Page 247 of Accidental Husband
Then it was two.
Three.
Six.
A year.
She came to me that day—it was only a few weeks ago—and told me she wanted to mark the occasion.
She didn't know how to do it or what she wanted, so I came up with this.
The scars aren't beautiful, exactly. But the strength she shows every fucking day—
That is.
She really is beautiful. Her heart, her soul, her—
Well, I can't start listing all the parts of her body I adore or I'm going to be here a very long time. And I'm going to have very little blood left in my brain.
"Griff?" Jules drags her fingertips down my chin.
"Yeah?"
"You there?"
"Thinking about you naked."
"I can tell." She nods to my crotch.
I guess the situation is obvious.
Her cheeks flush. "I'd offer to put on pants, but it's not exactly an option."
"Over my dead body."
Her lips curl into a smile. "I'm going to get some water. You want something?"
"I'll get it." I stand. Lean in enough to press my lips to hers.
The kiss she returns is hard and hungry. Need pours from her to me. From me to her.
This is a big deal. For both of us.
As much as I hate to admit it, this has been a wall between us. Since we were kids. Since she hid it from me back in high school. Since I found out and guilted her for it. Since she fell into old habits.
Since she hid that.
Since the day she told me.
And the day she said she wanted to stay my wife.
It's not easy. I love her more than anything, but that doesn't make it any easier. If anything, it makes it harder. Because my heart stops and my throat closes when I think about her hurting.
I see red and I lose logic.
It's taken a long, long time for us to get here. To this place where we can talk about her self-harm without her hiding or me freaking.
I hope, more than anything, that she never hurts herself again. But I don't expect it of her. If she slips, she slips. I'll be here to catch her, but it will still be her battle.
