But it was my turn to do the fixing.
“I was fifteen the first time I got arrested,” I started, my fingers working the hem of her shirt up her torso. “I robbed a car,” I continued as the material went over her breasts. She gasped as her bare skin became exposed. I kept my eyes on hers in the mirror and brought a finger to her lips to silence her. “Just me and you here, Sunshine,” I whispered, dropping my hand and bringing the shirt over her head.
“My mother hated me, told me I was crazy and damned me to Hell every chance she got,” I said, as I restrained myself to keep my eyes on hers while I unraveled her. “When she died, I didn’t cry, I fucking rejoiced.”
I trailed my finger tip down the base of her spine, watching her eyes close and her flesh prickle with goosebumps, unsure if it resulted from my touch or my confession. I moved her hair, exposing her shoulder and leaned closer, my breath on her ear.
“I am crazy,” I whispered. “Just not the type of crazy she thought.”
I slipped my finger beneath the strap of her bra, following it down her back to where the clasp was. Her eyes fluttered open, latching onto mine as I unclasped her bra.
“I sold guns to kids, drugs to women, I robbed, cheated and killed,” I confessed, sliding the straps down her arms and freeing her breasts. Her bra dropped to the tiles and my hands snaked around her, cupping her perfect tits.
She licked her lips, never breaking eye contact as I rolled her nipple between my fingers, tugging on the tip until she moaned.
“I married Connie because we had a kid together and then we had another kid. We fought more than we ever loved,” I continued, dropping my left hand to the button on her jeans while my right hand continued to play with her swollen tits. I undid the button with ease and slipped my hand inside her pants.
“She thought I was crazy too, only she begged me to get help. Instead of getting help, I pushed her away, so far away,” I recalled, dropping my right hand to the waist band of her jeans and slowly tugging the denim down her hips.
It was killing me not to look at her body, driving me utterly insane, but I’d bare myself to her before she bared all she hid.
“I told you I had a brother. I meant I had a brother that shared the same blood as me,” I said hoarsely. I pulled her jeans down her thighs and though I bent down to pull them all the way off, I kept my eyes on her face.
“Got a problem with my head, Sunshine, and when my brother went against me, I snapped,” I hesitated as she stepped out of her jeans.
I brought my hands to her hips, hooked my fingers around the elastic and yanked her thong down her legs.
“I wasn’t paying attention,” I whispered. “I was wrapped up in my own world, my own dark world,” I continued, as I rose to my full height, stepping around her so we stood side by side. “My boy ran out of the house and into the street. He got hit by a car while I danced with the devil inside my head. I don’t remember how I regained consciousness, what made me snap back to reality but whatever it was, it came too late. I was too late. I ran outside and cradled my son in my arms, like I did when he took his first breaths—but I didn’t catch his last.”
It took everything inside me to keep my eyes focused on Reina because all I wanted to do was look away shamefully. “I should’ve gotten help sooner. My son is in the ground because I was too proud to go to a doctor, too proud to admit my truth, too proud to bare my scars,” I whispered, watching as the tears rolled down Reina’s cheeks.
“I was diagnosed as manic depressive three months after Jack Jr. died,” I revealed to the blonde beauty staring at me in the mirror, completely bare to me just as I was to her. It didn’t matter she was naked, and I was fully clothed, we were both exposed in the most vulnerable way, revealing our scars to one another.
“I’ve given you my scars, Reina. Now, I’m going to take yours,” I whispered to her reflection in the mirror. “And I want you to watch. I want you to see what I see,” I challenged, before my eyes finally scanned her body, taking in the scars that marked her skin and claiming them as mine, just as I had the rest of her.
Chapter Nineteen