Page 23 of The Soul Never Forgets

Frank and Augustina were virgins. He and I are not. I hope that doesn’t taint our relationship.

“I haven’t had sex with Devin in a long time. Probably a year or longer. The drive vanished, same as my feelings for her. That’s also because of you?”

“Yes.” I’m happy to hear that he hasn’t touched her in a long time.

“While we’re on the topic of sex… you should know that something is wrong with me.”

He’s young and healthy. I was not expecting to hear that out of him. “There are medications for that. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“No. I don’t have a problem getting it up. The mechanics work fine.”

“Then what is it?”

His face has deepened from pink to red. “It’s normal for men to crave sex all the time. I don’t. I’ve never cared much for it. It’s always been forced. There’s very little pleasure or fulfillment in it for me.”

There’s nothing wrong with him. “You aren’t fulfilled by sex because you’ve been doing it with the wrong person. I can feel how much you want me right now. Trust me. You and I won’t have problems in the bedroom. Your issue in the past is that you’ve haven’t been bedding the woman who is intended for you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I’m right about this.” I know because it’s been the same for me.

“All this time, I believed something was wrong with me. I mean, what kind of man doesn’t want to have sex and when he does, he doesn’t enjoy it?”

“A man who has nothing wrong with him except he’s separated and star-crossed from his soul mate.”

His eyes begin at my feet and work their way up my body. It’s quick but I catch it.

“What is the next step with us?”

He’s accepting it… accepting us.

“You and I can’t move forward while your love and fidelity are pledged to someone else. I will not be the other woman. You won’t have me in your bed until I’m the only one in your life. Those conditions are nonnegotiable.”

“Devin is a travel nurse. She took an assignment that is six weeks long and won’t be back for another three weeks. It would be thoughtless to end things with her by phone. I can’t do that to her.”

Well, this is an unfortunate situation.

Is it certain that we aren’t still mildly star-crossed?

“Of course you can’t handle the situation like that.” He’s not an asshole, and I don’t expect him to be.

“Devin is a kind person. Hurting her is going to hurt me. To pretend it won’t would be a lie.”

He’s been with her for five years. I don’t expect this to be easy on him.

“I get it. And I respect your honesty.” I respect it and expect it.

“I understand that you won’t be the other woman. I’d never ask that of you, but I also can’t go three weeks without seeing you while I wait for Devin to come back. I don’t have the willpower to stay away from you.”

It’s the soul mate connection. It can’t be ignored.

“I can’t bear to be apart from you either.” We’ve already spent too many days apart. Now that I’ve found him, I don’t ever want to be parted from him again.

“How will this work––spending time together but not allowing ourselves to give in to temptation? Being this close and not reaching out to you is almost more than I can stand at this very moment. I don’t imagine that the longing is going to lessen as we spend more time together.”

The longing never subsides for soul mates. Acting upon it only strengthens it.

“We’ll just have to be strong.”

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