More Than I Wanted(36)

Watching him sleep for a moment, I realized how lucky I was that he not only forgave me after my massive mistake of letting go, but took the time to come back. Most men would have sulked and walked away, so that he was even back was an incredible thing. I couldn’t imagine my life without him. It was going to crush me when he went away, but I had faith he’d come home to me.

My stomach twitched, realizing the months were slipping by so quickly. We still had time, but I knew it would go by fast. I cherished every moment we had left together, but soon it would run out and he’d have to leave. My stomach knotted thinking about it.

I’d been tossing around the idea of introducing him to my folks, but with the uncertainty of our future, I held off earlier. I was pretty sure we were going to stick together, and knew it was long overdue. My parents kept bugging me to bring him around, and I’d make excuses as to why we couldn’t make it. I guess it was now or never.

I lived a couple of hours from them, which was close enough for emergencies, but far enough that they couldn’t just drop by and dabble too much in my life. When I first moved farther away, it was for a job I took, but I liked the area and stayed. I missed having them so close at first, and then started to realize I liked having some distance between us.

I guess I should warn him about my mom’s nosy nature. I all ready dreaded the visit, but realized I’d put it off long enough. Maybe I’d bring up the topic, and I guess he’ll probably want to do the same, introduce me to his folks before he goes away. Am I getting ahead of myself? He never mentioned introducing me, but on the other hand, I hadn’t either.

I groaned and knew what our conversation would entail. I knew my folks would be thrilled to meet the guy that’s stolen my heart, but I still felt like a little girl. Since I’d moved, I hadn’t brought anyone home, and they let me know. Boy, did they let me know…You never bring anyone around; we want to be involved, blah, blah, blah. Maybe I should wait.

Mom would ask way too many embarrassing questions, and Dad would be all suspicious wondering what his intentions were. Ugh, maybe I’ll put it off a little longer. I kept going back and forth, trying to decide. It’s not that I didn’t think it would go over well, I think I was more embarrassed at what might get said. Mom would probably dig out my old photo albums, she loved to do that. It’s horrific seeing all my pictures from my awkward phases, and they’d sit and laugh together. It blew up bigger and bigger in my mind, until I convinced myself it wasn’t time yet.

I wondered if he hadn’t asked me to meet his parents due to the same things. Would they embarrass him, share stories that would leave him blushing, or scrutinize my every move, like if I was using the right piece of silverware. Okay, I’m officially nuts and over analyze things way too much!

I obviously need to run. There was no faster way to turn off my brain when it went into hyper mode like this. I stretched and threw on an outfit and my running shoes. I grabbed my water bottle and tucked a key into the elastic pouch around it. I figured two or three miles should do the job and headed out the door.

Climbing into the shower, I knew Austin should be waking soon. I wanted to get a call into Heather and Scott and see how she was doing. Hopefully she’d be on her way home this afternoon, and be back in the comfort of her own bed. I made a mental note to send her flowers and check on her later.

The run was a smart move, and my thoughts were clear. Standing in the water, washing off the sweat, I revisited our relationship in my mind. In a short time we’d all ready been through so much. What I learned more than anything is that my life was better with Austin in it. There was no denying the fact; I was madly in love with the guy.

Drying off, I peeked around the corner and watched my lover sleeping. A soft smile spread across my face, and it took everything inside not to pounce on him. Looking so content and handsome, all I could think about was climbing on him and feeling him inside of me. I toyed with the idea of waking him up sensually, but decided to let him sleep. There would be time to play later.





Chapter 17





When Austin got the news that his deployment was pushed up, he almost didn’t want to tell me. They were sending the unit in sooner than anticipated. I was heartbroken. I thought I still had time with him, but that time was sliced up into little bits and pieces. I was blindsided, realizing I’d have to work through my feelings faster than I wanted.

I wasn’t ready – not yet. This meant good-bye, and I wasn’t prepared for that. We were in a really good place, and just like that it changed. Our lives would be disrupted for an entire year. I was angry, but knew more than anything I’d grieve the loss of him being in my life here in the states.