She walked into the café in a loose white dress that clung softly to her curves, barely brushing the new roundness of her stomach.
And still... she was devastating.
More beautiful than I remembered. Even with tired eyes. Even with pain shadowing her smile.
Maybe especially because of it.
Because Jaimie had always carried herself like a fire too afraid to burn the wrong hands.
But I wanted that fire. I wanted to be burned.
I said all the right things.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXQsPv1CBp
I talked about grief.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlH92dUAuT
About my mother.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHR6aEQ2dD6
About regret.
But as I watched her stir her coffee, head tilted slightly, lips pursed in thought—
My mind was elsewhere.
If things had gone differently...16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8BS1FVaWG
If Tedd never returned.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWR8II2YNDf
If there was no baby...
We could've had it all.
I would've had her.
Not just the way she let me kiss her that rainy night in Baguio.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8KoR0YNHK
Not just the soft Jaimie.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4e4TLNjac
But the one who broke when no one was looking.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7syqv3qb43
The one who needed control taken away so she could breathe again.
In my mind, she's beneath me—bound in silk, wrists above her head.
Eyes locked with mine, not in fear—but in challenge.
She's the kind of woman who wants to be undone only by someone who understands every scar—every trigger.
Her breath would hitch when I whispered, "Mine."
And she would melt into it.
Her hair tangled in my fist.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXW78dIp2cz
Her skin marked by every kiss, every bite, every slow punishment for all the nights we wasted.
I would take her until she forgot her name.
Until all she knew was my voice.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lWJNH4er1
My pace.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXh7if93zVn
My command.
I blinked hard and came back to the café.
She was asking something.
"...and how's work?" she repeated.
I coughed. Cleared my throat. "Busy. Empty, if I'm being honest."
She gave a polite smile, then glanced at the time.
The moment was slipping again.
She stood to leave.
I didn't move.
Because a part of me was stuck between two versions of her—
The woman sipping her lukewarm latte with guarded strength...
And the one I kept in the shadows of my mind, pleading my name between gasps and silk sheets.
But I didn't tell her any of that.
Because fantasies are safe.
Reality?
She was pregnant. In pain. Torn.
And not mine.
Not yet.
But maybe... someday.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDekq0M0RQ
