Read Online Bittersweet Trust by J. L. Beck - Free Book Online Page B

of my mouth before I can stop them.
    The anger is evident on his face, and I find myself backing away from him, not out of fright, but because I don’t want to trap myself. I’ve learned my lesson more than once. Never again.
    “You don’t mean that, and we both know it…” And then his lips are on mine. They eat at any and all insecurities I have. They beg me for forgiveness without a word being said. His hands delve into my hair, and I instinctively grab onto his shoulders pulling him in closer.
    I don’t even care that I’m no longer holding my books or that there are people who could be walking by and seeing us. All I see and feel in that moment are Corey and the love he has for me. Then, as if a cord in my mind snaps me back to life, I pull away from him, breathing heavily.
    “I can’t do this with you, Corey.” The words barely surface, but I know they register in his mind as fury transforms his face.
    “You can, Mimi. I know you want this. Us.” His jaw is clenched, his eyes blazing.
    I pull away even more, putting more distance between us. “No…” I shake my head. I don’t want to say no to him. If anything, I want him to kiss me again, to kiss me forever.
    “Yes. Deny me all you want. Tell me you hate me, scratch me, smack me, yell at me… Do whatever the fuck you have to do, but never, and I mean never, give up on us.” His words are definite. They’re like a punch to my stomach. How can he say these things to me now? After everything that we have been through? After all the hurtful, gut-wrenching words that have been spoken between us?
    “You do not get to tell me how I should feel. You do not get to be the one person I would do anything for, especially when I’m the one you gave up on.” My wrath can be found in every single word that leaves my mouth, and my tongue tingles with more words that need to be said.
    “In my heart, I never really gave up on you, Mimi; I never totally gave up on us. I fucked up. I’ve made a complete and utter ass of myself. I’ve made a disaster of our love, of your heart. Let me tell you something, though. In the wake of every disaster, there is a beautiful aspect to it. There’s a rainbow after a relentless downpour, a sun peeking over the horizon after a dust storm. After this disaster is fixed, I know that you and our baby will be my beautiful aspect,” Corey says with such a raw sincerity in his voice.
    “None of that matters…” I respond, completely confused by his admission.
    “It does. It fucking does, and we both know it. Had you not been the piece that held us together when I was wrong and hateful, we wouldn’t even be here now. Do you ever wonder why we keep being pushed together? Why, no matter how much anger and hate surrounds us, we find ourselves back to where it all started?” I shake my head, tears threatening to fall from my eyes.
    “It didn’t work, Corey, because no matter how hard I held on, you walked away.”
    He takes a determined step toward me, and it’s as if I feel my world and walls crumbling. It’s as if I see nothing but him - my future with him, our baby, our love.
    His lips descend on mine again, and he owns me. A kiss that captures all our emotions is felt in every pore of my body. The message is sent to my heart loudly and clearly. My heart beats forcefully in my ears as he nips at my lips, gently begging me to open to him.
    I do, and the moment that he slips himself into my mouth, I intensely feel the depths of his love. It’s as if one simple kiss can heal all the wounds. As if one kiss can explain everything without words. I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know that if I give up on Corey, I might as well be giving up on myself. There is nowhere else I would rather be than with him.
    He pulls away from me, and I’m left breathless begging for more. “I will never walk away from you; I will never leave. If you thought it was going to be that easy to get rid of me, you have another thing coming. I know