But tonight wasn’t about our friends … What we’d been through was totally about us, and not about them … So, although I loved them, I didn’t feel like sharing this moment, and my decision, with anyone but Cal.
“Come with me,” I whispered softly.
His face fell as he realized I wasn’t going to respond to his declarations right away, but he nodded and let me lead him off the roof and toward his car.
“TJ drove me,” I explained when I walked him to the Mustang.
He unlocked the door and held it open for me, closing it once I got inside. I knew that I was probably torturing him by not answering him right away, but I needed to respond in my own way.
If the past few weeks had taught me nothing else, they’d taught me to stand up for what I wanted and voice my opinion.
“Can you take me to my place?” I asked.
Cal drove the car out of the parking lot and headed toward my condo. You could cut the tension with a knife, and I almost broke down and put him out of his misery, but I couldn’t, not yet. I needed to do this the right way, so there’d never be a question, and there’d never be any regrets.Once we got to my place, I led Cal inside and into the kitchen. His shoulders sagged, and I could tell by the look on his face that he knew I was about to tell him it was over.
I walked over to the table and picked up the packet of legal documents that were sitting on top.
I flashed the divorce papers at him, then looked him dead in the eye.
“This was my plan from the second you told me you cheated on me. I walked out of our home and went to my dad’s and I knew that I’d never be able to forgive you. Never. But you wouldn’t listen, and you came up with this damn eight weeks plan, promising to walk away once the eight weeks were over. Yet here you are … proposing to me as if nothing ever happened.”
“Shel,” Cal started, stepping toward me with his arm outstretched.
I held up my hand to make him stop.
“No … you had your say, now it’s my turn. You pushed me … You pushed me and pulled me until there was nothing left. You took me to do things that I’d always wanted to do, and you showed me how vulnerable and sweet you can be. You accepted me for who I am, never wavering … never losing hope. How am I supposed to fight that? How am I supposed to fight, when the only man I’ve ever loved is putting his whole heart into keeping me with him? I hate you for cheating on me. I hate the fact that we will never know for sure who that woman is, or if you actually slept with her or not. I hate that there’s a possibility that I’m not the only woman you have had sex with, and will have sex with for the rest of your life. I hate that someone else touched you, tasted you, and may have had the pleasure of having you inside them. But … I love you, Cal, and I can’t stand the thought of living my life without you in it.”
I started to sob, but used every ounce of willpower I had to hold it in, especially when the expression on Cal’s face was blinding me with its intensity.
“I don’t want anyone else … Only you. I love who you used to be, who you are, and who you will become. I have loved getting to know more about you over the last few weeks, and getting to know more about myself. And as much as I have loved making this condo my own, it will never be home without you in it.”
I could tell that Cal wanted to speak, wanted to move, wanted to pull me to him, but I had to get it all out first.
I took the divorce papers and ripped them in two. The sound of the paper being torn was one of the most satisfying sounds I’d ever heard.
“I forgive you, Cal, and I’ll forget, because I want you as my partner for the rest of my days.”
My hand was still up, telling him to stop, so I dropped it and rushed into his arms.
“I love you,” was murmured by both of us as we held each other close.
I don’t know how long we stood there, holding each other, but when I pulled away to look into his beautiful face, my heart filled.
I stepped back and held my hand out. “Come to bed?” I asked softly. Cal’s face broke out into a huge smile, and he placed his hand in mine. I led him back toward the bedroom, ready to spend the rest of my life in his arms … where I belonged.
Please keep reading for an excerpt of book 2 in the Time for Love Series, 21 Days.
This is Sasha and TJ’s story.
Chapter 1 – TJ
I huddled underneath my covers, quivering uncontrollably, and praying to God that my parents would stop fighting and go to sleep. Fearful that their anger would shift, and they would come looking for me.
“I saw the way you were looking at her,” my mother screamed from somewhere down the hallway of our little trailer. “That stupid slut! I could tell you’ve fucked her.”
I heard a crashing sound and willed the bed to swallow me whole.
“You’re crazy,” my father bellowed, the sounds of glass breaking filled the trailer, and I assumed they’d begun throwing things at each other.