Aaron smiles gently and just shakes his head.
“No, I don’t limit myself with my kinks. Do you?” He asks.
“Not at all,” Belinda says, standing up a little straighter.
“She’s a switch,” I tell him. “So she mixes it up more than most.”
“Good for you,” he says, offering her an imaginary hat tilt. Belinda laughs and then we all move toward the stage where Natasha and Jeffrey are getting ready. We grab a couple of seats and snuggle up as we get ready to watch them do their thing, and I’m once again reminded of just how comfortable things really can be when you open up.
Shit, if I’d known how much better I’d feel after having sex with Aaron, I would have looked him up long ago, but I think I needed the time I spent processing things. There’s part of me that really appreciates the fact that I had so much time to just learn who I am and how I learn about things. I took some time to really get to understand myself and my beliefs, and yeah, I’ve had time to grieve.
That’s the thing about grief, though: at some point, you have to start living again, and as Aaron pulls me closer to himself, I realize that I’m ready.
I’m ready.
Epilogue
Mallory
Six Months Later
Aaron looks at me like I’m the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.
He looks at me like I’m perfect to him and like he can’t get enough of me and oh, I love it when he looks at me like this.
It’s hard to believe that just a few months ago, Aaron was basically a stranger to me. He was someone who was so very important to my brother, but whom I didn’t have a real relationship with. It was my fault, and it was his fault, but somehow, we managed to push through the pain of the past and come out better than we were before.
I won’t forget what happened between us.
Neither one of us will.
Moving forward with your life doesn’t mean forgetting the past. Even if we wanted to, I don’t think we ever really could. The past can be truly painful and horrible, but the future?
Well, the future is bright and sunny, isn’t it?
The future is incredible.
Now I’m sitting on the porch swing in front of the house we share, and I’m staring into the eyes of the most beautiful, most patient man I’ve ever met. When Aaron came bounding back into my life, I didn’t know that I’d be able to give myself up to him in so many ways.
I didn’t know he’d be able to help me sort through the pain of the past, but he has.
He has.
He’s gone above and beyond to help me cope with my pain, my sadness, and my frustration, and I’ve done the same for him.
Neither one of us thinks that things are going to be picture perfect moving forward. That’s not really how life works. We’re going to fight. We’re going to fuck up. We’re going to make mistakes and we’re going to have arguments and there will be days when we feel like giving up.
That’s the beautiful thing about love, though.
It’s okay to hurt, and it’s okay to have misunderstandings, and it’s okay to fight. What matters is that you come back together after, and that you move forward stronger than you were before.
Aaron and I love each other more than I ever thought possible. Before we got together, I had no idea I could love someone as much as I love him, but now I do. Now I know that no matter what happens in my life, and no matter what challenges I face, I’ve got someone on my side.
And that, that’s the most beautiful gift of all.
Jiji jumps up on my lap and I pull the little cat close. He’s bigger now, but still small, and he cuddles up on my lap like it’s his favorite place to be.
Aaron and I look out over the little town together and in this moment, I realize that somehow, no matter what I’ve faced in the past, the future looks pretty damn bright.