“It’s beautiful out here,” she murmurs, gazing at the stars.
The ocean remains calm. The moon shines bright, and the city lights twinkle on the skyline. It’s one amazing sight, but her sitting beside me makes it a million times better. She shivers slightly, so I remove my jacket then place it around her shoulders. For a moment, she closes her eyes, and when she opens them, she looks content.
We sit there talking about work, tell more funny stories about Rocky and life in general. It’s getting late, and I don’t want the night to end, but the yacht needs to sail back and I have a morning flight.
An hour later we’re standing at the front of her building attempting to say goodbye. Knowing I won’t see her for two whole weeks, I gently tuck a loose curl behind her ear trying to distract myself from the awful feeling forming in the pit of my stomach.
“Thank you for tonight, Lex. I know it didn’t start smoothly, but it ended wonderfully.”
My hand lingers on her cheek. Is she feeling as desperate as I am? I wait for a sign because I’m one impatient motherfucker.
“Charlotte…”
“I have to go.” She hands me my jacket with a smile. “Have a safe trip, Lex.”
As she disappears into her building, I walk back to the car with a heavy weight on my shoulders.
This is much harder than I thought.
Three fucking times I jerked off just to fall asleep. My wrist is twisting in pain, but the damn thing wouldn’t go down after the first or second time. By the third, I’m spent and fall asleep surrounded in tissues.
But that night, I dreamed of Charlotte, her hair blowing against her skin, lying naked beside me. As I leaned forward to kiss her soft lips, I stop, unaware of an obstruction. Lowering my gaze, her stomach is in full bloom.
She’s carrying a baby, and it is mine.
We created a life together.
As the sun rises in the morning, I awake to an empty bed.
Just me, without her, and no closer to the dreams plaguing me in my sleep.
CHARLIE
I held onto him, my breaths shallow, head thrown back with my eyes half-closed as he slowly grinded himself against me.
He took his time, savoring every part of my body. His fingers trailed down my body, causing me to shiver. My nipples became erect, I knew he loved that. Like a hungry beast, he slid his hands back up, cupping my breasts then lightly pinching them.
Like my body is possessed, I moved faster, pushing myself down harder and that feeling, it’s climbing, soaring high, almost there.
Pulling me down to him, he stopped. Softly caressing my lips, he kissed me like it was our first kiss. His soft tongue rolling over mine, tasting me, and slowly he moved his hips.
The climb started to build again.
He grabbed my hand and entwined his fingers with mine. I held on, and then he kissed me, on my finger where the gold band sat.
“I love you, my wife.”
I wake up startled, drenched in sweat, unable to determine where I am.
It’s just a dream.
Shutting my eyes, I try to return to the amazing dream, throwing the blanket over my head looking for that blissful escape. It’s pointless. I’m wide awake, and now I am trying to interpret what the dream means.
Marriage and Lex. Is that what I want?
Could I be his girlfriend and be happy with just that?
I’m seriously overthinking this.