Ex with Benefits (sequel to Roommates with Benefits)

Miracles do happen

CHAPTER 38 - MIRACLES DO HAPPEN

TARA'S POV

Five pages later, I was inevitably in tears. And how couldn't I be? After such heartfelt letter, such confessions, such revelations ... it was hard not to cry.

Ten pages of his smooth handwriting to explain what went wrong between us and why and how. Ten pages to tell me how much I've hurt him. Ten pages to even confess that, in the end, he didn't need a place to live so badly, he just wanted to live with me. Something about a high school crush he'd never quite gotten over. Funny, huh?

Ten pages of his smooth handwriting to encase everything he's never told me, everything he's ever repressed. Simply, ten pages to unravel the mystery that has been these years Lukas Bennet, with all his hidden thoughts and emotions, with all this concealing the real pained truth in order to keep up with who he thought I loved.

I feel stupid for not having ever realized just how vulnerable he was in truth. I suppose I've always somewhat remained stuck to the former bad boy,  or, at the very least, to the cocky roommate I grudgingly took in and that revolutionized my life against my every better judgment. It was hard to look at my husband and see him for who he really is: a man with a broken heart only I could fix.

Cliché, isn't it? The good girl fixing the bad boy. The bad boy helping the good girl find her badass side. Bookshelves and sites are full of such stories. I never realized just how much ours could fit with those. But in the end it does. With every due difference, of course, but it does. We're cliché, terribly cliché, but you know what? I couldn't care less. We could be cliché characters in a cliché book, I really wouldn't give a damn. It's who we are, it's what makes us ... well, us.

We're cheesy yet combative, we fight, we make up, we kiss, we break down. We're yin and yang, sun and moon sometimes, others we're two peas in a pod, kindred spirits. We're irrational and passionate, yet straightforward and cold. We're this and that, and I've never stopped to think just how much I loved this about us.

Teary-eyed, I basically jolted out of the bedroom to go reach Lukas in the one place where everything began. It seems like yesterday that I took in that cocky guy that made it a challenge to himself of taking me to bed, yet look at me now, 21 years later, still fighting that cocky jerk, yet still loving him. 

I almost got out naked. Good thing I realized it soon enough. It took me not longer than 20 minutes to get ready, probably my best record.

Upon opening the door, I nearly got it slammed into my face as it opened itself, revealing all three of my children, two of them wearing backpacks, the eldest swinging the keys in her hands. Uh oh, I suppose I slept longer than I realized.

"You alright, mom?" Zach asked, steadying me, worried.

I gave him a half smile, ruffling his hair. "Perfectly fine, sweetie." Actually yes, I have no troubles whatsoever. I mean, the side effects of the sleeping pills have exhausted their power, and ... there's no sign whatsoever of that certain issue there, so ... I'm fine, really fine. Actually champing at the bit to go see that cheesy ex, soon to be once again husband of mine.

"Where's dad?" Was Gloria's first question. Some things never change, huh? Always daddy first.

I grinned. "Your dad's at our old place, and I'm reaching him. I'm actually glad I caught you." I turned to Nicky. "Can you watch over your siblings tonight? I'm pretty sure we'll be late."

I thought she'd grumble, but she stayed true to her promise, and nodded, bored, while her sister grinned. "Late, huh?" Gloria mused, nudging her brother. "Hear, hear, kiddo, I'd stock up attentions, if I were you, you might not be the puppy of the family for long ..."