I didn’t except Tor to follow me up and I felt mildly embarrassed of the soft pink bedsheets and lace frill around the posters of my bed. Dear Lord. Why did I still have dolls on shelf? My cheeks turned a deep shade of pink as I laughed nervously and uttered, “I guess I wasn’t all that set on growing up too quickly.”

My husband stepped in close and attempted to make me feel better by saying, “It’s overrated anyways.”

You know. Of all the time we spent arguing in the beginning, it felt like we’d finally made it over that hill and now, I considered myself extremely lucky to have him. Ettore Scala could be a scary motherfucker, but he was soft for me. My heart claimed him and I was proud to carry his name.

When he crowded me from behind, he put his hands to my hips and squeezed. “Six months ago, this would have made me a creep.” I was about to ask what would have made him a creep when the hard length of him pressed into my ass causing my lips to part. “But now, I’m just being an indulgent husband.”

He was indulgent.

We spent more time in my room than intended and when we slammed backwards into my closed door, I pulled away from his mouth long enough to whisper, “We should stop.” My head tilted to the side, giving him room to place wet kisses along my throat. Tor’s strong hand trailed my spine, lower until he clutched at my ass cheek. My eyes almost rolled into the back of my head when he kneaded it firmly and simply replied, “No.”

So, when we stumbled out of my room sometime later, holding hands. My quiet laughter dissipated when I saw my sister standing there, taking in my flushed cheeks and swollen lips.

Her lip curled, “Did you guys get busy in there? Ugh. Gross. We just had this wing cleaned. If you could keep your hands off each other for five minutes, coffee’s ready.” She began to walk away. “And wash your goddamn hands.”

Tor and I looked at each other a long moment before he chuckled. Mortified, I buried my face into his collar and groaned.

His voice was filled with mirth when he said, “Did she look jealous to you?” I hadn’t really noticed. “Think she’s regretting her decision?”

I pulled back, blinking up at him in confusion. “What decision?”

He shot me a look. “You know.” But I didn’t know. “The big one.” My face must have shown I wasn’t following because his gaze narrowed a little. “Marriage?” His head tilted slightly. “This ringing a bell?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You don’t know?” he uttered disbelievingly.

“Know what?” I laughed out of pure perplexity.