Married by Contract by Noelle Adams

Hilton?”
    Marsha had gone to college with Raina and Jenn, and she was
from the same hometown as Jenn and Nick—so she’d known them growing up. She and
Jenn had never been very close, and Jenn had been surprised when she’d seen the
woman talking to Nick for at least ten minutes earlier in the evening.
    “Nothing.”
    “It was a long talk for it to be nothing.”
    Nick let out a long breath, and his free hand moved over to
idly pick up one of Jenn’s from her lap. “She was asking about my job. And she
was talking about my parents.”
    “What about your parents?”
    “Nothing specific. Just talking about how they were doing.”
    Jenn understood his mood then. It wasn’t a dark or bleak
mood, really. It was just quiet and a little heavy because he’d been thinking
about his parents. She wanted to help him—and make him feel better—but she
wasn’t sure how to do that. After reflecting for a minute, she said, “You
should go visit them. I can go with you, if you want.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Yeah, you should? Or yeah, you’ll do it?”
    “Yeah, I should, and maybe I will.” He was fiddling with her
fingers, gently rubbing her wedding ring.
    “You’ll feel better if you go see them,” she said carefully.
She didn’t want to offend him or make him pull back, but it felt like she
needed to say something, like maybe this was one way she could be good for him,
the way he was so good for her. “You only feel bad because you feel guilty.”
    “I know.” He didn’t sound annoyed or defensive. Just
resigned.
    “Why is it so hard?” she asked, looking up at his face
again. “You love them and you want to see them and you know you should. So why
is it so hard to make yourself do it?”
    “ Because it is hard. That’s why. They’re getting old,
and it’s hard for me to see them like that. I don’t do things that are hard
anymore.”
    She frowned. “Yes, you do.”
    “No, I really don’t. I don’t…put myself out there to be
hurt.”
    “Well, that’s just part of your coping. It’s the way you’re
trying to deal with…with everything.” She didn’t want to imply he was damaged
from his experiences in the military, although both of them knew that he was.
“It’s not going to be forever. And maybe you can…you can push through a little
bit right now, so you can feel better in the long run.”
    His arms tightened around him. “I know you’re right. It’s
like you knowing that you need to stop stressing so much. Just because you know
it doesn’t mean you can do it.”
    “I know. But I’ve been working on not stressing. I think you
can probably work on…on stepping up.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, think about it, at least. I’ll go with you, if you
want me to.”
    “Thanks.”
    He was still stroking her fingers, her wedding ring, but he
didn’t say anything else, and Jenn knew she’d pushed as far as she could for
the evening.
    They sat quietly as the driver took them through the mostly
empty streets. It was late and dark and strangely silent in the world.
    When they were almost home, Nick tilted his head down and
brushed a kiss into her hair.
    “What was that for?” she asked, raising her eyes to his
face.
    “That was because you’re so brave and sweet and generous.”
    Her breath hitched in her throat. “I am not.”
    He gave a soft huff of amusement. “Yes, you are, sweetheart.
You have no idea how much.”
    She was deeply touched by the words, by how much he seemed
to mean them. She had no idea what to say, but the car had pulled up to the
curb in front of their building, so she didn’t have to say anything.
    Back in their apartment, she went into her bedroom to change
clothes, still feeling fluttery and confused. She’d only gotten as far as
taking off her shoes when there was a tap on her door.
    She swung it open to find Nick, standing in front of her,
wearing his trousers with no shirt and no shoes.
    They’d been having sex three or four times a week, but
usually only on