The Redemption(92)

She begins to rock, resting her palms on my chest for leverage. “I think you have perfect timing. It’s everything we’ve lived through that brought us here together.”

Hesitant to ask, to ruin how damn f*cking good this feels, I do it anyway because I need to know. “Do you have any regrets?”

Stopping, she leans down and kisses me, then whispers, “Only one.”

“What is it?”

With a wicked sexy smile, she replies confidently, “Not being with you sooner.”

Looking into her gorgeous brown eyes, I see all the possibilities of a life worth living. “You were the new start I always wanted. You’re my second chance.” I kiss her like I’ve never kissed, giving in and giving her everything I can as I flip her under me and make love to her, making up for wasting so much time.

My hips thrust causing her to moan, her chest pushing against me. “More,” she calls to me.

I move faster, not able to continue the steady pace, our making love morphing, scorching and carefree. Enjoying this too much, I take her body over and over again until she quietly calls out my name and I call out hers like a profanity slipping out.

Later, we’re lying in bed together and I have my arm wrapped around her, holding her to me. The silence that surrounds us isn’t tension filled or filled with questions. It’s light, airy and filled with a future we’re finally both sure we want, making me feel sentimental in my attachment to her. “I’m sorry for letting you walk out of my life the first night we were together.”

She lays there, still and quiet, then whispers, “I’m sorry for walking out.”

“Don’t be. Please know that it was never just about sex with you. You hurt my ego, but you were hurting more and I failed to notice. I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your job to save me, Dex,” she says, looking down. Dropping her forehead against my cheek, she wraps her arms around me and pulls me closer, making me smile. Sitting up suddenly, she looks at me with a big smile of her own on her face. “You always knew we’d be together, didn’t you?”

“We were written in the stars long before now. I love you.”

“I love you more,” she says.

“Not possible,” I tease, “you just don’t understand the depth of my love.”

“What I am going to do with you, Dex?”

“You’re gonna marry me.” I watch her face, not sure what to expect in reaction. But she just smiles.

“You’re a romantic, Antonio Dexter Caggiano.”

“Only when it comes to you.”

“You know how to make a girl swoon.” She looks up at me. “And maybe on the days it gets rough,” she says, snuggling closer, “we can escape to Neverland again, even if just for a few hours.”

“I don’t need Neverland,” I say. “Reality with you is better than any make believe world ever could be.”

I rub her back, living in this moment, and she asks me, “You’re here for good, right?”

Leaning down to kiss her, I say, “I’m here for good. Our destinies were always bound together.”

She sits up and says, “I’m giving you my heart, Dex.”

Sliding my hands up her arms and over her shoulders, I stop when I slip my fingers into her hair. Bringing her down until we’re so close, I can almost taste her, I whisper, “You’ve had mine since the moment I laid eyes on you.”





One year later…



I open my eyes and exhale slowly. I can do this. It’s just like at home. No different. I readjust on the stool just as Johnny takes to microphone. The spotlight hits him and the crowd starts screaming so loud that it’s hard to hear him at first.

I feel Dex’s hand on my lower back. “Play from the heart,” he says, positioned on a stool next to mine with his guitar in his hands.

“What if I screw up?”

“You won’t. Only us, sweetheart. Just like at home. Block out the noise.”

“…most talented guitarists out there. She taught the great Cory Dean how to play and has written many of our best songs. It’s time for her to show the world what she can do. Give it up for Rochelle Floros.” I hear Johnny just as he looks back, his eyes locking with mine, a huge smile on his face as his hand swings out in our direction and the spotlight follows.

When the bright light hits us, I freeze, my mind going completely blank. I miss my cue altogether, but then I hear Dex, his soothing voice, full of enough confidence for both of us. “Only us. Play with me.”

We were two people following our own melodies who discovered the music we create together is the sweetest song of all. My fingers start moving, knowing the notes without the mental reminder. I close my eyes and keep playing. I lean forward and the words come just like we practiced, just like they were supposed to.

Songs that had been written apart became a song together that we sit on stage singing for the world to hear today. Every note gets easier and easier and when I hear Dex join in, hitting his own cue, I open my eyes and smile, looking over at him. I’m given a smile in return as he sings into the shared mic.

We lean back, strumming to a song we wrote together. The violins sound out behind us as does a slow and steady drum beat, Kaz filling in for Dex. Johnny walks back to a microphone setup in the shadows across the stage just as his part kicks in. I continue singing and when the chorus starts, Dex leans in again, our cheeks almost touching and sings.