“No, you’re not going to jack off in the shower.” Laney’s voice had an angry edge to it. “Let me help you.”
“Baby,” I said through gritted teeth. I wanted nothing more than to sink into her, but this was about earning her trust and love again. Didn’t she get that?
“Those orgasms were to help you feel better. It was not reciprocal. I’m playing for your heart, so I’m okay.”
She frowned. “Are you turning me down?”
I nodded and almost laughed. “It’s a not right now. When we’re ready, we’ll know.”
“I don’t like this.”
I chuckled and quickly kissed her. “Let me put you first. Let me choose you first. Now I’m going to shower, but I have an idea for today. Do you trust me?”
“Are you sure they’ll be open?”
“Yup.” I held Laney’s hand as we walked a mile in the cold to try a new coffee shop. Walking here after a snowstorm in this weather was probably a terrible idea, but Laney had laughed the entire walk.
Mainly because we kept slipping on the ice. I had fallen on my ass once already, taking her down with me, and yeah, it was pretty damn funny. It had been weeks since I laughed this hard.
“Connor!” she screeched, waving her arms in the air for a solid ten seconds before I caught up to her. Wrapping my arms around her, I steadied her with a huge smile on my face.
“Oh God, thank you.”
“Can’t have you hurt yourself.”
“Speaking of that, how’s your ass?”
“Hmm, it’s kinda throbbing.” I kept an arm around her shoulders as I rubbed my sore glute with the other.
“Worth it though. This place just opened last month and keeps posting about their pastries and drip coffee.”
“I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it. I’m online way more than you and always take walks this way.”
I kept my mouth closed. She didn’t need to know that I’d worked out a deal with the owner to reserve one of the walls to showcase and sell her artwork. I’d thought about it for years but only acted a couple of months ago. They didn’t have much of her photography because I wanted to surprise her instead of promising originals she didn’t want to sell.
“What’s your favorite memory of visiting coffee shops? The best memory?” I asked as we neared the entrance. It was called Espresso SnapShot.
“I loved the one attached to a bed-and-breakfast where they had two cats that lived there. Mittens and Whiskers, and they named those menu items after them. It was precious.”
I snorted. “It was a little unsafe to have cats in the café.”
“The café was in a house, Connor. They had every right to be there.”
I disagreed, but I wanted her in a positive mindset before walking into the café.
“Why is that one your favorite?”
“Because it was just us. We weren’t dependent on our phones or our jobs, and we were so wrapped up in each other, I just… fell so hard for you.”
I frowned, the math not mathing. “We were already married.”
She let out a cute huff, half laugh, half disbelief.
“Sure, but Connor, love is… It goes through seasons and ebbs and flows. There’s all sorts of love. Infatuation, lust, friendship, deep love, familiarity, safety. I had all that with you, but that day, that weekend, took us to a deeper place. You told me your biggest fears that day, and I’ve never once forgotten them.”
It took all my power to ask her what she thought of our love.
“I was raised with the very real feeling that sharing insecurities led to loss of love. I felt like, three years in, you’d stick around, and I could share them with you.”
