Gratify

by Katelyn Taylor

“You already know the answer to that,” I say a little softer than before. “Then why haven’t you hounded me lately? That was all you ever used to do. Have you given up on her?”

“Never,” I say quickly. “But it was affecting our relationship, and that wasn’t fair of me. You’re upholding her trust, and that’s something I could never be upset with you for.”

“She’s not happy. Not like she clearly was when she was with you. Not when she was here, in Brighton.” “Where is she, Theo?”

“Ever been to Greece?”

“What? Why would I hate you? What’s wrong.” “Just don’t hate me. I did it for you. For both of you,”

There is no way Atlas Kane is striding toward me, a black box tucked under his arm, a sharp contrast to his crisp white dress shirt and slate gray slacks. I don’t have to wonder if he sees me because his eyes have been on me since the moment I noticed him like I’m his single mission. Like I’m his only focus.

“I’ve missed you, babygirl. So fucking much,” he says vulnerably. I swallow roughly, doing my best to choke down the words “me too.”

“What are you doing here, Atlas?”

“I came for my girl.”

“I’m not your girl, Atlas. I never really was. I was just—” “Please, don’t finish that sentence. Please don’t cheapen what we had by whatever slanderous statement you were about to make. You were my girl. You still are my girl too. I’m just here to bring you home now.” “Home?”

“To Brighton, to me. I can’t do it without you anymore, Nevaeh. I don’t want to. I…I need you, babygirl. I need you back.”

“Brighton isn’t my home, Atlas. Not anymore, and that was a lot of I sentences back-to-back. What about what I want? What I need?” “You can have it, whatever you want, it’s yours. I’ll lay the world at your feet, Nevaeh. All you have to do is ask.”

“We don’t fit, Atlas. We weren’t good together. We were toxic, using each other to outrun the grief, practically hiding from it. How am I supposed to believe

any of it was real and not just a coping mechanism?” “Because it was, Nevaeh,”

“I loved you with everything I fucking was, everything I am. I still do.”

“Do you feel this? Do you feel how hard my heart is beating just at the sight of you?”

“I haven’t felt that in almost two years. I haven’t felt anything remotely close to that because my soulmate picked up and left the country without so much as a word. When you left, you took a piece of me with you, and standing in front of you now, remembering how full I felt with you. There is no way you will ever convince me that what we had wasn’t the most real, authentic relationship that I will ever experience.”

“Having you in any measure of time was the greatest pleasure of my life,”

“You’re here,” he whispers softly, almost in awe. “Does that mean…” he trails off, not even finishing his sentence. He doesn’t need to, though. I know what he’s saying, what he’s thinking, and I’m nodding before he can say more.

“I barely fucking existed without you. Promise me I’ll never have to do it again. Promise me I’ll never have to let you go.” “Never,”

“Thank god, now be a good girl and come on my cock. I’ve missed you too fucking much to last much longer.”

“What are you doing?” I ask, practically in a daze. “I need to taste you,” he says as he peels my legs open, baring myself completely to him.

“You can’t. You just finished in me.”

“We taste so good together, babygirl.”

“Good girl. You know you broke my fucking heart. You know I should run far and wide, never letting you get the chance to hurt me like that again.”

“You also know that I’d rather take a thousand knives to my heart before I ever lived a day without you again. Come for me, Nevaeh.”

“I’m twenty years old. We most definitely do not.” “Well, I’m forty-two years old, and I want my baby inside you as soon as possible.”

“One day. Maybe,” I say softly. “Definitely,”

Fuck. I can’t even believe it. I’m getting married. To Andromeda. Definitely never saw this coming. We had only been back together for two months before I got down on one knee. She

asked me if I was crazy, to which I answered most definitely, before she said yes, tackled me, and slid the ring onto her finger herself.

For Andromeda Nevaeh Clarke to officially become mine, though as I remind her often...

A charm with the Andromeda galaxy and the Atlas constellation interwoven, just like they were always meant to be. Or at least in my opinion.