t get me wrong; I’m happy I gave birth to four beautiful and healthy daughters. But if you’ve never seen what a woman’s body goes through during pregnancy, it could be quite a shock to see it up close. Lord knows I don’t want to shock you.” Her heart was pounding in her chest. “Stephenhatedwhat pregnancy did to my body and always made sure that I knew it.”
“Oh god, Jessica. That’s awful. He’s a prick.”
She nodded in agreement. “I know that. But still, as a woman, as much as you love your children and what you went through to have them, it’s still hard to come to grips with all the changes your body goes through.” She dragged her index finger across her abdomen. “I have a huge scar from here to here. Four C-sections. It will never go away.”
Tim splayed his hand across her tummy. Suddenly, he pulled his hoodie up and over his head, then he removed his tee-shirt. His bare chest was inches away from Jessica as she continued to straddle him.
“What are you doing?” She was breathless, his glorious eight-pack abs flawless.
“You’re not alone. I want to show you my battle scars.” His expression was even and focused as if he was determined to prove a point.
“See this?” He pointed to a small scar near his clavicle. “This is a battle scar from a surgery I had to repair my clavicle after the bone broke and pierced through my skin.”
Jessica swallowed hard.
“And this one.” He lifted his right wrist and twisted it, pointing to another scar. “Two pins in my wrist after being tackled by a three-hundred-pound linebacker.”
He shifted her off his lap and stood, pulling down his pants and pointing at his right knee. “This battle scar is from arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus. I was out for a whole season in recovery.”
The visual of Tim in his boxers took her by surprise, and she reeled from the quick moment. He lifted his pants back up and sat next to her, still bare-chested. He pulled back his long hair and pointed to a small scar above his left eyebrow. “This one is from a couple of stitches after getting pegged with a beer bottle from a crazy fan at a nightclub.” He shifted again and looked up and down his left forearm for one final scar.
“Aha! And last, but not least, this one. My very first battle scar.” He pointed proudly at the faint discoloration that was barely noticeable.
Jessica peered at his skin with interest. “What happened?”
Tim’s smile was beaming. “Skateboard accident when I was thirteen. I thought I could beat my friend going down River Canyon Road in the Valley. I lost.”
She traced the faint scar with her fingertips, aware that his body was giving off noticeable heat. He held her fingers and brought them up to his mouth to kiss them, his evergreen eyes hypnotic.
“We all have battle scars, Jessica. They tell a story. And I love your story.”
She gulped and nodded, boldly bringing her hand down to his chest and running her fingertips across his ripples. It was an incredible relief to finally touch him.
He leaned forward and lightly kissed her on the mouth. She was acutely aware of him pulling up her shirt again. She allowed him to continue and watched as he flung it across the room. Her ample bosom rose up and down in her D-cups as she breathed heavily. With her gaze fixated on his, she shamelessly reached around her back and unclasped the bra, letting it drop in her lap. She hadn’t been bare-chested in front of a man in a very long time. Stephen didn’t want to have anything to do with her during her pregnancies. And when she wasn’t pregnant, she was usually breastfeeding which caused another whole mess of issues.
