Do You Believe Me Now?

Chapter 5

"I can't remember a time I've ever seen Jace this happy in the few years I've known him." Aubrey says to me.

I look at Jace. He's laughing, tossing a football with Marcus, Anthony, Travis, and the three older boys, Kaden, Noah, and Max. Zach is playing in the dirt filed snow with hot wheels trucks. We're at a barbeque at Anthony's house.

I take a sip of my hot chocolate.

"Really?" I ask.

She nods. "Yes. It's because of you, you know."

Amelia, Aubrey and Travis's four year old girl, she's playing Barbie.

"All he ever spoke about was you. He used to be so upset that he couldn't find you. He knew that video was bullshit. He said he regretted it the second you walked out the door. Every time he found you after that, he was too much of a bitch, which is exactly what he said to us, to beg for forgiveness. After he got you pregnant with Zach, he'd had enough. He became a cop and did anything he could to track down that video and he won, found out it was your stepmom and went and roasted her. Since then, he's been searching for you, every single day for about a year. I was there; we all were actually, when he found you and your address. Three hours later, he was on a plane to Colorado." She sighs. "I've never met a man that loves his wife more than Jace loves you."

"So that's why he keeps kissing up." I whisper. She nods.

"He told the guys and I that he's terrified you're going to leave him." she lowers her voice and blocks her mouth with her cup. "And he's so horny with you around but so scared to kiss you or have sex with you because he's scared you'll get mad and leave."

"He told you that?"

"He told the guys that." She smirks. "I was eavesdropping."

The boys have stopped the game. I look at Jace and he's looking right back at me.

"What are you ladies talking about?" Travis calls suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Aubrey says at the same time that I say, "Jace."

She looks at me. "You don't care if he knows?"

"Of course not."

"You're talking about me?" Jace asks.

"Yes." I say.

"Why?" he frowns. We both shrug.

"About what?" he asks.

"Sex." Both of us say in sync.

He raises his eyebrows.

"What about sex?" he asks.

"About that thing you told the guys two days ago." Aubrey says.

We've been here about a week.

"You're telling her that?" Jace asks.

"She's your wife. She needs to know these things. You should be telling her everything. She should know everything, not your best friends."

Travis says something to Jace.

Jace sighs.

"It's fine." I say. "Go back to your game."

He tosses the ball to Travis and walks over to me.

"Are you mad?" he asks, squatting down in front of me.

"No." I say.

"Are you lying?" he asks.

"No."

I cup his cheeks and give him a long kiss. "Come here." I stand up. He stands up and follows me to a bench across the yard.