Melissa Collins: Let Love Heal

“I don’t want to be away from you either. I kind of like waking up with you, but I have to go home. It’s Mom’s first Christmas alone and she’s been doing well, going to AA meetings and all that, but I just … I need to be there with her and Emmie.” He pulls my hand up to his lips and sweetly kisses my knuckles.

“I know, baby. I understand, but it doesn’t mean I’ll miss you any less.” His thumb gently stroking over my knuckles calms me a bit more. I take a deep breath and throw out my last Hail Mary. “Are you sure you won’t be able to make it to the wedding next week?”

“You know I want to be there. We’ve talked about this. It’s just too close to Christmas. I can’t …”

“I know, Bryan. I just thought I would ask one more time. Let’s drop it and enjoy our last night together.”

An impish grin spreads across his face. “We definitely will.”

After dinner, we settle the bill and Bella hugs us as we walk out into the blustery air. We hurry across the street back to my empty apartment. Cammie flew out to Chicago this morning to spend the week with Jack. They’ll both fly into Elmira for Maddy and Reid’s wedding next week. I’ve honestly never seen Cammie happier than when she knew she would be with Jack again. Lia is out with her current boy-toy, at least that’s what I’m assuming. She never does bring them around here. Peyton is actually staying in Ithaca through the break. She got a job at the local bookstore and coffee shop combo to make some more money on top of the meager salary she earns at the tutoring center. That’s where she is tonight, so we have the place to ourselves.

Barging through the door, I’m shaking from the frigid winter air. After brushing off the few snowflakes that landed on my shoulders, I take off my coat and hand it to Bryan. He hangs both of our coats up on the rack near the front door and reaches out for my hand. “Come with me.”

Dumfounded, I stare at him. “Where else would I go?” I waggle an eyebrow at him, but he just tugs me down the hallway to my room. The sight before me stops me in my tracks and forces my words to get stuck in my throat. There are candles everywhere and flower petals dot the floor.

“What’s this for?” I ask on a whisper. Bryan comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. With his front pressed to my back, he nuzzles into my neck and presses his lips there.

“Well, this was the plan I had in mind for the first time I told you ‘I love you’, but that didn’t go as planned.” He gently nips at my earlobe but quickly soothes the bite with his tongue. “So this time,” those words cause my breath to hitch and force me to turn around in the circle of his arms.

“Yes, this time. This time when I tell you ‘I love you’, I wanted it to be just right.” I stretch up on my toes and kiss him with the love I think he just professed to me.

Leaning his forehead against mine, he takes a deep breath. “I know we said we would take it day-by-day, but I need to tell you that I love you. I thought I loved you before, and I did, but it was different. The person you are now, I love her even more.”

“Bryan, I love you too. Thank you for tonight. It’s …”

He laughs as he mumbles the word “perfect” against my lips.

Pulling him further into the room by the waistband of his pants, I laugh and deepen the kiss. “Get in here so I can show you just how much I love you,” I say against his lips. His only response is a low groan of appreciation as he grips my ass tightly.

In a fevered rush of passion, we’re naked in a matter of seconds. Clothes fly to the floor and moans rumble through the air. We stumble toward the bed and I push him down on the mattress. His body is hot and hard beneath me. Settling in between his legs, I take his cock into my mouth. His breath hisses through his teeth as he pulls my hair into a loose knot in his hand. “Fuck … Melanie … ahhhh” He pushes up to my mouth and I lick, suck and taste every single inch of him. Looking up at him, I can tell he’s close. The veins in his neck, and elsewhere, are bulging and pulsing with barely contained desire.

I grab a condom from the nightstand and roll it over him. Straddling his hips, I sink down onto him, slowly. Before I take him all the way, I pull back until he’s almost completely out of me. Inch-by-agonizing-inch, I torture us both. Never sinking fully down onto him and never completely lifting off of him. “Melanie, you’re fucking killing me. Please …” His fingers dig into my hips as he pulls me down onto him. No longer able to maintain the torturously slow pace, I slam my hips down onto his as he pushes up into me.

He angles his hips to his that sweet spot deep inside of me. Heat flashes across my skin as I teeter on the edge of my control. A handful of long, hard and deep thrusts push me to and over the edge. “Bryan … I’m coming. Oh God, Bryan!”

He stills himself inside of me as he loses the battle with his own orgasm. My legs shake and I flop down on top of him, no longer able to hold myself up. Bryan wraps his arms around my back and lazily tickles my skin.

Our lovemaking has just washed away whatever worries I had earlier about spending a few weeks apart. I now realize how silly it is to be worried about it. His heart beating against my chest is all the reassurance I need that we’ll make it work somehow.

“I can’t believe you’re married!” I squeal at the top of my lungs as Maddy and Reid walk into the private room at the quaint reception hall.

Hugging me with all of her might, she says, “I know. It’s crazy, right?”

“Yeah, kinda. But Reid is your forever,” I reassure her as we exchange a sisterly smile.

She stayed at my house last night and we shared the same bed like we did when she first moved in. It feels like a lifetime ago and in many ways it is. She shared her fears with me, but no matter how cold her feet got, she knew that the feeling was fleeting. Her and Reid were meant to be and today is a celebration of their hard-won happily ever after.

I’ve only been home for a few days and in all the wedding craziness, I haven’t had much of a chance to update Maddy on all things Bryan related. We talked about it and she’s elated that we’re back together, but it just hasn’t been the main topic of conversation.

After our little pep-talk upstairs in the suite, we line up outside of the ballroom, ready to make out entrance. Hooking my arm through Dylan’s, the best man, he pats the top of my hand. “Ready, Melanie.”

I bounce on my toes to the beat of the music playing loudly inside. “You betcha, Dylan. Let’s do this.” The DJ calls our names and we join the crowd waiting for Maddy and Reid to be announced.

The DJ’s voice booms through the music. “Now, let’s hear it for the new Mr. and Mrs. Reid Connely!” Everyone claps, cheers and whistles as my eyes fill with happy tears. I glance over at Mom standing next to me. She has tears in her eyes, too. Evan notices them and hands her a tissue. He wraps a strong arm around her shoulder and peeks at me over her head. Winking at me with a smirk on his face, I know that after Christmas another wedding will be in our near future.

Of course, Mom doesn’t know yet. That would ruin the surprise.

Later in the night, I catch a quiet moment alone at my table. Mom waves at me from the dance floor as Evan twirls her around to the lyrics of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” . Wistfully, I think about dancing with Bryan. I can’t wait to get back to school and to continue on our day-by-day journey.

Lost in happy thoughts, Maddy sits down next to me. “Hey, sweetie.” Maddy smiles cheerfully at me.

“Are you okay, Mel?” she asks when I don’t answer her right away. Honestly, she just caught me off guard as I was recalling images of the last time Bryan and I made love before I came home. That was a good night, indeed.