"What?" my voice comes out in a breathless whisper and I am surprised I even managed to say anything at all.

"It's not mine, Romy." His hand squeezes my leg again, gently this time, before he removes his fingers from my thigh.

I swear I can feel a weight lifting off my chest that I didn't even know was there.

"It's not?" I ask with wide eyes and turn to look at him thoroughly.

"No," he calmly answers me.

"Whose is it?"

His jaw clenches and his fists tighten around the steering wheel.

"Tommy's," he grinds out between his teeth with a dangerously low voice.

"Oh shit," I comment and Eli just nods.

I take a minute to process this new information before asking more questions.

"Why would she say it's yours, then? That's so vile of her."

"She wanted the house, remember. If she had our child, the judge would have to rule in her favor because she would have the greatest need for it," he explains, his tone still angry.

"Jesus Christ, she is such a bitch," I spit out before I can swallow the words.

"She is," Eli agrees. "I have more good news."

"Yeah?"

"The judge ruled in my favor after it was found out that Janet was lying and I get to keep the house," he looks over and smiles at me for a bit before focusing back on the road.

"Really? That's great news, I am very happy for you, Eli," I tell him and reach out to stroke the back of his neck on instinct.

"Fuck, Romy," he growls. "Please, don't distract me like that when I already have a hard time focusing on the road as it is," he groans and I quickly pull my hand back. Damn, it felt good to touch him again.

"Sorry," I mumble and look out the window.

"Don't be," he immediately says and places his hand back on my thigh. "Are you tired?" he then asks.

A yawn escapes me and I swallow the lie that was on the tip of my tongue. "A little."

"Sleep then. We'll be a while."

I nod and not even five minutes later, I am sleeping like a rock.

Someone kisses my temple as I wake up a little startled. That someone is Eli, who gently brushes a strand of hair behind my ear before kissing my forehead.

"Did you sleep well?" he asks as I wake up fully.

"Yeah, thanks," I say as I stretch and look around a little. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere I wanted to show you for a long time," he cryptically answers. "Listen, Romy. I understand if, after everything that has happened, you don't forgive me. Truly, I do. But I wanted you to see what could have been; or could be, still. I want to show you my favorite place in the world that I will gladly share with you if you wanted to."

As my brain catches up, realization dawns on me, and a small smile forms on my lips. "We're at your house?"

"Yes, darling," comes his confirmation and my heart warms at the nickname. Damn you, heart.

Eli gets out of the car and comes up on the passenger side to open my door. He grabs my hand and helps me out of the truck. "Come on, let me show you around."

I smile at him and follow his lead, his hand still holding mine. There are trees and plants everywhere, growing wildly around the property.

"Ignore the garden for now," he comments. "Janet has not taken care of it at all and there wasn't time yet for me to work on it or hire a gardener. It'll look clean again, soon. I promise."

I nod my head as the house comes into view. It's a beautiful, modern yet cozy, two-story home. The outside is made of wooden planks in a warm brown tone and big glass windows harmonize with the wood.

"Wow," is all I can muster and Eli beams at my impressed expression.

We enter through the wooden front door and step into a hallway. The color scheme is earthy tones, greys and dark greens and it honestly looks incredible. Not what I expected at all if I'm being honest. The kitchen is an open concept connecting to the living room with a giant couch and a fireplace. It overlooks the garden, or what is soon to be the garden again. The kitchen is sleek and modern and has everything a hobby chef could want. I run my hand over the smooth charcoal-colored counter as Eli stands in the doorway, leaning against the frame, watching me.

"You like it?" he asks with a grin.

"Are you kidding me? This is the most beautiful kitchen I have ever seen."

"Good. Let's move on." He grabs my hand again and after showing me the downstairs bathroom and home gym, he pulls me up the stairs and shows me the bathroom and the office or guest bedroom before we stop at the last room, the master bedroom. None of the rooms are very big which only accentuates the coziness of his, otherwise very modern, home.

His bedroom is one of the largest rooms in the house. The wooden floor pairs nicely with the beige and light grey furniture he chose for the room and the longest wall is entirely made out of glass, overlooking the backyard.

"You have a beautiful home, Eli. I understand why you wouldn't give it up so easily," I say quietly but confidently as I turn to look at him.

"I'm glad you understand."

His eyes look sad and tired and I wish I could help him feel better. I walk up to him and take his face in my hands, looking into his eyes. His beautiful, green eyes.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"I don't know yet, but I will be. One way or another," he murmurs, his eyes not leaving mine.

"I missed you," I blurt out and faster than I can react, Eli's hands curl around my waist and pull my body into his.

"Fuck Romy, please let me kiss you," he begs with a pained voice as his gaze land on my lips before flitting back up to my eyes.

I know I probably shouldn't but I don't care, so I say, "Okay."

His lips are crushed against mine in an instant and my body melts into him, all the tension leaving my muscles. I cannot stop the moan that falls from my wanton lips and Eli's hands tighten around my waist in response. His tongue strokes slowly against my own and one of his hands finds the side of my face. My chest gets all tight and hot and I am so overwhelmed by the feeling of hurt and broken trust and hope and longing and... love. I still love this man no matter what I try to tell myself and it is only fair that I tell him.

We slowly pull apart, both of us breathing hard while holding onto each other and at the same time, the words 'I love you' spill out of us. We look at each other in mild shock and surprise before starting to laugh and then we're kissing again and touching each other everywhere we can reach.

"I'm so sorry for not letting you speak your truth about how you feel," Eli breathes in between kisses and I answer, "Yeah, you should be," before smashing my lips onto his again.

After a while of us tearing at each other but not really getting anywhere, Eli grabs my thighs, hoists me up and carries me over to his bed. He gently lays me down and takes the time to slow us down a little. He kisses every inch of my face, then neck and cleavage before stopping and intently looking at me.

"Can you forgive me? For all the shit that I've done?"

"Yes, I can. I love you and there's nothing I can do about that. Nothing that I want to do about that. I want to be with you and I forgive you, Eli."

"I love you so fucking much darling," he says and I smile the biggest smile.

"Show me," I whisper into his ear before biting it and he flips us over in one motion, positioning me on top.

"Gladly," he smirks up at me before pulling off my shirt. As usual, I am not wearing a bra and Eli groans at the sight of me. "Fuck, how I missed these," he grunts and takes both of my breasts in his hands. I shake my head with a laugh and lean down to kiss him, nibbling on his lip and neck, teasing him. "Alright, I get it," he laughs, "let's make you happy, shall we?" he smirks and flips me back onto my back.

His hot and wet lips kiss a slow path down my neck, over my breasts and down my stomach. He slowly pulls down my pants along with my underwear and places kisses all around my center but not touching me there, yet. I wiggle my hips to get closer to his face and he seems to be in the mood to please me not tease me because he immediately grants me my wish and starts licking my wet pussy up and down and from left to right. It doesn't take long for him to focus his attention on my clit as his middle and ring finger slowly enter me. The combination of his fingers and mouth are too much for me and I pant, sigh and moan while I come hard. His name is falling like a chant from my mouth.

I didn't notice him putting on a condom but he did and his hot member is nuding my entrance.

"Are you sure?" he asks, stroking my hair and cheek, lovingly.

I nod. "Yes, I want to feel you inside me so bad, Eli," I whisper.

He groans and starts pushing inside me. "You're driving me crazy, Romy," he growls and I smirk a little, lovingthat I make him feel that way.

"I love you, darling," he whispers while pushing deeper into me. The stretching of the muscles hurts a little and I cannot hide a wince.

"Am I hurting you, my love? Tell me to stop if it's too much."

"No, please don't stop, just, uh just go slow, please."

We made love and I have never felt so happy and safe and at home in my entire life. When he entered me fully and we became one, I couldn't stop the tears from falling and instead of being angry or annoyed at me, Eli just held me, stroked my hair and back until I calmed down and then proceeded to make me come, four times.

Now, he is holding me in his arms and I am very close to falling asleep even though it's the middle of the day. I am almost in dreamland when Eli suddenly starts talking.

"I want to be with you, too, Romy, but we have all the time in the world now. I can be patient so take whatever time you need. Even though you forgive me, you won't forget what happened so if you need time, take it. My home, our home, will still be here when you finish college or after you worked somewhere for a while or made a trip around the world. Whatever time you need, I'll be here, waiting for you to come home."

The tears are falling again and I bury my face deeper into his chest, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you," I mumble after I calmed down a bit and lifted my head to look at his face. "I really appreciate that, Eli. I don't think it will take me long to come home but I am so thankful you said that."

He gives me a small smile, his thumb leisurely stroking my cheek.

"And who knows, maybe I'll be here in your town after college, opening up my own restaurant," I muse.

"Yes, who knows."