Sugar Pie by Victoria Pinder

34

Kerry

The sun was shining through the broken vinyl, and my body was warm and completely satisfied.

Last night, Warren broke something in my heart, but I wasn’t sure what. And it was clear that I’d hurt him. I jumped out of bed and rushed to do everything I could. First, I took his clothes and mine and started the laundry.

He slept, so I made the breakfast, wrote emails, then returned to the laundry to put everything in the dryer.

I was running a mile a minute without coffee. The bedroom door opened, and I jumped into his arms.

He held me tightly and kissed me.

My skin buzzed, and my heart lurched. As he let me go and smiled, I rocked on my feet and said, “Good morning. I washed all your clothes, emailed the realtor to find out when closing can be, found out what we need after you finish your final kitchen installations today and we get paid next week, then made breakfast and your lunch.”

I needed to apologize but just spoke instead. He’d said he loved me, and last night, I saw how much I hurt him.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought you went to sleep last night.”

I nodded. I needed to do something nice. I met his gaze and said, “I did, and I woke up… wanting to do something nice for you.”

He blinked. “Why?”

Because he loved me. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I brushed against his arm and said, “You’re so good to me, and I need to be better with you.”

“You don’t need to do anything except be yourself.”

My heart hammered in my chest. I needed to straighten myself out. However, he headed to clean up and came out and ate his toast fast.

I saw the clock and knew that day would be the last day of our month-long routine. I blinked and said, “Have a good day, and I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay.” As he headed out, his lips met mine.

I had been awful to him. My lips still tasted like him, but my stomach twisted. I knew I needed to treat him better. I needed to tell him how I really felt.