My Skylar

  The morning sun shined into the bedroom, making the microscopic light blonde hairs on Skylar’s body more prominent. I was still staring at her in disbelief over last night. After we made love a few more times, I spent the entire night just watching her sleep. It reminded me of the all-nighter I pulled years ago in her bed right before she moved to Brooklyn. The circumstances were different then, but the uncertainty I woke up to today felt eerily similar.

  I didn’t want to let her go back to him for even a second.

  We were scheduled to be at the house at 11, an hour before the unveiling. We were running late, so I started to kiss her neck.

  “Baby, wake up. We have to get going soon. There’s something I want to do with you before we have to go.”

  She grunted in protest then stretched her arms into the air. I left the room and ran out to the car to get my swim shorts.

  By the time I returned upstairs, she had dozed off again. I reached into her drawer and grabbed a black bikini bottom, slipping it up her legs.

  She spoke through her yawn. “What are you doing?”

  “I want to take one last dip with you in the ocean before we leave. We don’t have much time.”

  I lifted her out of the bed and carried her in my arms down the stairs.

  “What about my top?”

  “I couldn’t find it. You don’t need one anyway. There’s no one around.”

  I held her all the way to the shore before putting her down and reaching out my hand. We walked into the water until we were waist deep. The sun suddenly started to fade, and it looked like a morning rainstorm was looming. It was the perfect symbolism for my own feeling of joy, suddenly overshadowed by a dreary reality.

  This was nothing like our last playful jaunt in the water. This time, we simply held hands, staring at the fading sun, knowing the next several days were going to put our love to the test.

  “I’m just going to need some time when we get back, okay? I decided to be completely honest with Kevin about the trip. He deserves to know the truth.”

  A lump formed in my throat. “I understand.”

  A look of guilt washed over her face. It made me angry that she let it cast a shadow over our last moments together here.

  I put my hands on her shoulders. “Don’t ever be ashamed of what we’ve done. You’re not a bad person. Last night was the purest thing I’ve ever experienced. Whatever happens tomorrow and beyond, I’ll never forget it for as long as I live.”

  ***

  Skylar and I pulled into the driveway of the renovated house as scheduled in separate cars. A press release had gone out, so members of the media would be arriving in an hour along with local government officials, neighbors and relatives of the homeowners.

  Skylar walked around opening windows and fluffing pillows. A few of my guys were hanging out having coffee and donuts in the kitchen downstairs. I pretended to be busy, but the entire time, I was really brooding over the fact that she had put her diamond ring back on. Maybe I was reading into things too much, but it pissed me off. After the reveal, she would have just enough time to drive back to the beach house, lock up and head straight to the airport. There would be no time to talk or say a proper goodbye.

  I had actually been quite proud of how I handled things this morning, but seeing his ring back on her finger had sparked old jealousy again and a need for reassurance.

  She stopped in the doorway of one of the bedrooms just as I had finished hammering a nail in a floorboard that had come loose.

  “Can I do something to help you?” she asked.

  The hammer banged against the wood when I dropped it. “Yes, you can. Close the door.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Just close it. Lock it, actually.”

  The lock clicked. “What do you need?”

  I stood up and walked toward her, rubbing my nose against her neck and inhaling the smell of her skin. “I need to taste you.”

  “There are people downstairs.”

  “Sit on the bed.”

  She looked worried about someone catching us, but it didn’t stop her from doing as I said. I kneeled at the foot of the bed and pushed her hips toward my face in one swift movement, lifting her skirt and spreading her legs open wide. She was still wearing her underwear when I began to teasingly kiss her mound softly. Moisture seeped through the silky fabric. She pressed herself hard against my mouth and gripped my hair. Then, I used my teeth to slowly slide her panties off of her legs.

  “Are you still worried about the people downstairs?” I whispered.

  She shook her head and said something that was unintelligible.

  “I didn’t think so,” I said before pressing my lips against her naked clit and sucking on it.

  She wiggled under me as my tongue lapped hard against her while I twirled my fingers inside of her warm opening.

  I loved the effect I had on Skylar. I could probably get her to do anything sexually. I definitely held the advantage in that corner. Still, her putting the ring back on had caused me to second guess everything that happened last night. I began to ruminate while I was eating her out. Was this a tryst after all, or did she mean it when she said she would leave him? Even though I knew it was cruel, I suddenly stopped.

  She leaned up. “What happened?”

  I was panting and stood up. “You’re wearing his ring again. If you’re really planning to end things, why did you put it back on?”

  She sat up and looked down at the ring on her hand almost as if she were surprised to see it there. “I hadn’t even thought about it. It’s just a habit.”

  “Well, it’s all I’ve been able to fucking think about.”

  “I’m giving the ring back to him, Mitch.” She stood up and took my face in both of her hands. “I’m sorry my wearing it made you doubt my intentions. I should have made them clearer. I’m not thinking straight because I’m so nervous about having to tell him.”

  My heart beat against her chest as I pulled her into me. “It’s just…I’m a little crazy when it comes to you if you haven’t already noticed. Last night obliterated any tolerance I used to have. I just can’t bear the thought of you with him anymore. I’m sorry I overreacted.”

  “Don’t be sorry. It shows me how much you love me and helps me to know I’m making the right decision.” She kissed me softly on the lips. “I love you.”

  Hearing it never got old. “I waited for five years hoping you’d come back to me but never imagined you actually would. Forgive me if I’m having a hard time believing it, because it seems unreal. I could spend the rest of my life trying to prove how thankful I am, how much I love you, and it still wouldn’t be enough.”

  “You don’t need to prove anything. Just love me.”

  “I should finish what I started before I freaked out, but I just really need to be deep inside you right now. Is that okay?”

  “There’s nothing I want more, but we have to be quick.”

  “Quick I can do.” I unbuckled my belt. “How does five seconds sound?”

  She giggled. “You don’t need to be quite that fast.”

  I backed her onto the bed. My pants were only halfway way down my legs when I entered her and gasped at how incredible her hot pussy felt wrapped tight around my cock. It had only been hours since I’d last been inside of her, but it felt like forever ago. I could never get enough. I wanted this all day, every day.

  While the other times we’d made love were frantic and desperate, this moment was different. I ended up relaxing into it, believing for the first time in my life that she was truly mine. I let myself experience every sensation and stayed in the present without clouding my mind with doubt and worry. That allowed me to truly feel with my body what she was telling me with hers. With every movement, she was giving me another piece of her: the way her muscles tightened around my cock, the way she grabbed onto me for dear life, the way she breathed as if every breath depended on our bodies being joined together. She was showing me that she’d made her ch
oice.

  Nirvana.

  There were no words for the magnitude of my love for this woman. When we climaxed together, right on cue were those fucking tears again. My heart wanted to scream out, “Marry me, Skylar” as I came inside of her, but my brain intercepted. Proposing to her in the middle of my signature weeping orgasm wasn’t exactly ideal. So, I nixed it.

  There were voices coming from the bottom of the stairs. Car doors slammed outside. It was getting close to the start time for the unveiling, and people were arriving.

  “We need to get out of here,” she said, softly nibbling at my nose while wiping my eyes as she smiled. Still on top of her, I reluctantly pulled out.

  Skylar went to the connecting bathroom to clean up while I fastened my pants and got my shit together. Walking downstairs in front of my guys looking like I’d been crying would not be a good thing.

  We kissed passionately one last time before I left the room. She’d follow me out separately so that our sneaking around wasn’t obvious.

  Camera flashes and jumbled conversations greeted me on the first floor. Skylar emerged some time after, looking poised without a hair out of place. No one would have guessed that she had just been thoroughly fucked a few minutes earlier.

  A local reporter interviewed Skylar in a corner. I watched from across the room, sipping my coffee as she eloquently explained the process of decorating the house on a budget in such a short period of time.

  I got a call on my cell phone letting me know that the Johansen family was five minutes away.

  When they arrived, everyone got emotional. Seeing their reactions as they went from room to room with looks of absolute joy and gratitude was priceless. They were especially touched by the wheelchair ramp we installed out front for their son. We had also made one of the bathrooms handicap accessible. All in all, the surprise was a huge success.

  By the time the media left, we were free to go and let the family enjoy their new home. I followed Skylar back to Sandbridge Beach, so she could use the bathroom at the house and grab her things. She’d then drive her rental car to the airport before catching her flight. I’d close up the house and hit the road in the hopes of arriving in New Jersey late tonight.

  I didn’t want to let her go. I came up behind her as she fiddled with the handle to her suitcase. I kissed her neck and spoke into her ear. “Cancel your flight. Drive home with me. We’ll stop for dinner in D.C.”

  She turned around and rubbed her thumb along the stubble on my chin. “I can’t. I need to go home and get this over with.”

  “Are you gonna talk to him tonight?”

  She looked down anxiously at the ground and let out a deep breath. “Depending on what time I get in, I’ll either tell him tonight or tomorrow.”

  “Tell him tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t want him touching you. What are you gonna do if he tries something?”

  “I guess I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

  “Tell him when you get home. Then, I want you to get your stuff and come to my house. My mother will let you in if I haven’t gotten back yet.”

  “Mitch, I have to handle this a little more sensitively than that. He’s going to have a lot of questions. I can’t just tell him I’m leaving him after five years for the man he thinks traumatized me…then walk out the door. I care about him.”

  Fuck. I suppose she was right. Knowing all too well what it felt like to lose her, I should’ve been feeling really badly for the poor bastard, but I couldn’t seem to get past my own excitement and jealousy. I just wanted her in my house and in my bed as soon as possible.

  “Okay. I understand. I won’t pressure you. Are you sure you won’t change your mind about driving home with me, though?”

  She shook her head no.

  I kissed her, sucking on her bottom lip hard. “I love you, Skylar Marie Seymour.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Have a safe flight. Please call me when you land. I’ll be in the car.”

  “I will.”

  She rolled her suitcase out the door as I followed her. After I put the luggage in the trunk, we kissed one last time before she got in and drove off the gravel onto the road. I watched until her car was completely out of sight.

  The house was eerily quiet. She was gone, but the smell of her flowery perfume that remained in the foyer teased me. I missed her already. I picked up one of her hair ties that had fallen and played it with it as I pondered our week together unable to contain my smile.

  I walked to the French doors to admire the ocean one last time before I’d lock up. This place would always be special to me because of what happened here. I made a mental note to book it for next year. We could take Henry and my mother and turn it into a tradition. My son loved to play at the beach. The water calmed him down. I always said I’d love to move close to an ocean for that reason alone.

  As I daydreamed about a future that seemed brighter than ever, there was a knock at the door.

  She came back.

  My heart filled with anticipation as I walked over and opened it. That was when I realized she wasn’t heading home to him after all.

  Because he and his fist were right here, heading straight for my face.

  CHAPTER 30

  SKYLAR

  When my plane landed, and I walked out into the passenger area at Newark, I just knew something was wrong. Kevin was never late for anything. A couple of days ago, he had insisted on picking me up, but now, he was nowhere to be found.

  With all that happened with Mitch, I had stupidly forgotten to charge my phone the night before. I realized it was dead after I got on the plane and had left my charger in the suitcase. I had no way to reach anyone. I didn’t even know Kevin’s number by heart since it had been programmed into my phone for so long.

  My luggage was the last piece rotating around the conveyer belt when I grabbed it and conceded that he wasn’t coming. An ominous feeling came over me as I stood in the crowded baggage claim area unsure of where to go or what to do. Boarding calls played over the intercom, and people were bumping into me as I stood dazed and confused.

  An airline representative ended up calling me a car service that drove me all the way home.

  My heart was palpitating as I approached our front door on Bayberry Lane. My hand shook as I put the key into the slot. It wouldn’t budge. I double-checked to make sure I hadn’t grabbed the wrong one and soon realized that the locks had been changed.

  I heard barking coming from the upstairs bedroom. It was Seamus. He hadn’t done that in years. Something was wrong. I couldn’t get to him and started to panic.

  Kevin knew.

  Birds chirped as I looked from side to side paranoid, expecting him to jump out of the bushes or something.

  I got into my car to connect my phone to a charger and drove aimlessly around the neighborhood. Stopping for a group of boys playing hockey in the street, I started to sweat. Something bad was about to happen.

  When my phone eventually turned on, I pulled over to the side of the road. There were ten missed calls and several missed texts. All were from Mitch, except one: from Kevin.

  It was a photo of Mitch and me taken early this morning while we were in the water holding hands.

  My heart sank, and I covered my mouth with my hand in shock. The message under it was simply: How could you do this to us?

  There were no further texts or calls from him. If he had taken this photo, that meant he was in Virginia. I wondered what else he had seen. Before my mind could attempt to compute it all further, the phone rang.

  It was Mitch.

  “Mitch? Kevin…he—”

  “He knows.”

  I was speed talking. “I just got in. My phone had died. He sent me a pic—”

  “Try to calm down. Listen to me, Skylar. He came to the beach house.”

  “What?”

  “Right after you left, there was a knock at the door. I opened it because I thought you had come back. I
t was him, and he punched me.”

  No.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I have a slight black eye, but I’m fine. He tried to hit me a second time, but I tackled him and locked his hands. I’m stronger than he is. I just hadn’t seen that first punch coming.”

  “Where is he now? Where are you?”

  “I’m guessing he’s on a flight back to New Jersey. I’m driving home. I got a late start because he was interrogating me for a while. He’s a mess, but I can’t blame him.”

  “What did you say to him?”

  “I told him the truth about how we reconnected and that we were in love. I don’t remember every detail of what I said, but basically, he accused me of manipulating you. He reminded me of how messed up you were when he met you. He said if you were stupid enough to go back to me after all that, then we deserved each other.”

  “Did he say how long he had been in Virginia? How much he saw?”

  “It sounded like he caught an early flight down there this morning. I don’t think he was there last night. He said he checked your laptop and found the email I sent you before the trip. When he saw my name on it, he figured it out. I think he was waiting for you to leave for the airport, so he could fuck me up man to man without you having to witness it.”

  I banged my head against the back of the seat and closed my eyes. “He must have snooped around after I was hesitant to tell him I loved him on the phone last night.”

  “Either way, he knows everything now. I’m so sorry this happened, but I want you away from that house.”

  “He locked me out, but I need to wait here and face him tonight.”

  “I don’t want you doing that alone.”

  “He won’t hurt me.”

  “He fucking hit me without thinking twice. If he ever laid a hand on you, I’d never forgive myself.”

  “He wouldn’t hit me. I’m pretty sure he’s never punched anyone before you in his entire life. It’s not in his nature.”

  “I won’t be there for a few hours. If he gets there before me and you insist on this, you need to charge your phone and call the police if he so much as touches you. Do you understand?”