“No. What?”
“Your sister’s one year anniversary.” She moved to his side, and he draped his arm around her shoulders pulling her closer. “Do you think it’s a good time to call?”
He smiled down at her, then moved the short distance to the table to fetch his phone. “Let’s find out.”
“Hello,” Renee answered on the first thing. She was on speakerphone, held in Samantha’s palm as they looked out the window.
“Hey Ren.” Samantha smiled. “Your brother and I just wanted to call and wish you a happy anniversary.”
Renee laughed. “You’re in Paris on vacation and remembered my anniversary? Don’t you have anything better to do?”
Tristan took the phone from Samantha and started laughing “Samantha’s sick, so we’re just hanging out, waiting for her to get better.”
“Aww… Well that sucks. I thought she sounded different.”
Samantha grinned, and Tristan handed her the phone again. He then moved behind her, and began massaging her lower back with firm fingers. “Could be worse,” she said softly.
The two friends then went on to chat about the normal things. Work, life, and all the strange things only a best friend would care about. But before long, Phin could be heard in the background, and Renee was getting off the phone.
“Well, we’re about to go out to dinner, and I can’t find my shoes. I’ll tell Phin you called, and I’ll expect a whole rundown of your trip when you get home.”
“Sounds good,” Samantha whispered.
They all said their goodbyes, and then Samantha turned around, to rest her cheek on Tristan’s chest.
He hugged her tightly, peppering kisses along the side of her neck, “Do you know what else today is?” he whispered.
She only grinned, feeling herself getting turned on even in her state of weakness. “What?” she asked.
He kissed her again. “The anniversary of the day you first told me you loved me.”
She turned around, tears brimming her eyes in surprise. “It is, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “The best day of my entire life.”
She tilted her head, squinting up at him. “The best? Because I remember that day, and it felt more like a slow, endless torture.”
He brushed his knuckles over her cheek and looked into her eyes, as if the realization still pained him. Very much. He then lowered his hands to the small of her back and closed his eyes for a moment. “It was torture for me, too.” He took a deep breath, then opened his eyes allowing her to see all the emotion that lived inside of him. “I watched you walk out of the reception that night, thinking it was the last time I’d ever see you, and it—” But he shook his head, unable to continue, as though he didn’t want to relive the pain. He dropped his chin down to the crevice of her neck, as though he needed her closer, needed her as much as she needed him.
“Alone in my room that night, I realized a few things. That I trusted you completely.” He kissed her collarbone, and she could feel him shudder beneath her fingers “I also realized that if I was going to love you, I needed to allow myself to fall. Without a net, without a mask, because if I was going to be with you, you were the type of woman who deserved everything.”
She wiped the corners of her eyes, but then he took her hands in his, needing to say more.
“It wasn’t until you almost walked out of my life that I knew I had to take the risk, that I had to push away what I’d always been taught, and go with what I felt in my gut. To go after what I wanted.” He moved closer, his lips hovering over hers, breathing the same breaths, breathing the same air. “Because somewhere in the darkest moments, beauty lives. Waiting for you to take hold of it and run. I didn’t sleep at all that night. I went to the hotel lobby and bought every flavor of chips I could find.” He kissed her lips then, though only barely. “It was the best day of my life, because it was the day I decided to go after you.”
Sobs were jolting from her body, and she couldn’t take it any longer. She gripped him to her chest, hugging him harder than she thought possible. “I love you, Tristan Montgomery. I love you so much.”
“And I love you, Samantha Elizabeth Smiles.” He then carried her to their bed, where she convinced him to make love to her even though she was sick. Because try as he may, the Devil could bring sickness, but he could never prevent them from loving each other. Even without a net to catch them.
THE END