22. Chapter 22
Chapter 22
-Kace-
A nnabella had clearly been worried about what kind of marriage we were going to have—like, what were my preferences? But I had no interest in a housewife. Where would the fun be in that?
“I have loved architecture since I was a kid,” she told me, making me smile.
“When will you go back to it?” I asked.
“Monday. My family wanted me to settle in with you first,” she explained.
“I see. Be the caring wife.”
“Exactly.”
We smiled a little at each other. A connection had definitely formed, and I grew more and more intrigued by Annabella. I had forgotten what it felt like to connect with other people. Besides Cody, I didn’t feel close to anyone else. But that was clearly about to change.
“Maybe you will show me some of your work one day,” I suggested.
“If you would be interested,” she offered.
“I would.”
We continued to smile at each other, but then I looked at the time on my watch and saw I had no more time for talking. I told her I would see her at dinner.
I drove back to my room, becoming very familiar with this smart chair. It did make walking seem unnecessary, but I wasn’t going to stay like this forever. Not after Annabella had proven herself.
As I entered my bedroom-office, I moved to my desk, where I began to work, but after a few hours, someone knocked on my door. Cody poked his head inside, and I was surprised to see him.
“Do you never work?” I teased.
“I’m a model,” was his reply.
“That’s still work,” I reminded him.
“Nothing today,” he informed me before sitting down in front of me. “How is married life going?”
“So, this is how it will be. You popping in and out to check on my marriage?”
“Yup,” he replied.
“It’s fine,” I told him, before leaning back and smiling. “It’s going quite well, actually, and we haven’t even spent that many days together.”
“Really?” he asked, surprised. “Because last time we spoke, you two weren’t doing great, and she was annoying you.”
“Well, we worked things out,” I explained.
“Naked?”
I chuckled, shaking my head, but there was a smile on my lips I couldn’t hide, and I knew he saw it.
“Ah, so naked,” he confirmed.
“No, not naked,” I corrected.
“Close to?” he asked.
“We haven’t gone there.”
“Why not? It might just put all that anger to better use,” he suggested, making me shake my head.
“Remember why I'm doing this?” I reminded him. “To see if she is different, meaning I have to do this differently . Yes, I could fuck my wife, but I'm not going to.”
“Ever?”
“Yet,” I added.
“Ah, so you do want to?”
An image of Annabella underneath me, her cheeks pink and her lips swollen and a bit red, while the sounds she could make replayed in my ears, made a whoosh of warmth go through me.
“She might not be my usual type, but I don’t think my usual type does it for me,” I admitted.
“You don’t say. I was surprised when the first thing you did wasn’t to go out and fuck someone when you got the green light,” he told me.
“Is that how I'm pictured? As a manwhore?” I inquired.
“I meant, celebrating that you came out of it alive and with all your limbs attached. You know, when people almost die, it makes them quite horny.”
“I was in a coma for almost a week. When would I have had the time to be horny?”
“Which is why I said ‘when you got the green light’,” he reminded me.
I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. “No, I wasn’t really interested.”
“Don’t tell me your dick died,” he joked.
“It did not,” I said, before remembering what Annabella had done to me. “Very much alive.”
“Then it’s a good way for you and your wife to connect.”
“She is very cautious around me.”
“Oh, she still thinks you’re an asshole?”
“Actually, no, but this is more than sex. You know this. I want to see if this marriage can be real. I want to see if I'm actually able to be more than… what I was,” I explained.
“What is wrong with the person you were before?”
“Of course you ask that because I was actually a person with you. I wasn’t a person with anyone else. Just a fucking robot,” I said.
This morning made me realize just how robotic I had become. I had forgotten what it felt like to have emotions, to laugh. But with Annabella, I could finally relax.
“You became what you needed to become,” he reminded me.
“I know, but now I want to be something else. Or at least have a home that is warm and not so cold. I almost died, Cody. I almost lost all feeling in my legs. You know how close the doctors told me it was. If the paramedics had gotten me to the hospital just a few minutes later, there would have been nothing to save, and ten minutes later, I would have been on the other side. It has made me realize a lot of things. You were the only one who visited me. I mean, not even my grandfather paid me a visit, and the fucker is coming here in two months.”
Cody nodded a little. He knew he was the only one who stuck with me through the physical therapy and the normal therapy I had to receive after almost dying. He saw how lonely I felt and how no one stuck by my side like he did. I was tired of that.
“Do you think you will be ready for his visit?” Cody asked.
“God… I have no idea,” I groaned.
“Have you told Annabella about him yet?”
“No…” I replied.
“Why not?” he inquired.
“Because he is an asshole.”
“Yes, but she is also your wife now, and you need to be honest with her,” he explained.
“No, I know, but I want to get through this dinner with her family before I tell her that Dracula is coming to the house.”
Cody began laughing, and a smile spread across my lips as well. My grandfather wasn’t just cold. He was ice, and he had no reason to change. But his behavior only proved to me why it was time to warm up.
“But how do you think the dinner is going to go?” Cody inquired.