Wade couldn’t imagine having unlimited access to this woman and declining to take her.“Did he say why?”
“No.”
“You don’t think it was your fault, do you?”
“No,” she said, sounding pensive.“I know he grew up in an abusive home.He absorbed that way of interacting and perpetuated it.He didn’t learn how to give pleasure or show love.He just learned how to hurt people.”
Wade reached out to hold her hand.He brought her knuckles to his mouth.“Some men break that cycle.”
“Strong men,” she agreed, looking at him.
He didn’t have to say that he’d been raised in a dysfunctional household, with parents who’d hated each other.He hadn’t learned how to show love, either, but he would never be like his father.
“Tell me how you fell in love with Natalie.”
He dropped her hand abruptly.
“I want to hear about a normal relationship.”
“We didn’t have a normal relationship.”
“What was it like?”
Wade didn’t feel comfortable sharing the details, but he wanted to please Mary.He wanted her naked again as soon as possible.“I felt protective toward her after Mike died.I checked in on her a lot.She’s very independent and hardworking, like you.”
“What does she do?”
“She has two jobs, bartender and librarian.She’s also a single mom to a very active kid.She’s got her hands full.”
Mary snuggled closer to him.“Go on.”
“I went over to her house on Mike’s birthday.I brought a bottle of his favorite tequila.We planned to hang out and reminisce.It was emotional, and we both drank too much.One thing led to another, and we ended up in bed together.”
“Did you fall in love with her before that, or after?”
“After.”
“Because it was so amazing?”
“No.”He winced at the memory.“It was awkward, actually.She called me Mike in the middle of it.”
Mary sat up straighter.“What did you do?”
“I choked,” he said, shaking his head.“I hurried up and finished, and I left.”
“You finished?”
“What was I supposed to do?Not finish?”
“Did she enjoy it?”
“She did not.”
“She said that?”
“She didn’t have to.I could tell.”
Mary clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.“That’s terrible.”
