Page 123 of Savagely Yours
“It might be bad.”
“I don’t care.”
“My heart’s going like 100 miles an hour right now.”
“Please don’t be embarrassed.”
“Well, you heard me sing in the car earlier. Yeah, I was messing around, but?—”
“Dez, I’ll love it. I love you.”
Face hotter than a furnace, I strummed the first few notes. Like riding a bike, the chords to “More Than Words” came back as if there’d never been a time when I’d gone more than a few days without playing a guitar. However, whenever the cue for the opening line came around, I got cold feet and chickened out.
Larke slid to the edge of her seat. “It’s okay, baby. I swear.”
“Not sure why this is so hard.”
I replayed the intro and opened my mouth, but with my stomach in my throat, nothing came out.
So, Larke sang the first few lines.
When she reached the chorus, I joined her, my focus on the movements of my fingers. I didn’t need to look to follow the notes, but I could only manage one thing at a time, and looking her in the eyes would make me feel like my chest was splitting open.
We made it to the second verse.
I raised my head.
Her mouth stopped moving, but mine kept going, and I realized I was mistaken. The way she stared at mebolsteredmy confidence.
After I strummed the last note, she leaped to her feet and rewarded me with an enthusiastic round of applause. This time, my face warmed for an entirely different reason, and I wondered how lucky I had to be for life to feel this good. I’d never known life could ever feel this good. As long as I was alive, it didn’t matter what was going on in the world. I wanted her to know only peace. I wanted the rest of her days with me as her husband to be so light that there were times she felt as if she was walking on air.
I set aside the guitar.
She walked over to me, and I pulled her onto my lap.
“Did you…like it?” I asked. “Honestly.”
“Dez, that was beautiful. I can’t believe I’m married to a guy who serenades.”
“I can’t believe I’m now a guy who serenades.”
She kissed my neck.
Then, she sucked.
I had her naked in under a minute, and we made love next to an open window in the shadow of the setting sun, our lips connected as she came and I erupted not long after.
Afterward, we lay on the bed, half covered by sheets, Larke wrapped around me and my arms securing her to my body. Eversince losing her at Totten, I had to hold her this way. It felt like, if I didn’t, she would float away.
“You’ve really never done that before?” she asked, sliding her leg between mine.
“I’ve never played the guitar for anyone but myself.”
“But you’re so good at it. Do you know any more songs?”
“A few. I’ll…sing them for you sometime. Would you…like that?”
“I would love that.”
