Chapter Twenty-Nine
GAVIN
I made my way towards Bethany, and when we embraced, neither of us said a word to each other. I held her tight as she cried out loud. I had never been happier to see her. After a few minutes passed, the officers took her statement and asked her if she wanted to press charges against Anthony. “Yes. I want to press charges. I want him off the streets and out of my life for as long as possible. Please.”
The officer smiled, then closed his small notebook. “Alright. We will see what we can do.”
“Thank you, officer.”
He walked out of the front room just as I came back in with a blanket and a cup of coffee. I shook the officers hand, “Thank you, sir. Thank you and your men for your quick response. I don’t know what I would’ve done if he hurt her in any way.”
“We are just doing our jobs, sir. No thank you needed.”
The officer left us alone as I closed the front door behind him. Bethany was still shaking a bit from what happened between her and Anthony. I sat down beside her and put my arm around her. “It was all so sudden. I mean, I thought I saw his truck a few times, but I wasn’t sure. But after that chase, I knew it was him. He knew where I worked, and even worse, where I lived. I hate that it always seems like my past wants to ruin my future. All the time. Now, it is going to affect my job, and it has already affected our relationship.”
“No,” I said, holding my hand, “it has not affected our relationship. Well, it did, but like I said, I was just being dumb. Stupid. We all have something in our past that we regret doing, and I was wrong for holding that against you. I was wrong for thinking that I was too good to be with you because of what you used to be. So, I owe you an apology. I am sorry, and I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I was a total jackass and–”
She interrupted me with a kiss on my lips. It seemed like she didn’t care that I messed up because we all made mistakes, but we had gone days without so much as talking to each other, so I guessed she wasn’t in the mood to hear me beg for my forgiveness. If I could be honest with myself, I wanted to feel her lips on mine more than anything else. I wanted to feel comfort in her touch the way I used to before everything happened between us. That is what I missed about her. “So,” I said, smiling after we released each other. “I guess you forgive me?”
“You guess?” she said with a smirk. “You don’t have to guess. I forgive you, no question about it. I just want us to move on from our pasts, but, not before I ask you this.”
“Shoot.”
“What did you do in your past that you are ashamed of? Not everything, just give me one thing so that we can be even. I promise I won’t get mad.”
“Really?”
She crossed her fingers, “Scout’s honor.”
I exhaled, “Well, I used to be somewhat of a whore. Like, I slept with women a lot. A lot of different women, you know? So, I used to get around, and that took away time that I should’ve been spending with Vinny. I hate that about my past, but it is what it is.”
“So,” she placed my cup of coffee on the table, “I am dealing with some kind of Duece Bigalow, huh?”
I laughed. “Well, I didn’t get paid for it, but yeah, I guess so.”
She looked away from me with a smile on her face. “Well, if we are exclusive, then I am okay with that.”
“We are definitely exclusive.”
I leaned in and kissed her on the lips, slowly, while I took my hand and held the back of her head. She was my rose. Delicate. Innocent, but with a few thorns on her stems. That was the roughness she developed because of her hard life. I wanted to know more about it. I wanted to know why she had to do the things that she did so I could get a better understanding of who she was, but now wasn’t the time. Now, I just wanted to show her how much I loved her. I leaned her back on the couch and climbed on top of her, pecking her with kisses in the process. I felt my dick stiffen in my pants, and it never took much, but this time, I wanted to go slow. She had to know how much I loved her.