Page 97 of Perfectly Us

“Wanna take a shower with me?” Alex asks, stepping up behind me and gently biting the back of my neck.

I slump back against him. “You just want to feel me up.”

“Guilty.” He nuzzles my nape. “I’ll race you.”

He pushes away from me and runs toward the hall. Bo barks once before shooting off after him. I wait a moment before following, hearing the shower turn on once I enter the bedroom. Bo is sitting on his hind legs, staring at the connecting bathroom with his ears perked up.

I pet the top of his head. “Daddy and I need some alone time, buddy.”

I walk into the bathroom and close the door behind me. Alex flashes me a toothy grin before tossing his pants at me and stepping under the stream of water. I quickly get undressed before stepping in behind him.

“Why are you so hot?” Alex asks, running his hands up my chest.

“Because I was in the sun all day.”

He snorts and drops his face to my shoulder. “You’re such a dork.”

I cup the back of his head and press a kiss to his temple.

Alex grabs my hand and turns it over, brushing his lips across the pale scars on my inner wrist. I don’t wear bracelets anymore, something that took me a lot of time to be comfortable with. When I first took them off, I felt so naked. Exposed.

I still feel like that sometimes. I think a part of me always will.

When I mentioned it to Dr. Larson, he asked if I was ashamed of the scars. I said yes. Of course. I tried to hide them for years because of that internalized shame. As more years passed, I started seeing them as something else. A reminder of where I’ve been. How far I’ve come.

I still have dark days, which I talk to Dr. Larson about, seeing him once a month now instead of once a week. But no matter how dark, I know the sun will shine again.

“Shilooooooh.” Alex nibbles my jaw. “Pay attention to me.”

I chuckle. “Sorry.”

“You have a sexy, naked man in front of you. What do you want to do about it?”

I push him against the shower wall and capture his lips. He sighs against my mouth and grips my sides, the warm water falling over us.

I love him so much it makes the center of my chest ache. He saved me in all the ways I needed all those years ago. He opened my eyes, made me see how incredible the world could be. How bright.

Fifteen years and an infinite number of kisses later, and he still makes me feel like I’m flying.

The End