27. Forever
FOREVER
You don’t remember, but he’s hurt you before. Be careful, okay?
When I was eleven, my ma drugged me with Ativan for an entire weekend. A dose that left me completely at her will, but all I could remember from that time was her absolute need to “protect” me from them.
And now them had turned into him twenty years later.
“Everything has tags,” I said, running my fingers over the clothes on my side of the his and her closet Demetrius had taken me into. “I’ve never been here before.”
I wasn’t asking, but he had a response for it anyway.
“We were planning for this to be our home base at some point,” he said, leaning in the doorway. “I did this after everything, though. Before I went to Florida.”
I faced him, feeling like this was important and needed my undivided attention.
Demetrius expressed himself in a way that I realized appealed to me. Whenever he opened his mouth, I couldn’t do anything but listen. My mind, body, and soul wouldn’t allow otherwise.
This was nothing like I’d ever felt before.
“To be honest, baby, I want to lock you away, kill every threat to our marriage, and put this behind us.”
He was dead serious, the frown on his face deepening the more he thought about it.
“But because I can’t bear the thought of you resenting me, I’ll try another way,” he went on, eyes lifting to meet mine again.
“You and I have to move as a team, Forever…” I stepped directly in front of him, and he immediately dropped a hand to my waist. “From this moment forward, I want in on everything. Don’t take matters into your hands anymore. Don’t rob me of you.”
There went that nagging need to satisfy his every whim, no matter what was being asked of me. It made me sick, but I still nodded anyway, only relieved after his eyes softened.
“You make it really hard to say no,” I whispered, dropping my forehead to his chest. “Since we’re opening up, I have to admit that I don’t know how to process any of this.
They want us to unite Everwood, which feels bigger than it’s being made out to be.
I’m your wife, Echo. We made a baby and didn’t even know…
” I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed, that headache I’d been ignoring reminding me it was still there.
“I’m overwhelmed by the way you make me feel. ”
He lifted my head with gentle fingers, and I had no clue why, but I suddenly ached for him.
For his direct touch.
“The way I make you feel,” he repeated slowly. “Tell me more about that.”
I shook my head, not wanting to go that deep into this topic. We had time for that, time for me to get to know him all over. To fall in love based on what I’m seeing now and not on what I didn’t remember.
“I know you’re overwhelmed and this is a lot to process in such a short time,” he added softly. “And I wish I could carry that while you adjusted, but I’m here in other ways. You can talk to me like you did now. I’m always available to you.”
His eyes stayed fixed on mine, and I couldn’t look away even if I wanted to. There was something magnetic about him that made sense.
“You can talk to me, too.”
He nodded and pulled himself away from me.
“Don’t worry, baby. I plan to tell you all my deepest, darkest secrets just like before.”
I watched him take more steps away, then followed him out of the closet and into the bathroom, where he started the shower.
“Everything you need is on the counter behind you. Meet me downstairs when you’re finished.”
He left, but not before sliding his hand across my ass and meeting my eyes in the mirror. I watched him until the door separated us and then gripped the counter, squeezing my eyes shut.
My head hurt so bad I could cry.
But instead of allowing myself to be pulled under, I stripped and stepped into the shower, where I found everything I used at home. Just as I had in the apartment across from his.
This man had infused me into every part of his life, even in places I hadn’t been yet.
I touched the butterfly pendant still hanging around my neck and sighed, shaking off how far behind him I was in this marriage to wash yesterday off my body.
Afterward, I brushed my teeth, did skincare, and then bypassed the products on the counter to rummage through his in the closet.
I wanted to drown myself in Vanilla, anything that’d make him feel close to me when he wasn’t.
And as if he’d known I’d go looking for it, the bottle of EOS vanilla body oil and Le Lebo cologne called Bergamote 22 were waiting for me.
His scent enveloped me as I applied the oil to my skin, inhaling deeply while letting it settle into my pores. I sprayed his cologne on my wrists, behind my ears, and right at the center of my chest before slipping into a pair of maroon leggings and a sports bra to match.
My hair was a different monster to tackle, and with my headache quickly becoming a migraine, I decided to leave wild and free.
“You hungry?” Demetrius asked as I entered the kitchen.
He was shirtless, standing in front of the stove, basketball shorts hanging low on his waist.
On the counter were two of my favorites to have for breakfast, turkey bacon and pineapples.
This morning, I lightly snooped while he slept, finding this place bigger than expected for being on an enclosed piece of property with other homes surrounding it. The ceilings were high, front windows tall and wide as if to mirror the ones in his apartment.
I could tell he didn’t live here full-time and probably never had, but it was fully furnished and decorated, probably cleaned by someone living on the compound.
“Starving,” I admitted, sliding into a stool at the island. “But my head hurts and sometimes I can’t eat no matter how much I want to.”
Demetrius glanced over his shoulder, dark eyes assessing me quickly before he went back to what he’d been doing. Eventually, he set a plate in front of me with scrambled eggs straight from the pan, bacon, and pineapples, plus a separate bowl for cheese grits.
“Try to eat a little for me, baby. Solei is picking up the prescription Alyssa wrote for you and bringing it over in a little while. Will you take them?”
I shrugged, not wanting to lie. “Maybe.”
He didn’t react or respond, just pointed to the plate while making one for himself.
We ate in silence and then he left the kitchen to shower and get dressed, reminding me that the car was in the driveway and handing me the keys before doing so.
I opened the front door once I was alone, something I hadn’t done while he was asleep. Part of me hadn’t wanted to expose myself to what was on the other side of it yet, but there was no backing out for me.
The compound was alive when I stepped out on the wrap-around deck. Kids were running up and down the block, screaming and laughing at the top of their lungs.
A few stopped as I walked to my car and waved before taking off in a fit of giggles that made me smile.
They were safe here. Free to be kids, something I never got to experience.
“Who are you?” A raspy voice asked, just as I grabbed both of my phones and shut the passenger side door.
The lanky teenager was standing at the end of the driveway with a basketball perched on his hip and a gym bag hanging from his other hand.
“Forever,” I replied, moving closer. “And you?”
He tipped his head, and it reminded me of Demetrius a little, especially his obsidian eyes.
“Forever is an odd name. I’m Tristian. My cousin let you stay in his house?”
I smiled.
Nosy little nigga is definitely a Cannon.
“Something like that…” I tucked both phones in the band of my leggings and pointed to the basketball. “What position?”
He looked at it, then back at me.
“I play the two.”
Mmm. A shooting guard.
“Same,” I mused, watching him take me in again like he didn’t believe it. “But I was way too aggressive for team sports.”
Tristian took a step back, while bouncing the ball.
“Everybody will be talking about you soon. D ain’t never brought a woman around before.”
He shook his head and laughed, then walked off.
I watched until he disappeared at the end of the curve and then went inside to the bedroom, where I’d seen phone chargers.
After plugging my main line in, I waited and scrolled through the messages. My dad had called fifty times in the last twelve hours, the most recent an hour ago.
I kept scrolling, wanting to piss him off to the point of calling a board of trustees meeting. Once he involved them, I could make my first move.
There was one from Carmen updating me on my mom.
The paramedics had to sedate Quinn once she realized you were gone. Eliel hasn’t shown up at all, but he asked where you were when I called.
I shot off a quick reply while pacing.
Did she have bruises, or had I been seeing things?
She responded quickly.
Are you okay?
And no, you weren’t seeing things. She’s covered in them. They look a little like footprints.
I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath. My ma followed a routine schedule and hadn’t deviated from it in years. This sudden change didn’t make sense.
The last time I’d seen her was at the gala, but I couldn’t remember if she’d been herself or not. Just that she tried giving me anxiety meds more than once that night.
Ativan to be exact.
“Something got you worked up,” Demetrius said, his deep voice startling me. “What’s wrong?”
He was in nothing but a towel, and my attention immediately went to the bulge he couldn’t hide even if he wanted to.
Blessed.
My husband was blessed.
“Eyes up here, my forever.”
I lifted my gaze slowly to meet his.
“I’m not worked up, just trying to think about the last few times I’ve seen my mom. She’d been trying to give me…” I paused and bit my lip. “…anxiety meds more frequently lately, but I refused and was too focused on the headaches to notice something was off.”
He sat on the edge of the bed and beckoned me to stand in front of him. I obliged, even though I didn’t want to.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I whispered, dropping my hand as he took my hands and his fingers through mine.