Tera snorts in return. "I didn't see anything. Just red, then it turned white. It was like white-hot rage. It's not something I feel often."
"Thank fuck," Linc mutters, continuing to clean up the glass.
"I'm sorry, Linc," Tera says.
Linc shakes his head. "Don't you dare apologize to me, baby sister. You needed this so fucking bad. I could see it all eating away at you. Yeah, you talked it over with your head shrinker, but you never told the right people. Finally. Finally, I think you'll be able to heal."
Tera nods.
"And you," Linc says pointing at me.
Oh, fucking hell.
"You fuck up with my sister again, and I'll break more than your nose, pretty boy. I'll fuck you up so bad you'll pray for death, but I'll never give you that out.Shedidn't get it, so neither doyou. She's stronger than all five of youFalling Downpussies put together. If any of that shit happened to you, you'd be whining every minute of every day for the rest of your life. But not Tera. Hell fucking no, not Tera. She's still got shit to work on, but she's kicking ass and taking names. Workin' it out like a boss, baby sister," Linc says, then goes back to sweeping up the glass.
That's a lot of glass. She threw a lot of shit.
"I'm so proud of you, Tera. For today. For yesterday. For every day before and the ones still to come. I admire your strength and will to go on. Anyone else would've given up," I state.
"Maybe," she replies. "But I'm not anyone else."
"No, you sure aren't. You're the one and only Tera Louise Ramirez Mackenzie."
"I'm exhausted."
I sigh with her as she rests her head against my shoulder. "Me too."
"I'm making you some of that mandarin tea shit," Linc shouts.
"He takes care of me when I lose my shit. Without him, I'd have had to take it all out on Shea, and she'd have found you and castrated you before she murdered you," she states matter-of-factly.
"Yikes. I admit I'm more than a little afraid of Shea. She's truly wicked."
Tera yawns. "I want you to know, Xan, I never slept with Carter… wait. I didsleepwith him. I never had sex with him. We came up here and talked, fell asleep, and woke up to Lincoln's bellowing."
Thank you, Jesus. I knew you were listening!"I thought for sure you did and that you'd go back to him."
"Looks like I was the only one who learned the first time around. It wasn't him I wanted, remember? It was you. It is you."
"Even after… everything. All my fuckups… the sex tape?"
"That sex tape still grates something fierce, but yeah, Xan. Even after."
"Can I kiss you now?"
"You better."
We kiss the day away. We talk—really talk like we used to. She tells everything, and I do the same. I tell her honestly about Jesse and the threesomes we've done together. She confesses that while the thought of a threesome is hot, she could never do it. She could never screw Jesse, and she could never be with another guy in front of me.
It'd kill me, and she knows it. I can't imagine what it feels like for her to have seen me with all those models, to have watched the tape. God. I'd kill a fucker.
I carry her to her room where we lay facing each other, legs intertwined, holding hands—not wanting to let go. I don't make any moves on her. We're too fragile for that. We just keep kissing and holding one another until we fall asleep
This is where I belong. Here, with my wife. I will never go another day without her in my life. Never.
