Commands… mine.
Pleas… hers.
Our bodies slam together, soaking the sheets and saturating the air with the raw, intoxicating scent of us.
Chapter 08
things have changed
Cecily
Colin walks in just as we’re setting the table. He passes through the kitchen with a brief greeting, promising to take a quick shower before joining us.
We start without him.
When he finally sits down, he feels… elsewhere. He answers Alicia’s gentle questions, asks politely about our day, but gives little beyond that. His body is here, but his mind is miles away… and I can feel the distance from across the table.
The rest of dinner unfolds beneath a veil of uneasy silence. Ethan is still disappointed in his father, speaking to him only when absolutely necessary these past few days. What neither ofthem seems to realize is that the root of this distance is the very thing they share, that same stubborn, aching likeness that binds them together more tightly than either would ever admit.
After dinner, Ethan heads out to the movies with friends. Alicia—sleepy from an afternoon of sunlit chatter and laughter by the pool with her friends—kisses us both goodnight. She disappears upstairs with that gentle smile of hers, drowsiness clinging to her lashes, leaving the house suddenly quieter than before.
Colin stays with me in the kitchen while I clean and put away the leftovers.
But the silence between us feels thick, almost touchable, as if the words have seeped through the cracks in the floorboards and fled the room entirely.
I wonder if one of the mergers he mentioned last week has fallen apart. Or if he’s already crafting some new, audacious move. But that doesn’t fit. If it were work, he’d still be at the office. Or pacing with his phone in hand, neck-deep in emails and numbers.
Not here.
Helping me clean the kitchen. Something he rarely does.
When I close the dishwasher, I lift my eyes and find him standing by the window, hands braced on the counter, staring at something far beyond the darkness outside.
“Colin.”
“Yes, sweetheart.”
He turns immediately, a smile curving his mouth as if he’s been right here with me the whole time. For a moment, I wonder if he’s ever truly been distracted at all… or if this is simply work weighing on him again.
I return the smile.
“I didn’t see you come in last night. Did you get home very late?”
“Why do you ask?”
His brow knits, the faintest edge of suspicion beneath the words.
I shrug lightly, unsure why he’s been so defensive lately.
“I was awake past midnight, and you weren’t home yet. I didn’t hear you come to bed either. Or leave in the morning.”
A tired smile tugs at his lips as he steps toward me and draws me into his arms.
“I think it was a little after one. Honestly, I didn’t even look at the time. I just wanted to get home after a long day and fall asleep with my beautiful wife.”
He tightens his embrace, pressing me close. I slip my arms around his waist, letting myself rest in the familiar solidity of him. He kisses my forehead softly, murmurs something about needing to check a few emails before bed, and then he pulls away.
I watch him leave the kitchen.
