“Whatever happens in either of our lives—we do together. We’ve proven we don’t do well alone,” I laugh.
“No, we don’t,” she chuckles.
“I can handle whatever happens in my life as long as you’re by my side, Elin. And I’ll be there, holding your hand, as you go through yours. And at night, we will end up here, in bed, together, and we’ll laugh about our day and plan the next. Sound like a plan?”
Her leg lies over mine and she holds my face in her hands. The smile on her face has mine mirroring it. “When did you know you loved me?” she asks.
I think back, trying to remember the exact moment. I remember the first day I saw her at her locker and the way my heart fluttered in my chest. I recall listening to her in Spanish class, trying to sound out the words and being obsessed with the way she rolled her r’s. The way she laughed in the cafeteria, how her locker was always organized, and the way she redid her ponytail a hundred times after gym class made me love her more.
“Ty?” she asks, touching the tip of my nose, bringing me out of my memories.
“You know,” I say, smiling at her, “I don’t think there was a time I didn’t love you.”
She beams, rolling me on my back and lying on my chest. I love the way she feels against me, her weight reinforcing her presence in my life.
“It’s true,” I say, cupping her ass cheeks in my hands. “I think I loved you from the minute I saw you. I know I was obsessed with you since then, but it just morphed into love as I grew older and could understand it.”
“Do you remember the time you got in a fight with the boy at my softball game in high school?” she laughs. “I was mortified!”
I shrug, watching her relive the memory. “He was flirting with you from the sidelines. And then he had his buddy come up to me and tell me he was going to fuck you that weekend. I made sure to get the point across.”
“You did,” she says, shaking her head. “You were insane.”
“No, I was marking my territory. Besides, he shouldn’t have talked about you like that. I should’ve hit him harder.”
Her head tosses back as she laughs. I wait for her to settle, my hand falling off the side of the bed and beneath the mattress. Pulling out an envelope, I lay it on my chest.
“What’s this?” she asks.
“It’s something for you.”
She struggles to sit up and, with a heavy dose of anticipation, she takes the envelope and opens it. After reading the short letter from Mrs. Kruger, she looks inside the envelope again.
Her breath catches in her throat as she sees the check. “What is this?”
“It’s two thousand dollars.”
With wide, beautiful eyes, she looks at me. “Ty . . .”
“That’s why Nila called. She wanted to make sure I got it because they lost the tracking and sent it a week ago.”
Elin’s eyes light up, the stress of the situation evaporated.
“You can apologize now,” I chuckle.
“Two thousand dollars?” she asks, looking at the check again in disbelief.
“What can I say? I’m a hell of a worker, especially when I’m working for something specific.”
She eyes me curiously. I pick her up and sit her on top of me, so she’s straddling me.
“This will catch up on our bills,” she says. “It’s a godsend.”
“No.”
“No?” she laughs.
“No.” I look as deeply as I can into her eyes. “My paychecks from Blackwater Coal will catch up on our bills. This money is for you.”
Her throat moves as she forces as swallow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t want to wait to move on with our lives. We’ve wasted enough time stressing, saving money, waiting until the time is right.”
“You mean . . .”
“If you still think we need to see a fertility doctor, make the appointment. Use that money for the co-pays and whatever.”
“Really?” she gasps. “Are you sure? I don’t know if it’s logical, Ty. We could use it on other things right now.”
“It makes perfect sense if this is what you want.”
I rise up and palm the back of her head and bring her mouth to mine. She moans against my lips as I flip her to her back and hover above her.
“I want to put a baby inside you,” I whisper into her mouth. She shivers, arching her hips so her bare pussy brushes my cock.
“Do it,” she moans, reaching down and stroking my length.
I bite my lip as she squeezes my dick. “I’m so fucking hard,” I say through gritted teeth.
Releasing me, I feel her hand beneath me. Looking down, I see her fingers gliding through her wetness.
Her eyes on me, she smiles devilishly as she brings her fingers to my lips. “I’m so wet for you it’s ridiculous,” she breathes, swiping the moisture over my bottom lip.
I suck her fingertips into my mouth and watch her eyes grow wide. My cock pulses against her opening so hard it hurts.
“How do you want it?” I ask, taking a nipple into my mouth. I suck it, rolling it with my tongue, as my other hand cups her other breast.