Page 38 of His to Have
“Isee not much has changed,” I mused as I approached Teo, who was seated on the two-person bench gazing at the pond near the estate. It was the same place I’d found him when I was a young girl, hiding away from the noise of the house. Back then, he sat with his elbows on his knees, staring at the water like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Even at thirteen, I recognized he wasn’t like other boys. There was no free-spirited laughter, or even an innocence in his gaze. He carried the weight of the Donatelli name I didn’t yet understand, and had a presence that felt far too commanding for someone our age.
“Where did Bash and Keem go? They’re gone already?” I looked around to see if I could catch a glimpse of my brother and Teo’s best friend lingering in the gardens. However, the only view I caught was the reflection of the sky rippling across the dark water.
He turned, a slight smile tugging at his lips, like he’d been waiting for me to ask. “Yeah, they left a little while ago. They hadsome shit to handle. It’s just you and me, Amore.” His grin grew wider as he extended his hand toward me. “C’mere.”
It wasn’t really a request, but I couldn’t help the instinctive, “Why?” that fell from my lips.
He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. Teo was the kind of man who said more with a look than most could say in their entire lives. That slight tilt of his head and the way his eyes dropped briefly to his proffered hand, said“You know why” and “bring your pretty ass on.”
For a moment, I stood there contemplating if I would take his hand or not, or whether or not I should sit. But it was like my feet had a mind of their own, and said forget what you are thinking; we are ‘bout to chill with our man. My feet carried me forward across the lush grass until I was standing right in front of him. His warm fingers curled around mine, drawing me closer, and a contented sigh escaped me. Though I wished it hadn’t when I noticed Teo’s smug expression. His lips curled into a smirk, his eyes filled with amusement. He knew the effect he had on me, and I knew he found joy in ruffling my feathers.
“Are you always like this? I don’t remember you being so... arrogant.” I rolled my eyes, and he chuckled softly, pulling me down to sit beside him. “It’s not arrogance, Amore. It’s confidence… and the fact that I know what’s mine and what she likes,” he smirked. “Watch the sunset with me.” He all but commanded, nodding toward the horizon. His thumb idly traced circles against my skin, willing me to enjoy and watch the sun dip below the sky.
We both sat there quietly, staring at the colorful skyline. Shades of orange and pink filled the horizon, and this was a perfect backdrop for either something romantic, or a trip down memory lane. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for either, but with my hand in his, it was almost impossible to resist anything he would offer in this moment.
“So, you still come out here when you’ve got a lot on your mind, huh?” I finally asked after a beat of silence.
I knew this was his favorite spot at his parents’ home, so it wasn’t surprising when Sophia brought me to the gardens, then pointed him out in the distance.
With his gaze still fixed on the distance, Teo nodded. “Yeah, it’s the one place that reminds me to breathe. And the only place I can think strategically. But today I’m not out here for that. Today we are out here for a different reason,” he paused, glancing over at me with soft eyes, and a smile. All of it was with a tenderness I rarely saw with him and knew this was reserved for me. It had been that way since I knew the boy who grew into this larger-than-life man seated beside me.
“And what reason is that?” I asked, my voice soft but curious.
Teo didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his gaze lingered on the water. Finally, he said, “To talk.”
“But that’s all we’ve been doing lately.”
“And we’ll keep doing it,” he told me matter-of-factly, before his voice dipped to a sexy, suggestive tenor. “Plus more, when you are ready and the time is right.” His heated gaze met mine, those hazel eyes burning with fire.
I swallowed, my face warming at the thought of more. When would this more happen? Would it be gentle? Rough... full of passion? Would I be insecure because I knew he was with someone probably not even a few weeks ago? Could I handle knowing he was with someone that recent? The range of emotions that passed through me was so overwhelming.
This is why I tried to steer clear of this man. He brought out the irrational side of me that I’d buried when I decided we shouldn’t be together. When I didn’t have to think about it, things were much easier. But now that marriage bound us, intimacy was a foregone conclusion. On the one hand I anticipated the first time we reconnected in that way, and onthe other, I feared having to share him with someone else. So, I guess talking was the way to bridge the gap between where we are now and where we want to be. This was the perfect opportunity to get the answers I wanted.
“What if I make you wait? For months. I don’t know what you’ve been doing with yourthingthis whole time.” I tried to sound teasing, as I nodded toward the space between his legs. But I know my voice betrayed me, and I probably sounded like a jealous lover.
Teo’s lips stretched lazily across his face.
This was the look that made my stomach flip—boyish charm mixed with a cheeky grin, all wrapped up in a face so handsome that even his subtle smirk went straight to my core. He knew what his smile did to me.
He leaned back slightly, one arm draped casually along the back of the bench. “You could make me wait for months,” he chuckled, like I had just told a joke. “Hell, you could say years, but we both know it’s not going to be that long. The chances of you making it past this week are slim.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he replied, turning his head toward me. His eyes traced every inch of my flushed face, making their way to my heaving chest, and finally settling between my legs at the spot that had grown a hot sticky mess, just by his proximity alone. The corner of his mouth twitched with amusement, and when his hazel eyes met mine again, they flashed with certainty as if he could sense how he aroused me. “I’d wait, Ayanna, as long as you needed or wanted me to. Because you’re worth it.” There was no mistaking his sincerity, but behind it was a quiet certainty that I wouldn’t want him to wait.
“And you wouldn’t seek other ways to relieve your...stress? You know, with whatever or whoever you were doing before this marriage got finalized?”
“Are you asking who I’m fucking, Yanna?” Teo asked, his tone dropping an octave.
I shifted under his gaze, trying to appear unfazed. “I’m just saying.”
“Saying what? You know I like direct questions, Amore, so I can give you a direct answer. Ask me what you really want to know.”
I wasted no time blurting the question I’d been dying to know since I found out about this damn marriage. “Do I have to worry about a girlfriend or anyone else?”
He didn’t even flinch or shy away from the question. But it didn’t stop my heart from pounding violently against my ribcage as I awaited his answer. Teo’s explanation would either reassure me or unravel me.
“No, you don’t,” he said simply. “There’s no girlfriend. No side chicks. No one claiming me, Ayanna. There’s only ever been one woman who could say she had me—fully. And she’s sitting right in front of me.”
