This works.Wework.
So why does me talking about a future life together send her into retreat?
I pace the room, replaying what happened. She’s given me everything. Her body, her trust, her laugh.She lets me hold her when she dreams. Cook for her. Tease her. Bathe her.
We tell each other we love each other. Talk about places we’re gonna travel to.
So how the hell did I misstep? I know I’m not misreading what we mean to each other.
I think of her expression. Blank, controlled, almost fragile. Not angry. Not dismissive. Distant in a way she hasn’t been since we met.
Realization hits me hard, sudden and brutal.
I’ve pushed it too far. Pushedhertoo far.
The thought guts me.
I’m not here to pressure her. I don’t need a ring. Or a title.
I need her. Full stop.
Lit up from within. Smiling in the morning and moaning at midnight.
How did I fuck it up with a single sentence?
Chapter fifteen
Thebathroomdoorclicksclosed behind me.
I brace both hands on the counter.
My skin is flushed, breath still shallow. His come is leaking out of my pussy and my ass because I can’t get enough of him. His devotion to me is intense and the reality of our situation is something I don’t know how to carry.
“I want to marry you. Have a family with you. Grow old with you.”
I blink at my reflection. My hair’s wild. My lips are swollen. My eyes—God, my eyes don’t lie. They’re wide, wet, stormy. Panic has already started its climb up my throat, a low drone rising into a choke.
It wasn’t a real proposal. It wasn’t planned. His words were pure. True. Heartfelt.
Sincere.
He meant it. He wants to make this permanent.
I want the same thing. More than anything.
Which wrecks me more.
I don’t deserve him.
I can’t give him what he wants.
My diagnosis came a year ago. A routine scan after I missed a period for the fourth month in a row. I’d told myself it was stress. I was running a restaurant. Sleeping four hours a night. Burning so hard I forgot how to take care of myself.
The gynecologist was kind. Clinical, but kind.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome. Irregular cycles. Hormonal imbalance. Elevated LH. Likely anovulation. She didn’t say infertile. But she said complicated. Difficult. May require intervention.
All I heardwas broken.
