Page 58 of Over You
It wasdark by the time we got back to the house. Reruns ofAbsolutely Fabulousflashed over the TV screen. Lottie was sprawled out on the couch and snoring, so Spencer and I snuck up the stairs to my room.
“I’m going to grab a shower.” He gripped the doorframe and tapped his ring on the wood. “Wanna join?”
“Make it a bath and I will.”
His teeth raked his bottom lip.
Water knocked through the old pipes by the time I reached my room. I pulled my hair loose from its ponytail and ran my hands through it, checking my reflection. My gaze landed on the wooden trinket box to the side of my dresser, and my heart stalled. I dug through handfuls of costume jewelry until I found the two rings that had settled at the bottom.
The Cartier, I had left behind, but I took my real rings with me. Clutching them in my fist, I moved to my nightstand and sifted through the gum wrappers tucked safely away until I found one that read:Marriage is forever.
The silver foil folded into a perfect square around both rings.
On my way down the hall, my heart beat to the same nervous rhythm it did the night I had followed Spencer into his house. Stopping outside the door, I took a breath. Even though the man on the other side was my husband, I still got this nervous energy in my stomach around him. Not butterflies—that description was too simple, too cliché. What I felt inside my stomach was akin to a million shooting stars trapped in the orbit of a lonely moon.
The hinges to the door groaned when I stepped inside, clicking the lock behind me.
Spencer’s tattooed arms were draped over the edges of the claw foot tub. His head rested against the sloping porcelain. “What’s the shit-eating grin for?” His lips kicked up on one side.
I loved that man with every bit of my soul, and I would do anything to be with him. Some may say that made me a complete fool, but I’d rather be a fool who took a risk than one who let her life pass her by. I stepped beside the tub and held out an open palm with the foil square in the middle.
His brows pinched together.
“Take it.”
Warm droplets of water sprinkled my hand when he grabbed it. And as he unfolded the wrapper, the rings dropped to the water with a plunk. The crease in Spencer’s brow deepened when he fished them out.
“You were right. It is forever.” I held out my left hand for him to put them back on.
When he hesitated, my vision blurred behind tears. Our gazes remained locked while he slid both rings on my finger.
“Weareforever,” I whispered.
“Fuck yes, we are.”
He grabbed me by the waist and hauled me into the tub, sending water sloshing to the floor. “I know I have my faults.” He kissed the edge of my mouth. “But I love you in a way that’s desperate.” He fought to pull my damp shirt over my head. “In a way that’s hopeless.” Another breath-stealing kiss. “In a way that would make the universe seem like it had an end.”
Tears stung my eyes. The salty taste met our mouths, and Spencer pulled away, cupping my face.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because I can’t find the words to tell you how much I love you.”
“But, babe. You already did.
21
Spencer
August
Three months clean.
Three months with Georgia.
Three months to realize this LA shit was not for me.
The window behind Ricky’s desk showcased the hazy LA landscape, and I found myself missing the green fields of Salisbury. Ricky’s stubby fingers drummed on the wood. His lips tightened into a disapproving line. “You look like you belong in a boy band.”
