Edge of Love (28 page)

I nodded.

She wrapped her arms around her waist
and clutched herself tightly. I could see the pain in her eyes. She
was torn. “Okay.”

I stared at her in disbelief.
“Really?”

“
I can still see Ryan on
holidays and stuff. That should be enough. But I can’t live without
you, Sean.”

I felt my heart tug in my chest. She
hadn’t lied to me even though anyone else would have, and she was
willing to sacrifice her relationship with her brother for me. I
knew she wouldn’t lie to me again. She just made a mistake. I loved
this girl. I rose from my seat and pulled her to a stand. I wrapped
my arms around her waist and held her close to my body. She grabbed
me tightly. I didn’t think she was ever going to let go.

“
I love you,”
whispered.

“
I love you,
too.”

She wiped her eyes on my
shirt.

“
You don’t have to stop
seeing, Cortland.”

She stared at me. “What?”

“
I just wanted to see if
you would. I never expected you to say yes, but it means a lot to
me that you did. I would never ask you to do that,
Scar.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank
you.”

“
We’re going to work this
out, okay?”

She tried to smile but she was still
crying. “I thought you said if I slept with Cortland more than once
you wouldn’t forgive me.”

“
I was just seeing if you
would lie to me.”

“
You were testing
me?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I already talked to
Cortland. I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t lie to me. I
would have taken you back anyway, but now I feel a lot better about
it.”

“
So, we’re going to be
okay?”

“
Yes, babe,” I said. “You
can stop crying now.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

“
But I still need some
time to resolve my anger and jealousy.”

“
How long?”

I shrugged. “A week or
two.”

Her lips fell in a frown. “I miss
you.”

“
I miss you too. But I
can’t come back to this relationship if I haven’t moved on from
what happened. Do you want me to be angry and jealous the whole
time we’re together?”

“
No, of course
not.”

“
It’ll be
fine.”

“
Can I still talk to you?
See you?”

I shook my head. “I’m
sorry.”

“
But I haven’t spoken to
you in a week.”

I sighed. “I know.”

“
And we haven’t had sex in
a week.”

“
I know that
too.”

“
Sean, I can’t stand
this.”

“
Please give me some time.
I’m not doing this to hurt you.”

She sighed. “I know.”

“
I love you.”

“
I love you
too.”

“
Do you trust me
again?”

“
Yes.”

“
I have my papers at the
apartment.”

I smiled. “I believe you, babe.
Besides, if you have something, then I’ve already gotten
it.”

She laughed. “That’s true.”

“
Come on. I’ll take you
home.”

“
Make love to me
once.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry,
Scar.”

“
Why?”

“
Because I’ll think about
Cortland the entire time.”

“
Please don’t do
that.”

“
That’s why I need my
space.”

“
Okay.”

We left the restaurant and hailed down
a cab. When we came to her apartment, I stopped at the front door.
“I’ll see you soon, okay?”

She nodded. “Okay.”

I grabbed her face and kissed her
forehead. “It will be over before you know it.”

She grabbed my face and pulled my lips
to her, kissing me deeply. She ran her fingers through my hair and
I felt the moisture from her tears as they touched my lips. They
rolled into my mouth and I tasted the saltiness on my tongue. Now I
felt even worse for everything that happened. Scarlet shouldn’t
have lied to me about Cortland and she should have compromised with
me about the wedding, but I hated seeing her in pain. It broke my
heart. I knew why she wanted me to make love to her. Whenever we
made love, it fixed everything. All our problems were erased. She
knew if we were together, it would make everything better. She
wouldn’t be afraid that this relationship would fall apart. I
didn’t want to be angry about anything anymore. I wanted to go back
to the way we were. I couldn’t stand another lonely night. This
distance was torture.

I broke our kiss. “Let me make love to
you.”

She started to sob. “Sean.”

I opened her purse and grabbed her
keys then inserted them in the door. When I got the door open, I
dragged her inside and started kissing her again. I heard the
movement of forks and knives and knew Ryan and Janice were sitting
at the kitchen table. Neither one of us cared. I guided Scarlet to
the bedroom then shut the door behind me.

“
I love you, Sean,” she
said through her tears.
“I love you, too.”

I removed her pants then pulled down
her underwear then removed her top and bra. She pulled my clothes
off and pulled me on top of her.

I kissed her everywhere and turned her
cries into moans of pleasure. I kissed the area between her legs
and her depression was completely gone. I moved on top of her and
kissed her neck then her lips, imparting all my love for her with
just my embrace.

I pressed my forehead against hers
while I opened her legs. I looked straight into her eyes as I
inserted myself within her. She started to moan the deeper I
went.

“
Sean,” she
whispered.

“
Babe.”

“
I love you.”

“
And I love
you.”

She ran her hands through my hair and
kissed me.

I thrust inside of her gently and made
her legs shake. “Are you ready to come home?”

She started to sob. “Yes.”

I kissed her tears away. “I want you
to come home with me tonight.”

“
Okay.”

“
And I don’t want you to
ever leave.”

“
Never.”

“
Promise me.”

“
I promise,
Sean.”

I kissed her forehead as I moved
inside her. She grabbed my back and pulled me further into her. I
knew she was about to come from the intensity of her grab, so I
prepared myself for the moment of bliss. When she started to shake,
I released myself into her. She moaned as she felt me come inside
her, and I kissed her as I felt my moment.

When we were finished, I stayed on top
of her and kissed her everywhere, showing her my love and
affection. She returned my love with equal intensity. I lied on my
back and wrapped my arms around her, but she moved away. I
immediately felt alarmed.

She started to dress
herself.

“
Babe, what’s
wrong?”

“
I want to go
home!”

I started laughing. She started
putting all of her clothes and accessories away. The sight made me
smile. She was so excited.

“
Help me!”

I laughed again. I dressed myself then
packed her bags. When we left her bedroom, I hoped it was the last
time she would stay here. We stopped in the kitchen and Ryan and
Janice stared at us.

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Are you
leaving?”

Scarlet smiled. “Yes.”

“
For good?”

I spoke before she did. “Yes. She’s
never coming back.”

Ryan sighed. “That’s a
relief.”

Scarlet grabbed my hand. “Let’s go
home.”

I smiled at her. “Okay,
babe.”

27

Scarlet

Sean carried my bags into the
apartment then placed them in the bedroom. I waited in the living
room and sat on the couch. I was so happy to be home. There were
dirty plates, empty cereal bowls, and pizza boxes everywhere. I
couldn’t count the number of empty beer bottles. I didn’t feel like
cleaning up after Sean right now. I was too tired and elated to
care about the mess.

Sean returned to the living room and
sat next to me. Even though I was home, I knew we still needed to
have a serious conversation. Sean stared at me, waiting for me to
speak. I didn’t want to talk so I fell silent.

Sean took the league. “Before we
start, there’s something I want to say.”

“
Okay.”

“
Actually, it’s a promise
that I want us both to make.”

“
What is it?”

He sighed. “We’re going to spend the
rest of our lives together. And since you’re such a brat and I can
be a total jerk, I suspect we are going to fight
again—often.”

I smiled. “Yes, we probably
will.”

“
No matter how bad it
gets, I want us to promise each other that we won’t walk away. We
don’t leave the house and blow off steam elsewhere. We don’t have
to talk to each other, but need to stay together and make love
every night. It doesn’t matter how angry we are.”

“
That sounds like a good
idea.”

“
You promise?”

“
I promise, Sean. Do
you?’

“
Yes, I do. Even when you
piss me off, I won’t leave.”

“
That makes me feel
better.”

“
This is the other promise
that I want us to make.”

I waited for him to speak.

“
I realize this is what
wedding vows are for, but we need to promise each other that we’ll
never break up. Now or after we get married. Ending our
relationship is never an option.”

“
What if one of us
cheats?”

“
That’s not going to
happen, babe.”

I nodded. “Probably not.”

He sighed. “And if it does. I promise
I’ll still be with you.”

“
What? You can’t make that
promise, Sean.”

“
Yes, I can,” he said. “It
would break my heart, but I know I would take you back. I know I
shouldn’t, but I will.”

“
Sean, I would never do
that.”

“
I know. That’s why making
this promise isn’t so bad.” He smiled at me.

“
I don’t know if I can
make that promise, Sean.”

“
That’s fine,” he said.
“The problem will never come up anyway.”

I smiled. “It better not.”

“
I have no interest in
that. I have everything I need.” He grabbed my hand and kissed
it.

“
So, you aren’t angry with
me anymore?”

“
You are forgiven,
Scarlet. When you told me the truth at Mega-Shake, I knew I could
trust you.”

“
Thank you.”

He nodded.

“
And do you hate
Cortland?”

“
That’s a different
story.”

I knew this wasn’t going to be
good.

“
I don’t think our
relationship will ever be the same. I—I just can’t get passed that.
I don’t hate the guy, but I don’t care for him either. Knowing he
took advantage of you when you were miserable and distraught makes
my blood boil.”

“
It wasn’t like
that.”

“
I know you said it was
mutual, but I—I can’t let it go. I won’t ever hurt Cortland or
comment about it, but you can’t make me like him. Since I’m not
asking you to stop seeing him or spend time with him, then I’m
justified in feeling this way. You can’t make me feel differently,
Scarlet.”

I sighed. “I don’t want it to be this
way. Cortland loves you.”

Sean didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry,
Scarlet.”

“
It doesn’t bother you if
I’m alone with him?”

“
No,” he said. “I trust
you, Scarlet. I know you love me and he loves Monnique. I don’t
feel anything between you, or at least I hope there isn’t.”
“There is nothing.”

He was quiet for a moment.
“Okay.”

“
Sean, it’s important to
me that you get along. I love my family.”

He sighed. “I said I wouldn’t argue
with him or comment about anything. I won’t be disrespectful
either. But you can’t make me like him. I’m sorry, Scar. You should
be thankful that I’m giving you that. If Ryan weren’t in the middle
of this mess, I would ask you to stop seeing him. But since I know
how important they are to you, I’ll let it go.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“
Yeah.”

“
What’s next on the
list?”

“
I’m quitting my job
tomorrow.”

“
Good.”

“
It might be a few weeks
until I find another.”