I close my eyes and rest my head against the glass as her sweet voice comes over the line. It’s been too long since I’ve heard it. It’s my favorite sound to hear, even when it sounds sad. I lift my head back up.
Her answer is a lie. I know it is. She’s far from okay, but she won’t admit that to me.
“Olivia told me about the phone call and flowers you received. Have you heard from him again?”
I feel a rush of rage at the reminder that I wasn’t there when the bastard frightened her. I have to force my hand to loosen on the phone before I crush it. I try to hide my reaction, but I know my anger seeps through.
She lifts her hand and puts it back where mine is still pressed against the glass. I immediately feel my anger waning. She calms me.
“I miss you so fucking much, Beautiful.” My words come out husky.
“Asher,” she whispers brokenly, only adding to my pain.
“I’m sorry.” I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say it until she believes and forgives me.
“Please don’t,” she begs, her eyes filling with tears, breaking my heart all over again. She drops her eyes from mine and closes them tightly. When she opens them again, a new resolve has replaced the pain. “You need to leave.”
We both keep our hands on the glass, neither making the first move.
“I’ll leave, but I won’t be far away.” Her eyes narrow, and I know where her mind goes. Before she has a chance to rebuke me, I clarify. “In here,” I tell her, tapping the glass where her chest is only inches away. “I’ll always be in there. Just as you’ll always be in here.” Now I tap my chest. “The second you need me, I’ll be here.”
A tear escapes down her cheek. Using the hand that was on the glass, she furiously wipes it away. I instantly feel the loss of connection with her hand gone. I drop mine to my side and take a step back.
“I know you hate me. I know I’ve done things that are hard for you to accept, and with good reason. I know right now you don’t want to have anything to do with me.” I take another couple steps back, putting myself in the shadows. “But I will never give up on you. It’ll kill me, but I’ll wait until the end of time if that’s what it takes.” She gets smaller as I take a few more steps back. “And if it so happens that you can’t ever forgive me, I’ll live the rest of my life alone. You are the only woman that will ever have my heart. The only woman that will ever have my body. No one, Poppy. Just you.”
Her hand comes to her mouth at the same time I hear her muffled sob. I ignore the fierce pain it causes me.
“I love you. Distrust my actions, hate me for what I’ve done, but don’t ever doubt my love for you. It’s strong, and will forever belong to you.”
She puts her hand back to the window and almost flattens her body against the glass, like she wants to call me back. I don’t let it stop me from moving back, further into the darkness.
“I’ll be waiting,” I whisper, and pull the phone from my ear.
My body trembles as I turn and walk away from her. Every muscle in my body is demanding I turn around. My heart screams at me to go back, to yank open the window and take her in my arms whether she allows me to or not. I have no doubt I could have talked her into opening the window. My words got to her. I saw her resolve weakening, but I need her to come to me. I won’t force her to make a decision she may regret later. Once she accepts me back into her life, there will be no going back.
Once I have her, I’m never letting her go again.
Chapter Twenty
Poppy
I laugh at something Tony says, the muscles in my cheeks hurting from not laughing in so long. Me, Liv, and Tony are sitting at the table having dinner. Liv made a delicious homemade fettucine Alfredo dish. Both the noodles and sauce were made from scratch. Her cooking skills make me sick. It’s not that I can’t cook, but most of my meals come from a box, or already prepared. My mom tried teaching me her skills in the kitchen, but no matter how hard I tried, it always ended up burnt or it just didn’t taste right. I’ve learned to not even attempt it anymore, unless it’s something simple.
“I swear I thought I was going to die of embarrassment,” Liv says, fanning her red cheeks with her hand. “And then when the cop shined his flashlight on us, I accidently clamped down instead of pulling away.”
My mouth drops open while Liv winces and a look of pain crosses Tony’s face.
“I was so scared I did permanent damage,” she continues, grabbing Tony’s hand from the table. She looks at him with sympathy, but there’s mirth in her eyes that she can’t hide. “The poor cop didn’t know what to do. Tony screamed in pain and dropped to his knees. I scrambled over to him, my tits still hanging out of my shirt. The cop rushed over and tried examining Tony’s dick, but Tony kept growling at him to keep his hands off him.”
I’m laughing so hard, tears stream down my face. These tears I don’t mind. I’m actually grateful for them. I needed this laugh.
“I’m sorry,” I wheeze out when Tony glowers at me. Liv’s lips twitch as she tries to hold in her own laughter. Her face goes bright red, right before she doubles over, unable to keep it in, which makes my laugh become stronger.
“Anyway,” she says, drying her eyes, but still giggling. “I was so worried, I made him go to the hospital to get it checked out. All the nurses in the ward were trying to come in and get a peek. Of course, that’s where I stepped in and blocked the door. Wasn’t no horny nurses getting a peek at my man’s junk. Come to find out, no damage was done, but he did have a nasty bruise and bite marks on his dick for days afterward.”
Another round of laughs come from both me and Liv.
“Ha! Laugh it up,” Tony grumbles. He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest, pouting in the typical man fashion. “You’re lucky I let you anywhere near my dick now.”