“I do. And now you have your own car. Just in case something does happen when I’m not home. I know you wanted that.”
I looked over at the old car next to his new truck. Having it was a sense of security. If he took his truck to work now, I’d still be able to get away if Isabella showed up.
He cradled my face in his hands, pulling me back to the present. He was good at that. Distracting me from my wandering thoughts of the future. I needed that. I needed him.
“Happy 30thbirthday, Miller.”
“I wasn’t super excited to turn 30. But it certainly beats the alternative. I want to grow old with you.”
“You’ll always be a lot older than me.”
“Hey.” He tickled my side in retaliation to my comment.
Which turned into a full out tickle war. And we somehow managed to knock over the picnic basket. His cake I’d painstakingly spent hours on toppled onto the front of my dress.
“Crap,” I said. I went to wipe it off when he caught my hand.
“This was how I wanted to eat it anyway.” He pushed my strap off my shoulder and licked some icing off the top of my breast.
I laughed. “You still have to make a wish.”
He pushed my dress down, exposing my breasts. He lightly blew on my nipple, making it harden, as if he was making a wish off that instead of a candle. “I have everything I need right here.”
I caught his head before he devoured more cake. “Well I’ll make a wish if you won’t.”
“And what’s your wish, gorgeous?”
I smiled. “A million more birthdays just like…this.” I slammed some cake into his face.
He laughed and kissed me, smushing some of the cake back onto my face.
My laughter quickly turned to moans as he devoured every inch of me.
Runaway - Chapter 42
3 Years Later - Saturday
I wandered into the spare bedroom. The one where all the moving boxes were. I only ever went in here if I was looking for something in particular to wear. But I knew there were more than just clothes in here.
I moved a few boxes, searching through the contents until I found what I was looking for. I sat down with the pictures on my lap. I didn’t have much left from my time in New York. These were mostly pictures my dad had given me. Pictures I’d thought weren’t true. Even though the proof was right in front of me. Matt was smiling at the camera, his arm draped around some girl I didn’t recognize.
Tears pooled in my eyes, remembering how it felt to be on the opposite end of that smile. Remembering what it felt like to be his, before everything broke. But this wasn’t why I was in here. I sifted through the pictures until I found what I was looking for.
After all these years, I still had it. Matt, Mason, James, and Rob were young in this picture. It was summer and they were all laughing. James had let me take it from his treehouse years ago. The same day he’d proposed to me. I laughed through my tears. How different my life would have been if I’d said yes to that. To the sad boy who frowned more than he smiled. He played it off like he was kidding. But I was pretty sure he’d been serious. His parents had wanted him to marry a Pruitt. I really hoped he’d had a better future than that. But I wasn’t looking at this picture because of James.
I wiped the tears from my eyes as I stared at all four boys. I loved one. The other three I had thought were my friends. I’d told Matt I wanted four kids. I wanted four boys so that they could be like the boys smiling in this picture. The best of friends. Were the four of them friends now? My dad had made it seem like they reconnected. I hoped that they had. I wanted all four of them to be as happy as they were as children on a summer’s day by the pool.
I’d dreamed of that future.
And in a weird, twisted way, I’d kept my promises to Matt. Miller and I hadn’t walked down the aisle yet. It was impossible to do it as ourselves. But ever since his 30thbirthday, we’d acted like a married couple. Hell, we’d been acting like a married couple for a lot longer than that. Even though I hadn’t said ‘I do’ I’d been acting like I had. Not acting. That wasn’t the right word. Because I wasn’t acting. I loved Miller with my whole heart.
But I’d only ever given Miller what I’d given Matt. My body. My heart. A promise of the future.
I’d promised Matt all my firsts. And I hadn’t given any new ones to Miller.
Until now.
I’d missed my period.
