Bitter & Sweet

20. Together

Wayo's POV

Pring cried and grouched until Pha shut the door and her whinging was magically cut off. The soundproofing in this building is exceptional, which is a good thing because Pha says I'm a screamer. Whatever that means.

When Pha finished dealing with the security department about how to handle Pring, he turned to me with a big smile on his face.

"I'm so proud of you!" he hugged me and kissed my forehead, while I wondered what he was talking about.

"But I didn't do anything," I said, confused but loving the way his arms felt around me.

"You stood up to her," Pha answered. "You've never really stood up for yourself before. When girls flirted with me, you always just stood there like we were friends instead of lovers. It was nice to hear you claim me."

"I just wanted her to know she didn't get to control me with her lies," I felt my cheeks flaming in embarrassment. "I'm sorry about your business partnership though. Is that going to be a big problem?"

"Well I'll need to hire someone else to do all the public relations and work with our investors," Pha said nonchalantly. "It's nothing to worry about. I was only making her a partner because our parents are good friends."

"Well her parents are sure to be upset then," I worried. "I'm sure your parents won't be happy either."

"They leave everything about the company to me. I'm already the CEO," Pha shrugged as if this didn't matter at all. "I was only working with Pring to make her parents happy, but I'm sure they'll understand that I can't have her trying to undermine my relationship with my spouse. They'll probably be more upset with her. They've been hoping she would stop being so selfish once she was given more responsibility."

I laughed at the irony, I couldn't help it, but Pha gave me a confused look. I explained, "It's just funny that she tried to get rid of me by saying that I was forced on you, but in reality, she was the one who was hired to make her parents happy."

Pha pulled me back to the couch, and sat down holding my hands while he looked at me seriously, "I'm sorry Yo."

"Sorry?" I asked, wondering what I had missed now. "What are you sorry about?"

"I should have explained sooner," Pha admitted again, guilt in his eyes. "We should have talked about everything. I should have paid more attention to you, to let you know this wasn't just about sex or work or anything else. I love you and I'm sorry that I gave you room to doubt that."

"I'm sorry too," I pushed him back, deeper into the couch to make room for me on his lap. "I promise to talk to you about my worries in the future."

After we kissed gently for some time, I laid my head on Pha's shoulder and relaxed into his arms. I felt him smile as he kissed my forehead. Then he spoke, "I need to make some calls, to make sure to revoke Pring's security clearance at the office. She has a tendency to play mean pranks when she's unhappy and I don't know what she'll do when she's this upset."

"Do you want me to make some coffee?" I asked, knowing how much he liked coffee when he was working.

"That would be wonderful," he said as I stood to go to the kitchen. "We'll have to go to the store to pick up some food later, and I'll make sure to pick out things you'll enjoy, but in the meantime, I do have some tea that you might like."

He lifted my chin when I looked down, he obviously knew I didn't like coffee, "Next time, don't be afraid to tell me what you want. I need to make you happy, but sometimes I'm not very observant. Why did Beam have to be the one to tell me that you didn't like coffee? Why couldn't you tell me yourself?"

"It just didn't seem worth the effort," I answered shyly. "At first, you just assumed I liked coffee, and later I didn't know how to bring it up without making you feel bad, and after that, it just seemed like I'd waited so long that if I made it an issue, I would just make you angry."

"For the record," Pha said standing with me and hugging me close, "I want to know everything about you. No matter how small. And I'll never be upset when you share your desires with me. In every aspect of your life, I want to be able to make you happy."

"Thank you, Pha," I felt happy tears filling my eyes, so I snuggled my face into his chest. "You do make me happy. I love you."

"I love you too," he replied, lifting my chin to kiss my lips briefly. "Would you mind if we invited your dad out for dinner? I need to ask his permission for your hand, and we'll need to set a date for our wedding."

"You don't need to rush," I said, feeling pleased that he was excited to marry me.

"Are you kidding?" he looked at me with a bright smile. "The sooner we get married, the better. I don't want to be without you ever again, and I really don't like the idea of going back to occasional sleepovers. I want you to share my days and be in my bed every night. And I really want to be able to call you my husband. You might not see the way other people look at you, but I definitely do. I need to make sure everyone knows that you're mine."

"It doesn't matter if anyone else knows," I said, pulling his lips down so we were almost kissing again. "I know I'm yours, and I don't want anyone else."

He growled into my mouth as we kissed, his arms tightening around me, but I stopped him with a gentle push, "Hurry up with your phone calls, daddy. Baby wants to play."

That was probably the fastest phone call he'd ever made.