Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I glance back down at where my wife is quietly sleeping, and love courses through my body. It’s odd that I just knew when I woke she’d be here—or at least, I feel it should be odd. How did I become so dependent on this beautiful woman who wiggled her way into my soul? I didn’t even want a wife when this began, but now, the thought of her not showing up for me, not holding me, not kissing her, and not laughing with her seems unfathomable.
But…
Should I let her go? I don’t know my diagnosis yet and I’m a bit out of it, but by the looks of my leg, I don’t think I’ll be hitting the ice for the next game. I shouldn’t ask a beautiful, incredible woman like my wife to be with a broken bastard. I still have the coffeehouse and I would be able to provide for her, but I can’t ask her to take on my bullshit. She’s already done it once, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be worth a damn for a bit. I know she’d help me and she’d be there for me, but how could I ask that of her? I haven’t told her I love her or even confessed I truly want to keep her. I could let her go.
I should let her go.
I move my fingers along her cheek, unable to keep from touching her. This might be the last time I run my fingers along her cheek and over her thick ponytail. She still wears my jersey, and I love how my number looks on her, even if it does remind me that I may never wear that number again. I memorize the jersey on her body, the way her hair feels in my fingers, before I move my hand up to her jaw, cupping her sweet, warm flesh in my palm. I trail my thumb along her bottom lip and revel in the juicy flesh. How I wish I could kiss her, but I don’t know if I can without throwing all caution to the wind and loving this woman for the rest of my existence.
A now-broken reformed manwhore.
Emotion clogs my throat when I consider how she’d get on to me for thinking that. She’d tell me there is nothing wrong with me and that we’ll get through this. That she’ll never leave my side.
My sunshiny wife.
I stroke my thumb along her lip, and she flinches a bit. I know I should stop, but before I can commit to the command my brain wants me to follow, her eyes flutter open. Those hazel depths widen, and then the biggest, most devastating grin comes over her face. She doesn’t move, nor do I—mostly because I can’t—and she knocks every bit of air out of me. My lips curve up as her hand comes to rest along mine. I know I should say something productive, but all I can think to say is, “Hey there, gorgeous wife.”
Her eyes are so bright, so full of love. “Hey there, handsome husband.”
My stomach clenches as my chest warms. She sits up and then leans toward me as her hands come to rest against my chest. “How are you feeling?”
I’m lost in her eyes. “My head hurts, and I feel a little weird.”
She smiles, that small one that does a number on my heart. “You’ve woken up a few times but haven’t made much sense, so it’s good to hear you speaking full sentences and actually looking at me.”
I cup her neck, rubbing my thumb along the pulsating vein. “How long have I been out?”
“With the surgery, over twenty-four hours.”
I grimace. “And you stayed the whole time?”
She gives me a pointed look. “Where the hell would I go?”
It’s just that simple for her. She only wants to be with me, and honestly, it’s the same for me.
As I gaze into her eyes, I know one thing for sure. “Eliza.”
She blinks before her eyes go wide. “Yes, Coleson?”
My heart beats wildly in my chest, but I ignore it. “I love you.”
Her jaw goes slack as she leans down, pressing her nose to mine while our eyes stay locked. “I know.” My lips twitch, and she grins down at me. “And I love you too.”
My heart sings for her, but I whisper, “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
She shrugs. “Everything and then some. We’ll be together, though, and all will be fine.”
I shake my head, wishing I had an ounce of her sunny disposition. “I should let you go. I shouldn’t burden you with all this.”
“It’s not a burden,” she whispers back, her eyes searching mine. “It’s a bump in our road. No matter what, we’ll be happy ’cause we’re together.”
Emotion burns in my throat. “I’m in awe of you.”
“And I of you, Coleson,” she says with so much love in her eyes. “It’s not going to be easy, but I’ll be with you every step of the way.”