The Six Month Contract

I Love You

I flip my head to see Rocky standing by the door. My heart drops and I look down at the floor.

"Should I help you find what you were looking for?" Rocky asks.

I watch him in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" He repeats me. "Exactly what you were trying to do."

I swallow and fold my hands behind me, hiding his phone away.

"Don't bother," Rocky says taking a step forward. "I knew you had my phone from the get-go and I knew you were trying to play me."

"So you were onto me from the start?" I genuinely ask.

He nods. "I expected better from you...but you were never good at faking anything, this relationship included."

"I was scared. You have to understand. I overheard a conversation you had with Liam and it didn't sound good, so please be honest. Why on earth were you distracting me?"

"Because if you were willing to marry me to get away from Paul, to save your family from losing the business and estate, if he came for you this time, God knows what you would do," he tells me frustratedly. "I didn't want you to get hurt or make a bad choice."

"Are you telling me that marrying you was a bad choice?"

He rubs the back of his neck with his hand and then finally nods. "That's exactly what I'm saying. In all honesty when I made that offer, I made it because I didn't think you would accept but also partially because I'm selfish and needed you."

"So why make the offer if you thought I'd say no?" I ask.

"Because I was testing you. To see how far you would go for your family and unfortunately in these circumstances you go really far," he says looking me deadset in the eyes. "I needed to know what I was working with. How to stop him but also how to make sure you didn't make a stupid decision."

A tear slips past my eye. "But I made one anyways," I say while wiping the tear away. "Multiple actually. I'm not this girl," I point at my outfit, the obvious shortness of the dress.

Rocky nods. "I know. Like I said, you go really far for your family. You practically sell yourself out," he says grabbing my face. "Listen to me, Sky. You are far better than that. Don't ever put yourself in a situation like that. The Sky I knew would fight but she would not forget what she stood for."

I drop to my knee, the weakness finally giving in. Rocky doesn't let go of my face though, he still holds me tight but instead uses his thumb to wipe the tear away.

"What do I do?" I cry.

Rocky shakes his head. "I can't give you the answer for that."

I take a deep breath and watch him. "You know this damn contract got in the way. I thought I could so give you a chance but I don't think I can with the contract. How on earth?" I say taking a deep breath. "How on earth can I try to make it work when I very much know this is only for six months."

A small subtle smile plays on Rocky's lips but disappears almost instantly.

"I can't force you to feel a certain way, Sky," he says. "All I can tell you is to be true to yourself and your emotions. Get what you think you deserve and don't settle for less."

"But I don't deserve you," I point out. "This whole time I thought you were playing me and most likely working with Paul but you were just trying to protect me, to not see me get hurt again."

Rocky's hands drop from my face onto the floor. His expressions tell me he doesn't have an answer anyways.

I point at the computer. "If you're really good and really honest like you claim to be, why is this computer and room out of bounds."

Rocky nervously rubs his neck. "It's not," he says. "You had caught on, I knew that much. So I had to distract you. Get you to focus on something else. Sky, you don't seem to just give up, so I had to make you focus on this room and this computer to distract you."

He waves his hand at the computer. "Daniella broke that three years ago. I just can't seem to replace it."

I nod.

There are no words to say. I thought I could hate Rocky, but I just cannot. Probably because I know I am so madly in love with him and have been since high school.

"You should get changed," Rocky says and suddenly it dawns on me how short my dress truly is.

But instead of actually changing. Perhaps putting on something more covered up, I do what I never imagine I would do. I unzip my dress and let it fall to the ground.

Rocky watches in confusion and then averts his eyes down. A gentleman.

I'm about to put all my heart on the line.

I grab his hand and tilt his chin with my other hand so we're eye to eye. "Rocky, I need you to know that I'm very vulnerable right now telling you this...but I do, I really do love you," I say emotionally. "And I have for a long time. Ever since high school. Ever since that night I slept with you, ever since you were my first."

Rocky freezes. "Sky," he says breathlessly. "Please tell me this isn't a joke."

I shake my head. "I so wanted to hate you. For the pain my family saw. For the contract. For all the misunderstandings. For your image. For the story about the other girls...but I just couldn't."

Rocky kisses my forehead and pulls me into his chest. "I've loved you since I first lent you my pencil in year three."

I laugh through the tears. "That's cheesy."

Rocky smiles back. "I don't do normal."

Suddenly I push him against the wall. I am aware how little I am wearing. My dress on the floor catches my eyes.

Rocky grabs my hips and pulls me close. "I'm not about to do something that will make you feel disgusted in me in the morning."

"I won't be disgusted," I tell him.

"You say that now but..." before he can finish his sentence, I press my lips against his and cut him off. We work well together and his lips work like magic against mine. Rocky gives my hip a squeeze before twisting my body so that it's now my back against the wall.

"Not cool," he says playfully.

I smirk. "I learnt it from you. How is it? A taste of your own medicine."