Page 25 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I want you to say you want us to work.” I straddled him on the bed. “I want you to say that you forgive me. I want you to say that you still love me.”

His hands settled on my waist. He pushed his mouth to the side in the way that reminded me of Miles. But this time I just liked the way it looked on him.

“If Miles showed up outside our door saying that he always loved you, would you take him back?” Eli asked.

I shook my head without even thinking. “It’s too late.” I stared into Eli’s eyes. “It’s definitely too late.”

“Same with V?”

I laughed. “God yes.”

He smiled. “I want us to work. I forgive you. And I love you.”

I was pretty sure he was the sweetest man on the planet. “Any secrets you want to share before we talk to Dr. Miller?”

“I’m an open book,” he said. “But he is waiting if you want to get this over with.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize he was already here.” I climbed off his lap. “I am sorry,” I whispered as we walked out of his room.

“I already forgave you.” He kissed my temple.

Dr. Miller was sitting at the kitchen table like last time. He was clicking his pen opened and closed and looking at the false wall that hid so many secrets. When he saw us, the clicking stopped.

“Alison, it’s good to see you again. And…”

“Eli,” Eli said and stepped forward to shake his hand. Eli sat down in one of the chairs across from Dr. Miller.

“Nice to meet you, Eli. Alison, is there someplace we can go that would be a little more private?”

“I was hoping Eli could join us today.” I sat down at the kitchen table too.

“I see.” Dr. Miller glanced back and forth between us. “And how do you two know each other?”

“Eli is my boyfriend.” I smiled at the thought. I remembered when we first started dating and I didn’t know what we actually were. It was nice to be sure now.

“Oh. You didn’t mention a boyfriend last time we spoke.” He looked taken aback.

“It’s new,” I said. “And you didn’t ask me if I was in a relationship last time.”

He nodded. “Right, right. Well, I don’t specialize in couple’s therapy, so unfortunately Eli will need to leave.”

Maybe Dr. Miller didn’t look taken aback. He kind of just looked upset. And I didn’t understand why. “Eli’s just here for moral support,” I said.

Dr. Miller opened up his notebook and jotted something down. “That’s highly unusual. I want you to be able to talk freely, Alison.”

“You can just pretend I’m not here,” Eli said.

Dr. Miller frowned. “If that’s really what you want?” He was looking at me, not really engaging with Eli at all.

“I’m most comfortable if he’s here with me.”

Dr. Miller nodded. “Very well. There are a few things I wanted to dive into deeper this time.” He flipped through his notebook. “We talked a little about your childhood pen pal. I think we should start again there.”

“There’s nothing left to say.”

“I would have thought so too.” He glanced at Eli and then back at me. “But given this development, I believe we should dive back in. You said you still loved your pen pal.”

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