8 Weeks (17 page)

I looked deeply into Sasha’s eyes, imploring her to believe me, knowing deep down that no matter how disappointed I’d made her, she knew that the love I felt for Shelly was the real thing.

“Okay,” Sasha said finally. “What do you want me to get her?”
“I’ve got just the thing,” I responded with a smile.

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking and hanging out. There wasn’t much to plan, since we’d already played out this event once before, but it was fun to relive the experience again.

We laughed and joked, stopping to order food and sneak a couple of drinks from the bottle that I kept in the bottom of my toolbox.

It felt great.

Great to have my friends together again, as if the past eight weeks had never happened, and our unit had never been damaged.

“Hey, Sasha,” TJ said as he brought a slice of pizza to his mouth. “I heard you went out with Little John from the bar … You must be running out of guys if that’s the case.”

Little John was a three-hundred-pound bartender with a heart of gold, and a wife who loved him dearly.

“Fuck off, TJ,” Sasha replied, her lip curled in derision. “You’re just jealous cause little Miss Melody has been sniffing around Cal instead of being infatuated with you. I guess you aren’t as great a lay as you think you are.”

I cringed at the mention of Melody and her apparent crush, but laughed at the look on TJ’s face.

“Shit,” TJ responded. “That girl is batshit crazy … But if you’re so curious about what I’m like in the sack, Sasha baby, I’d be happy to take one for the team.”

Sasha jumped to her feet at that, her red hair flying, and her cheeks splotchy with anger. No one could piss her off like TJ could.

“Take one for the team, my ass,” Sasha said, walking toward TJ with an exaggerated shake of her hips. “You know you go to bed at night and dream of me. Wishing that one day I’d take pity on you and show you what it’s like to sleep with a real woman … Not just some whore from the bar.”

“Alright, guys,” Gaby cut in, always the peacekeeper. “We get it … You’re both young, hot, and virile. How about you let it go and focus on Cal and Shelly. We need to do whatever we can to help Cal win her back.”

I smiled gratefully at Gaby, thought about having another piece of pizza, then realized that I really didn’t have much of an appetite. I was too nervous.

I prayed to God that my plan would work, and that after this Saturday, I would be back together with my wife.

I wouldn’t stop planning dates though. I’d discovered a lot over the past few weeks, and I realized that our marriage wasn’t as solid as I thought it was … Not when Shelly felt she needed my permission to do things that she wanted, and not when there were so many things that we wanted to do, but hadn’t made time for.

I promised myself that if she did take me back, that I’d be more cognizant of the little things that made her happy, and that I’d step out of my comfort zone and try new things with her. If the last few weeks had taught me anything, it was that we’d been coasting along in our little bubble, happy and satisfied, but that there was so much more out there that would bring joy to our lives. We just had to get out there and give it a shot.

Chapter 36 – Shelly

I didn’t catch on at first … Not when Sasha came by early Saturday morning to take me shopping at Kohl’s. Not when she offered to buy me a Keurig, so I’d always have the perfect cup of coffee seconds away. Not when she went through my closet to help me pick out the perfect outfit for my final date with Cal. And not when she hugged me tightly, with tears in her eyes, and told me to keep an open mind, and do what came naturally.

No … I just thought she was as emotional as I was, knowing that this was my final date with Cal.

I caught on when TJ showed up at my door instead of Cal, looking handsome as sin, with a smile just as devilish.

“What are you doing here?” I asked when I opened the door.

“Cal’s been injured at the gym playing basketball and he’s been calling for you. We have to hurry.” He said the words in an over-exaggerated tone of worry, unlike the night of my proposal, when I’d believed him whole-heartedly and had gone racing past him toward the gym.

I stood there and looked at him, my heart both conflicted and buoyant at the same time.

“Really?” I asked, silently asking him to confirm what I thought he was saying.

“Really,” TJ said with a small smile, offering his arm to me.

I looked from his face to his arm, then back again.

Cal was going to propose.

Just like he had the night of our high school graduation.

Should I go … and possibly break his heart?

Or should I leave him there, embarrassed in front of our friends, and save myself the emotional turmoil that would come from going?

I took TJ’s arm and let him lead me to his car.

We drove to the high school in silence, the events of my last proposal replaying in my head. It had been so romantic, and so unexpected. Everyone had said that our love would never last, that we were too young, but Cal and I hadn’t cared. We’d believed, one hundred percent, that our love was true, and that it would last forever.

When we arrived at the school, TJ walked me up the stairs and to the roof of the gymnasium, then stepped to the side as I opened the door.

I was taken back to that night … It looked exactly the same. Lights strung up and twinkling, flowers spread around the roof, filling the night with their beautiful fragrance, and candles flickering in the wind. In the center of it all stood Cal, handsome and proud in his suit, his hair blowing in the breeze, a giant smile on his face. This time, his smile was tinged with worry, but he looked even more handsome than he had that night, six years ago.

I walked slowly toward him, my maxi skirt swaying a bit with every movement, and I stopped a few feet in front of him.

He stepped forward and took my hands in his, squeezing them gently before he began to speak. “Shelly, I know that what I did was unforgiveable, and I won’t blame you if you can’t see past it and continue on in this marriage with me. I don’t know if I’d be able to stand the thought of you being with another man. Honestly … it would kill me, so I get it. I’m betting on the fact that you’re a better person than me. You just are … I’m also betting on our love. Shelly, we have both known since the moment we met that what we have is special, and most people are never lucky enough to find a love like ours. I have never wanted another woman the way that I want you, and when I woke up and realized what I’d done, I wanted to die. I knew that it would rip us a part, but I couldn’t keep it from you, Shelly. I couldn’t lie to you, not about something as important as that, even though I knew you would hate me for it. And you did … I saw it on your face, and felt it in your rejection … You hated me for it.”

Cal closed his eyes and squeezed my hands again before taking a deep breath and continuing, “Thank you for giving me these last eight weeks. You didn’t have to. You could have served me with divorce papers right then and there, and you would have been totally justified. Thank you for giving me a chance to prove my love to you. I learned a lot over the past eight weeks, not just how much I love you, and always will, but that our marriage wasn’t as perfect as I thought it was. Shelly, I never want you to feel like you have to ask me permission to do what you want … I’m your partner, and I want you to view me that way. I want you to feel comfortable enough in your own skin to tell me what you want, and I’ll do the same for you. I want to spend the rest of my life learning about you. I want to be surprised by you, and I want to keep trying new things together. We have tried more new things over the past eight weeks than in the six years of our relationship. I want to keep exploring with you, and finding out what we like and don’t like. More than anything, I want to be allowed back into your life, every day, and every night. I want you back, Shelly, now and forever, and I want to spend the rest of my life, proving how much I love and cherish you.”

I stood immobile as he spoke, everything he said washing over me in waves of emotion. Everything he said was perfect, he was perfect, and yet I was still terrified. Terrified of the thought of life with him, and terrified of the thought of life without him.

I looked around as he waited patiently for me to speak, and smiled at our friends watching and waiting in the sidelines, just as they had the night of our engagement.

But tonight wasn’t about our friends … What we’d been through was totally about us, and not about them … So, although I loved them, I didn’t feel like sharing this moment, and my decision, with anyone but Cal.

“Come with me,” I whispered softly.

His face fell as he realized I wasn’t going to respond to his declarations right away, but he nodded and let me lead him off the roof and toward his car.

“TJ drove me,” I explained when I walked him to the Mustang.

He unlocked the door and held it open for me, closing it once I got inside. I knew that I was probably torturing him by not answering him right away, but I needed to respond in my own way.

If the past few weeks had taught me nothing else, they’d taught me to stand up for what I wanted and voice my opinion.

“Can you take me to my place?” I asked.

Cal drove the car out of the parking lot and headed toward my condo. You could cut the tension with a knife, and I almost broke down and put him out of his misery, but I couldn’t, not yet. I needed to do this the right way, so there’d never be a question, and there’d never be any regrets.Once we got to my place, I led Cal inside and into the kitchen. His shoulders sagged, and I could tell by the look on his face that he knew I was about to tell him it was over.

I walked over to the table and picked up the packet of legal documents that were sitting on top.

I flashed the divorce papers at him, then looked him dead in the eye.

“This was my plan from the second you told me you cheated on me. I walked out of our home and went to my dad’s and I
knew
that I’d never be able to forgive you. Never. But you wouldn’t listen, and you came up with this damn eight weeks plan, promising to walk away once the eight weeks were over. Yet here you are … proposing to me as if nothing ever happened.”

“Shel,” Cal started, stepping toward me with his arm outstretched.

I held up my hand to make him stop.

“No … you had your say, now it’s my turn. You pushed me … You pushed me and pulled me until there was nothing left. You took me to do things that I’d always wanted to do, and you showed me how vulnerable and sweet you can be. You accepted me for who I am, never wavering … never losing hope. How am I supposed to fight that? How am I supposed to fight, when the only man I’ve ever loved is putting his whole heart into keeping me with him? I hate you for cheating on me. I hate the fact that we will never know for sure who that woman is, or if you actually slept with her or not. I hate that there’s a possibility that I’m not the only woman you have had sex with, and will have sex with for the rest of your life. I hate that someone else touched you, tasted you, and may have had the pleasure of having you inside them. But … I love you, Cal, and I can’t stand the thought of living my life without you in it.”

I started to sob, but used every ounce of willpower I had to hold it in, especially when the expression on Cal’s face was blinding me with its intensity.

“I don’t want anyone else … Only you. I love who you used to be, who you are, and who you will become. I have loved getting to know more about you over the last few weeks, and getting to know more about myself. And as much as I have loved making this condo my own, it will never be home without you in it.”

I could tell that Cal wanted to speak, wanted to move, wanted to pull me to him, but I had to get it all out first.

I took the divorce papers and ripped them in two. The sound of the paper being torn was one of the most satisfying sounds I’d ever heard.

“I forgive you, Cal, and I’ll forget, because I want you as my partner for the rest of my days.”

My hand was still up, telling him to stop, so I dropped it and rushed into his arms.

“I love you,” was murmured by both of us as we held each other close.

I don’t know how long we stood there, holding each other, but when I pulled away to look into his beautiful face, my heart filled.

I stepped back and held my hand out. “Come to bed?” I asked softly. Cal’s face broke out into a huge smile, and he placed his hand in mine. I led him back toward the bedroom, ready to spend the rest of my life in his arms … where I belonged.

Please keep reading for an excerpt of book 2 in the
Time for Love Series
,
21 Days
.

This is Sasha and TJ’s story.

Chapter 1 – TJ

I huddled underneath my covers, quivering uncontrollably, and praying to God that my parents would stop fighting and go to sleep. Fearful that their anger would shift, and they would come looking for me.

“I saw the way you were looking at her,” my mother screamed from somewhere down the hallway of our little trailer. “That stupid slut! I could tell you’ve fucked her.”

I heard a crashing sound and willed the bed to swallow me whole.

“You’re crazy,” my father bellowed, the sounds of glass breaking filled the trailer, and I assumed they’d begun throwing things at each other.

Soon they’d begin hitting each other, and eventually, they would turn their rage on me, or they would make up. Either way, I wouldn’t be getting any sleep. I tried my best to start replaying “The Neverending Story” in my head. If I was lucky, I’d lose myself in the world of Bastian and Atreyu, and by the time their story was over, the house would be quiet.

“TJ?” the voice of my boss pulled me out of the memory. I shook my head slightly, then brought my eyes to his.