Built to Fall

by Julia Wolf

“I’m sorry, baby. You’re absolutely right. That douchenozzle would lord his dollah dollah billz over you like he always did.” I snorted a laugh. “Do any of your gardening buddies know you speak like this?” “Pfft! Chris blasts Travis Scott and DaBaby all day at work. Gardeners can be hip.”

I sometimes wondered if I was the token plain, chubby girl hired so they wouldn’t get sued one day for discrimination.

He tapped my toe. “I’m forty-two.” “But a spry seventy at heart,” Marta said, wearing her signature smirk. “That’s right.” He tapped his chest. “It’s all shriveled up and dusty in here.”

And my butt…well, it didn’t matter if I wore a one piece or string bikini—it was there.

By the way, I can’t believe you were trying to hide all this.” She drew an hourglass shape with her hands. “Trust, you have nothing to be ashamed of.” “I’m not ashamed at all. I don’t deny being insecure, though.” “Well, who isn’t?” She windmilled her arms in the water, splashing us both. “But I refuse to let my brain hold me back from what I want to do. So, I just chuck off my clothes and hope for the best.”

“Is this the ransom call?” she answered. “Yes. Give me five-million and I’ll give you your sister back unharmed,” I said. “Meh. That’s a little steep for my pockets. You can keep her.”

Her throaty laugh sounded like the devil’s church bells calling all the sinners to service.

She did as I asked with a snarl as menacing as a kitten.

“I can’t fall asleep when you’re touching me like that.” I kissed her shoulder and ear. “I think you can. Set your mind to it.” “You’re really mean,” she whispered. “I know, baby. Never said I wasn’t.”

She could come, but it would be my orgasm.

“Being hurt by the man who’s supposed to love you doesn’t mean you’re not a strong woman. It means the man is weak.”

I kissed her one more time, then grabbed her bag and her hand. “Let’s get you where you belong—in my room and my bed.”

He told me it was his, that I was his.

It took me longer, my head filled with questions that would never be answered, aches that would eventually fade, and worry I had already fallen for a broken man who wouldn’t be there to catch me.

He could tear me apart, but instead, he was reverent. Careful. Worshipful in his gaze and touch.

Dominic was beautiful in the same way as a rolling storm—fascinating to watch, and almost impossible to look away from, but equally dangerous.

You opened me in every way. I can’t remember very many times I’ve been as vulnerable as I was stripped and raw in front of that mirror. But with you, I felt safe to lean into my vulnerability and explore the raw parts of me. And I think...I think once this is over, I won’t go back inside my shell ever again. That’s what I meant by being opened up.”

“Please. I need to tell you about Dylan. My boy.” He cleared his throat, then pressed another kiss on my head. “My son.”

It was the unknown endings I wouldn’t stick around for. Because nothing lasted forever, no matter how much I wished it wasn’t true. I’d done my share of hoping for forever, and those days were done for me.

“If I have the choice between stewing in my own thoughts and spending every waking second with you, it’s going to be you every single time.”

“We can be a terrible twosome or a dream team. Depends on the day.” She glanced at me again.

“My point is you’re incapable of closing your heart, even when you want to. You aren’t made that way. You, baby girl, were built to fall. It’s just who you are.”

Dominic had been right about one thing: I did deserve the moon and the stars and the entire fucking universe, and I’d work my ass off to get them.

Nothing is forever, even if it feels like dying

“I’m in love with you. I’ve weighed the risks, and loving you is worth it.”

Nothing’s been the same since I let you in, and I never want to go back to the empty shell I was. The way I love you is so fucking real, Claire. And I intend to love you like hell for the rest of my life. Even if you send me away right now, I’ll love you.”

Love me out loud, so I never question it. No lukewarm. No half measures. I’ll do the same back.”

“Aggressively happy. Madly in love with my wife. Deliriously into you, baby.”