Status Updates From Skin of a Sinner

“The letters aren’t important.”
“How could they not be important?”
He lifts a shoulder. “What we have can’t be simplified down to a couple of letters, Bella. I want you to want me because you’re everything I need.”
“I can’t give you anything.” I’ve never been able to. All I’ve ever been able to truly give him is my fractured heart.
“You’re all I want.”

“But I’m a virgin.” It might just be a word, but I wish he could say the same.
“Good girl. You waited for me.”
“And you didn’t.” It’s not a question, but a statement.“Who said that?” he hums, “What? You think I’ve ever had eyes for anyone else?”I gape up at him, breath ragged.“How many times do I need to tell you that you’re the only one for me?”

“Why would you think I’d leave you, Minnie?” His voice wraps around me in a tight embrace, and the nickname wedges itself inside my heart. I’m sure I would tell him anything that he asks at this moment.
“Isn’t it obvious?” I laugh dryly to myself. “Everyone leaves me.”
“Not me,” he says. I fix my attention to our intertwined hands. “Never me.”

I'm invested.

“ Butterflies erupt in my stomach when he looks up at me, eyes shining as he smiles. That’s the thing about Mickey: his eyes will meet mine in a crowded room every single time.”

I may make art, but she is art made flesh. Every stroke, every color. Masterpiece doesn’t come close to describing her.

We haven’t gotten our high energy dog that’s been trained to protect Bella. Or flown to Italy so she can have authentic pizza, and to Greece to relive our ancient history obsession. We’re supposed to have an unconventional wedding, where she’d wear a white dress and start crying as she walks down the aisle. I can’t die. I won’t.The last thing on my lips when the lights go out is her name. "Bella.”

“It’s my birthday, Mickey. Aren’t you meant to do what I say?”He leans back and eyes me like I’ve said something ridiculous. “I do whatever you ask every day of the year. I don’t need an excuse for it.”

“The next time something happens, you call me. Even if it’s just to ask which shirt you should wear or if you're out of snacks. I don’t give a shit if I’m working, sleeping, or half-dead; you grab that phone, and you call me. I’ll pick up whatever you need, even if I’m six feet under, Bella. There isn’t a god in existence that could stop me from getting to you.”
#NEEDTHAT

“Mickey and Roman are one and the same, but Mickey is just for her. It’s the name that has my heart ratcheting because it means I’m her home. She feels safe with me and never wants to lose me, just like her Mickey Mouse. I could die happy knowing she calls me that.”