Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 124494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
The hurt on his face makes my chest ache.
“That’s not what—” He runs a hand through his hair. “Shit. I totally take over. How long have you felt like this?”
“I just noticed the pattern. Like a minute ago.” I don’t want to hurt him, but keeping my mouth shut the way I used to when it came to my parents isn’t helpful for either of us.
“So you haven’t been holding this in? Feeling like you can’t tell me how my actions affect you?” he presses.
“No. I literally just made the connection.”
“Okay.” He nods once. “That’s good. I need you to tell me when I’m being overbearing. Or make you question your capabilities.” He tucks my hair gently behind my ear. “This was a big thing with me and Peggy last year, and a major reason she and Hollis felt like they had to keep their relationship a secret.” His anguish is real, and so is his vulnerability. “I overcompensated and over-parented her to the point where she believed I’d be so upset with her that I’d stop loving her. I could have saved us all so much heartache if I’d realized sooner what I was doing.”
He's showing me the soft part of himself. Giving me the pieces that make up the whole, letting me see his fears, just like he did at the cabin.
“Oh, Roman.” I cup his face in my palms. “You love so completely. I promise I’ll tell you, as gently as possible, to step back when I feel like you’re veering into fix-the-problem mode, so we can have balance.”
“Okay, good.” He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer. “I’m sorry I took over.”
“I appreciate you cleaning up all the gross stuff and ordering supplies for Callie, though.” I link my hands behind his neck. “It was thoughtful.”
“I’m used to taking care of everything on my own. I mean, I had the team’s support when Peggy was growing up, but it was mostly a me show.” His fingers drift up and down my spine. “I don’t want you to ever feel alone in this.”
“I get that, and I welcome you in my life. I’m used to taking care of myself, too. But you make me feel secure enough in myself and our relationship that I can be honest about things like this. We just have some adjusting to do to make it all work.”
“We’ll figure it out together.” He kisses me softly.
“Just to be clear, inside the bedroom I’m all about you taking complete control.” I finger the hair at the nape of his neck. “Nothing makes me happier than being yours to do with as you please.”
His smile grows wicked, and he captures my braid in his fist, but he doesn’t have the chance to utter something wicked, because my phone rings. “You could ignore that and let me make up for being an overbearing husband,” he murmurs darkly.
“I would love that, but it’s my dad.”
He releases my braid and steps back. “We’ll pause this until later.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No apologies.” He strokes my cheek. “Talk to your dad.”
I answer the call. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Good. I wanted to check in. Any movement on you going back to work? Do you need me to top up your bank account? Do the girls need anything?” Dad rapid-fires questions, but I can hear him typing in the background. Attention divided.
Roman kisses my forehead and leaves my bedroom, closing the door behind him.
“No news on when I’m going back to work. They’re in the process of interviewing the team, and that will take some time.” Although based on Roman’s reports and my text messages, we have the overwhelming support of the players. “And Callie’s sick,” I tack on.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dad says. “I’ve called the team lawyer. She’s a sharp one. She also knows they can’t fire you. This is all standard protocol. It’s only a matter of time before you’re back on the ice. Did you take Callie to the doctor?”
“It’s the flu, so it just has to run it’s course. But maybe when she’s feeling better you can come out for a visit.” Callie would be excited, and Lord knows she could use something to look forward to with all the shit going on.
“I can check my calendar and get back to you on that.”
“Why don’t you check it now?” I press.
“It depends on my cases, honey. It’s a busy time of year.”
“It’s always a busy time of year.” I’m too tired of fighting for his attention to bite my tongue anymore. “You know what? Don’t bother. You’ll just work the entire time and leave early, like always.”
“That’s not fair. You know how important my job is.”
“More important than me, every single time,” I fire back. Apparently, I’m in full confrontation mode. And as much as I might love my job with the Terror, I won’t put it in front of the people I love. I won’t do that to the people I care about the most, because I’ve had it done to me my entire life.