She narrows her eyes at him. “You will regret this, Trey. I will make you hurt like you’ve made me. I will cut you where it matters the most.” Then as if nothing's wrong in the world, Mari sweeps her hand down the same black pencil skirt she was wearing earlier, turns on a heel, and walks out of the room. Trey turns to me and his eyes look worried. I wave a hand out to him silently telling him to make sure she gets out. He follows Mari out of the room, the door slamming behind him.
My first large breath since Mari stormed in releases in a noisy fashion, and on still coiled feet I walk to the couch and plop down on the side. A door not far away slams and I assume Mari’s left the building. I lean back and put my eyes to the ceiling resting the back of my head on the couch.
Less than a minute later, the interior door closes much softer and the couch dips beside me. “I’m so sorry, Simone.”
His hand rests on my knee and I worry he’s scared to touch me more, waiting for my reaction to this whole ordeal. “No, this wasn’t your fault. It was all over me. I'm sorry. I didn’t know what to do.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about.” The hand on my knee travels up my covered arm and rests on my jaw. He turns my head toward his and places a lingering closed mouth kiss to my lips.
“Mari was a dumb time in my life. I’ve known it was a mistake for a while now, but I didn’t know what to do about it. And I wasn't motivated to deal with the fallout… at least until now.”
His arms wrap around me and he pulls me closer to him. “I’ve learned a lot since you tried to guillotine my balls.”
I laugh and it releases some of the tension from the room.
“Life is made by the people we live it with. You’ve made my days worth living and I want you in every one. For so long I’ve worked to make RDA what it is, but meeting you on that beach showed me another way. I’m working hard to be a better man.”
“Why?”
“So I’m worthy of you.”
I suck in a breath, full of emotion from his words. Tears well up in the corner of my eyes. I tell myself it’s the release of adrenaline from Mari, but it’s not. Trey, this gruff and sometimes stern non-emotional guy, twists my world every time he lays it on the line for me.
I can’t handle the feelings and I refuse to cry in front of him again, so I try for a subject change. “So I’m your girlfriend, huh?"
He laughs at my obvious tactic and his body relaxes. “I thought we’d already established that. You’re mine now and I’m not giving you back.”
So much for my subject change being less emotional.
