An incredible and equally terrifying shift in my universe.
Holding my breath, I ease myself from the bed, inch by painstaking inch.My gaze lands on our discarded clothes, a messy heap in the shadows.I bypass my dress and reach for his black T-shirt.I pull it over my head, the soft cotton settling around me, falling to mid-thigh.
Oversized.
Comforting.
It holds the unique scent of him like a warm, lingering embrace.
Barefoot, I pad silently out of the bedroom, leaving him to that fragile peace.The house is still, wrapped in the deep hush of the early morning hours.Moonlight guides my way, casting long, ethereal shadows that dance with the dreamlike quality of our night.My steps are drawn, almost unconsciously, toward the glass doors of the backyard.Driven by a need for quiet air to process the changes settling deep within me.
I climb the two stone steps and slip through the black iron gate, walking to the edge of the glowing pool.The landscape is a watercolor of pale blue and shadow.A sliver of a waning moon hangs in the sky with the last stubborn stars.I drift toward a lounger and sink onto the cool cushion, pulling Matthew’s oversized T-shirt over my folded legs.I gaze at the turquoise-lit water, a profound calm settling over me.A stillness that finally lets me breathe.
Peace.
A foreign feeling.
A visitor I haven’t entertained in a long, long time.
My gaze follows the water’s reflection dancing on the arching branches before drifting to the diving board.The exact spot I fell apart, clinging to Matthew, convinced my life was in ruins.He held me then, his arms a lifeline.Tonight, those same arms held me in a shared inferno of passion, of belonging.
There you are.
The words echo.
The same words he said that first night, after he glimpsed the broken woman beneath the wig.He saw me then, just as he saw me hours ago, stripped of the dress I’d chosen as armor.
Twice now, he has looked past my disguise and simply seenme.
No judgement.
Only a disarming, tender understanding.
So much has happened since the very first time I sat out here with him.
So much has changed.
A small smile touches my lips as a soft breeze whispers past, carrying the scent of damp earth and the faint promise of dawn.
It feels like the whisper of a new beginning.A quiet sunrise stirring in my heart.
A faint metallic squeak, followed by the soft clink of a latch, breaks the stillness.
My head turns sharply toward the sound.Even in the dim light of the moon, there’s no mistaking the tall, bare-chested figure now stepping through the opened gate.My heart gives a startled leap, then settles into a quicker, heavier rhythm at his sudden presence.
Barefoot, Matthew closes the gate behind him and moves with lithe grace across the smooth concrete.His black sweatpants are slung unbearably low, his gaze already fixed on mine.His hair is endearingly rumpled from sleep, a soft contrast to the hard planes of his body.The faint moonlight seems to cling to his skin, tracing the lean muscle of his chest and the sharp line of his shoulders, making him look like something carved from the night itself.I see the lingering traces of exhaustion around his eyes, but also a searching concern in their depths as they meet mine.
“Couldn’t sleep?”he asks, his voice a low, gravelly murmur.Rough with sleep, but very gentle.
I shake my head, unable to find my voice just yet.I am suddenly very aware of wearing his T-shirt.Of our shared intimacy.Of him standing there so beautifully, vulnerably real.
He nods slowly, as if understanding without needing more words.His gaze drifts from my face to my bare legs, softening with a hint of that breathtaking tenderness from the bedroom.He moves to the deck box near the corner of the fence, lifts the lid, and pulls out a fleece throw.
Closing the distance, he sweeps his hand gently over my hair before pressing a soft, lingering kiss to the crown of my head.Straightening, he eases himself onto the lounger behind where I’m perched.He rests his back against the inclined cushion, his legs straddling its width.
Matthew pats the space between them.“Come here, love.”
Love.
