The Love That Heals Me (Forever Mine Book 2)

by H. J. Marshall

  “Josh? No. He is a great guy and she is completely safe with him. He has an immense amount of respect for women and is very caring and understanding to other people’s needs and feelings. She would be lucky to find a guy like him.” I explained, hoping to lessen some of the brotherly tendencies I’d felt coming from him.

  “Can we go outside and talk where it is quiet before you leave?” he asked and I nodded my head, motioning to Josh where I would be. He nodded back and as we walked away. I looked over my shoulder and saw Emily pull herself up to him and place her hands on his chest as her head fell between them, his hand on her lower back, as he leaned down and placed his head on top of hers, a look of contentment overtaking him.

  Andrew and I found ourselves alone in the dirt parking lot as we made our way over to his car and I squealed with delight. I loved this car and was happy to see he kept her in such good condition. “You still have her!”

  “I couldn’t get rid of her. She’s a classic and we had so many memories in her.” He replied as he pushed me against the driver’s door and brought his hard body against mine, his hand on my face, kissing me with a force I was unprepared for.

  I kissed him back, an urgency that had my body igniting with a hunger for him to throw me in the back seat and fuck me like we both wanted. He was licking and nipping my neck, down to my collar bone and back up to my lips, leaving no area above my collar untouched. I felt his hand tentatively move from my waist towards my tingling breasts where I so desperately needed him to touch. I pushed my chest up towards his hand as I began to kiss his cheeks and back to his mouth, pulling his bottom lip in between my teeth and releasing it to lick the sting away

  He groaned and began to pluck at my hard nipples through my shirt, making my clit pulse. He released my breasts and reached to pick me up as I wrapped my legs around him and began to grind up and down his denim covered cock. The delicious friction causing a groan to break free from my lips before he dove back in, kissing and licking me as if possessed.

  The cold window against my back did nothing to cool the fire that was burning inside of me, as we continued to kiss and grind against one another in the dark corner of the parking lot, anyone able to see us if they looked our way.

  I heard my phone going off in my pocket and reluctantly unwrapped myself from him as he took a small step back. I glanced down and saw it was Josh.

  “Uber’s here. You might want to quit with the show before you draw a crowd.” He laughed as he hung up the phone and I could hear him in the distance, chuckling aloud.

  “I’ve got to go. Our ride is here.” I said, no longer tired and wishing I could go home with him, even for just one night.

  “I’ll walk you back to the front. Can I see you tomorrow?”

  “I don’t know if that is a good idea, Andrew.” I responded honestly. With the distance between us, I was starting to regret the public make-out session we just had, wondering how many other women he took back to his car for a good time.

  “Let me meet you for breakfast and we can do some sightseeing. Maybe you will give me a chance to explain what happened.”

  “I’ll give you my number and you can call me in the morning. I can let you know then. Okay?” We made our way to the waiting car.

  “It’s more than okay.” he responded as we exchanged numbers.

  He reached out and gave me a lingering kiss before closing the door as we drove away from the roadhouse and away from the missing piece of my heart.

  I couldn’t hide the smile on my face when I walked back inside the roadhouse to find Cody so he could drive us home. I didn’t want to stay at the bar without her and I was happy for the first time in a long time to be going home alone. I would have preferred she came home with me, today and forever, but I knew there would be a lot of tears and explanations before that happened.

  If it happened. No… when it happened.

  I had been thinking of what Josh had said all night and he was absolutely correct. I had taken the cowardly way out of my break up with her. I should have told her something—anything—to make her think it was me and not her. I pushed all my insecurities and pain onto her and the result had been years of misery for both of us.

  She deserved to hear what little of the truth I could tell her so maybe she could forgive me. With the distance between us, emotionally and physically, I was worried about the next step, but I was determined to give her the peace she deserves. I hoped she would forgive me and give us another chance.

  “You look happy.” Emily casually remarked as we were walking back to Cody’s car to head home. He had made himself scarce all night and I was curious to get his opinion on what I should do.

  “I am happy. I don’t understand how she ended up in our gym but I think Cody may be right. It was fate that put her back in my path and I’ll move heaven and earth to have another shot at our forever.”

  “What are you going to tell her about why we moved?” Emily asked, a slight tremor in her voice.

  I turned around in the front seat and reached out to her, trying to give her the strength she needs in moments like this. The accident took so much from her and she was very private with who she told exactly what had happened. She took my hand in hers and blew out a breath, collecting her nerves.

  “I’m going to tell her what you tell people. It isn’t anyone’s business the exact reason we left, only that we had to move. I’ll give her as much as I think she needs, but I will never tell your secrets, Emily. I promise. The only people who know are you and me and, for as long as you say, that’s the way it will stay.”

  “Cody knows what happened.” She responded to my statement by acknowledging Cody was aware of the truth she tried so hard to hide.

  “You told me after a few years of knowing you, and I still don’t know the details. They’re not my business to know and you never have to tell me if you don’t want to. I agree with your brother, let him tell her your version of the truth. I pray that someday you stop worrying people will find out and judge you or somehow look down on you. Nobody will ever judge you for what happened. It wasn’t your fault. Either of you.” Cody responds as we pull into the driveway of our house.

  “I know. It’s just hard to explain…”

  “You don’t have to explain. Not to us. We are always going to be here when you need us, and we will always support your decision on who to tell what.” Cody responded as she reached over the seat and hugged him from behind, showing her appreciation to my best friend in the only way she felt comfortable.

  We got out of the car and were about to unlock the door when Cody called my name and reached his hand out, a plastic key card with the address of Caroline’s hotel on the front. “I almost forgot to give you this. Josh gave it to me earlier and told me you two need to be at this address at nine in the morning. Emily, dress for sightseeing. Andrew, dress for Caroline. Don’t fuck this up, Andrew. Fight for her and be happy again or be gentle and let her go. It’s time to move on, one way or another.” He said as he put the car into gear and drove away into the dark night.

  The key card was for the hotel I’d overheard Josh tell Cody they were staying at. I’d originally planned on surprising her in the morning so she couldn’t hide from me, but I guess Josh had other plans. He really is going to push us into talking and dealing with the raw, bleeding wounds caused by our broken love.

  I wasn’t as worried about Emily with Josh after Caroline told me about him being a good guy, but I’d make sure he understood that my sister is off limits to him.

  Emily thinks I didn’t see her and Josh slow dancing as Caroline and I went outside, but I saw how gentle and respectful he was with her. How he had a look of awe on his face when they touched, his emotions evident. Josh appeared to be smitten with Emily and I just hoped her heart wasn’t too damaged when he left in a few days.

  We made it inside and I sat down on the couch, the smile still on my face from our amazing evening. It still felt like a dream that I’d her in my arms tonight; that I was
able to kiss her and felt that the love was still so strong between us. I prayed I could find a way to make this work between us, especially with the geographical distance that would separate us when she left in a few days.

  My heart began to experience the years old pain of living without her. A dull ache at the thought of not holding her in my arms, of not kissing her every night, of not waking up beside her every morning.

  Emily walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch with me, the ticking of mom’s old grandfather clock the only sound in the stillness. “I think you should consider telling her the real truth,” Emily whispered into the silence.

  “Do you want me to tell her?” I asked, knowing what the answer would be before she said it.

  “No, but if it means she can forgive you and the two of you can have a real future together, the future you both planned and dreamed about growing up, then I’ll have to live with someone else knowing.” Her voice was stronger than I had heard in a long time.

  “It isn’t my place to tell anyone what happened. If Caroline can’t understand that, then maybe she isn’t the right person for me after all.” The lie was evident to both of us, but Emily seemed to appreciate the effort.

  Caroline was my soulmate, born from destiny to complete me, to make me a better person, to love me unconditionally. I’d had everything with her, until I lied and destroyed our future to protect my sister and to hide my own shame.

  “Sometimes people have to bear their greatest humiliation in order to help another heal,” Emily replied, “She is yours and you are hers. Fight for her, Andrew. And don’t let go of her this time.”

  “What about her living in Georgia and me living here?” This had been weighing heavily on my mind since she got into that Uber.

  “What about it? I’m leaving for school and what will that leave here for you? A gym that is growing and will take all of your time, a line of gym bunnies willing to service you, and the utter isolation you will feel when they use the last good part of you for their own selfish needs? How will that satisfy you in the long run?”

  “What do you suggest I do, Emily?” My exasperation at her oversimplification was in my voice.

  “I don’t have the answer to that question, dear brother. Only you do. You need to decide who and what you want out of life and fight with everything you have to achieve it. If it means staying here, fine. If it means taking a leap of faith and starting over to be with Caroline, then you jump and never look back. She is your other half and it’s good to see a small part of the brother I remember again. The smile looks good on you,” she said as she hugged me and went to her bedroom.

  “I’ll be ready at 8:30 in the morning, don’t oversleep.” She joked before closing her door, leaving me alone in the living room with my thoughts.

  Was Emily right about having options?

  Should I consider the expansion if I’m contemplating moving to be with Caroline?

  What about my parent’s house and everything they worked for to help us start over?

  The answers to those questions wouldn’t come tonight. I needed to get some sleep before my day with Caroline so I headed towards my room, took off everything but my boxers and crawled into bed. I assumed Josh hadn’t told her about giving me a key to her room when she said she would have to think about meeting with me tomorrow. For the first time, I was glad her friend seemed to be playing matchmaker.

  If he was as good of a friend as Cody indicated, I needed to trust his methods if it meant I would get Caroline back into my life. I was still hesitant about his intentions with Emily, but there was only so much say I had in her life decisions. I just hoped I could keep her safe from any more heartache and pain.

  Sleep eluded me as thoughts of Caroline ran through my head. I recalled the first time I saw her, the beautiful blonde girl with the greenest eyes I had ever seen. My heart thumped in my chest during my first day in class, just knowing someone like her existed in this world. When I started to walk home and saw her and her friend ahead of me, I tried to keep myself from running to catch up to her, just so I could be closer to her. When she slowed down and walked with me to my front door, letting me know her house was right down the block, I felt like I was the luckiest boy in the world. Even then my soul knew who its mate was.

  She and I walked home every day until I got my car the summer before 10th grade and I asked her to be my girlfriend, officially. She’d always been mine and it killed me when Robert Schmidt asked her to the spring formal our freshman year. I’d wanted to ask her, but was too afraid she didn’t feel the same way about me as I did about her. Before Maddie could confirm she would say yes, Robert had asked her and she’d agreed to go with him.

  I took Melissa Browning and I was miserable the entire time. Melissa had been trying to get my attention since junior high school and I was never interested in her like that. I’d only asked her out to make Caroline mad and at the dance, and she’d ignored me the entire night.

  The next morning, I went to Caroline’s house and waited for her to come outside to take her dog for a walk. We talked and I finally told her that I was mad she’d gone with Robert and not me. She screamed that she’d hated that I took Melissa and not her. The look we both had was of shock. She wanted me the same way I wanted her, and we were both too young and stupid to realize the truth.

  It was on that walk, through the tree covered park behind a centuries-old oak tree, I’d had my first kiss. The memory of that kiss, along with the thousands we’d shared over the next few years, was enough to cause my cock to harden in my boxers, throbbing for relief.

  I grabbed my shirt off the floor and brought it up to my nose, the smell of her perfume still lingering on the material. I inhaled a deep breath of her scent as I recalled the intense make-out session in the parking lot tonight. I shouldn’t have tried anything with her out in the open, but I couldn’t keep my hands off of her another second.

  I reached down and freed my cock from the confines of my boxers and gripped the base tightly as I slowly began to pump my hand up and down, remembering the feel of her hands on me. I drew on the memories of our making love in the back seat of my car to set the rhythm I was using on myself. The visions of her beautiful tits bouncing as she rocked up and down my erection, her tight pussy swallowing me whole was causing the tingle to build in the base of my spine.

  With the scent-covered shirt draped across my face, her perfume engulfing my senses, I increased my speed and gripped tighter, feeling myself swell larger before I erupted all over my stomach and hand, my entire body tingling from my release.

  After cleaning myself up I drifted off to sleep. I had a restful night filled with dreams of our future and a little girl with blonde hair like her mother’s, pulling herself up and taking her first steps, joy surrounding us.

  Now if only I can make that dream a reality.

  I woke up the next morning before my alarm clock went off and I made my way to the kitchen to start the coffee. I was invigorated with the thought of spending the entire day with Caroline and I hoped we would have some time alone to be able to explore each other bodies again. It was going to be tough to be around her and not touch her.

  Last night, when she reached out and grabbed my hand, I felt part of my soul shift back into place, the anger I had been carrying since we moved beginning to dissipate. From that moment on, I made sure her hand stayed in mine until I closed the door to her Uber and she rode away from me.

  I headed towards the bathroom to find Emily was already dressed in a pale blue sundress and sandals, headed to grab some coffee from the kitchen. “You look nice this morning. You seem to be going all out for your day with Josh. Are you okay with spending all day with him? I can have Cody ready to grab you if you need me to.”

  “I’ll be fine with Josh. We talked last night about going on a city tour so we can experience everything without having to drive. I think it will be fun and I’m looking forward to it. Are you ready for today with Caroline?”

  �
�Yes, I am. When did you discuss today with Josh?” Trying to figure out how they made plans when Emily wasn’t made aware until we got dropped off last night.

  “I texted with him after I went to my room last night and we talked about what he wanted to see in the city. I’m not much of a guide so we decided to do the tourist thing and take a guided tour.”

  I walked up to her and gently touched her cheek. “You realize he is leaving tomorrow, don’t you? I don’t want to see you hurt by this guy Emily. I know he is friends with Caroline, but we don’t know him. I want you to be careful.”

  “I know enough to know that Josh would never hurt me. Ever. He is a nice guy and I’m trying to live a little. I’m aware he is leaving and I promise to not let my heart get involved,” she replied as she moved towards the kitchen. “You need to get cleaned up, we have to be there in less than an hour.” She was clearly shutting the conversation down.

  “I just want what’s best for you, Emily,” I said, as I shut the door and got ready to meet Caroline.

  We walked into the lobby of the hotel a few minutes before nine and saw Josh waiting for us in the seating area near the restaurant. I looked around for Caroline but didn’t see her. I began to get nervous, thinking she didn’t want to spend the day with me and I may have missed my shot at getting her to forgive me.

  Josh, sensing my unease, began to speak, “She’s still in her room getting ready. I told her to meet me here in 15 minutes. You need to use the key I gave Cody last night and catch her before she leaves the room, or you will lose your chance to make her talk to you. She started doubting what happened between you two last night almost as soon as the car door closed. You only have one chance to make this right with her, Andrew. Don’t fuck it up.”

  “How do you think is she going to react when I let myself into her room, Josh? She is going to be angry and scared. I don’t want to push her into something she isn’t ready for.” My nerves at being alone in a hotel room with were Caroline overriding the throbbing feeling that was starting in my cock at the thought of her getting ready for her day. Even after giving myself another orgasm in the shower before we left the house, I was still semi-hard for her.