Crazy for the Alpha (Sequel to Tutoring the Alpha)

Chapter Sixteen: I'll Wed You in the Golden Summertime

"Can we talk about...you know...what this is gonna be like? Now that we're...married?"

"Of course." He bit back his next words, seemingly waiting for me to take the lead. Offering me the lead, more like it.

"I don't want you to leave again, Mickey. I know it's your dream job and I know it's everything you've ever wanted, but it really sucks when you leave." Now it was me biting back my words.

Mickey's shoulders stilled over the sizzling bacon. I barrelled on.

"And I'm not asking you to quit or anything. I'm really not. I just wanted it on the record that I hate when you leave and I miss you like crazy and I just wish you never had to go."

Mickey still didn't turn around. Just kept pushing around the bacon in the skillet.

"I guess I also just wanted you to know that because I feel like you think that I'm fine when you're gone? I dunno. Mickey, please say something."

He cleared his throat. "Benny, I..."

I took two fake sips while he paused, not swallowing a single drop of coffee but going through the motions just the same.

"I'm sorry. I wish it wasn't like this, either. Believe me."

The pain in his voice tore me up. Instantly, I regretted ever saying anything. I'm such an idiot! I knew Mickey beat himself up every single day about spending so much time on the road or in another state or country. I knew it hurt him just as much as it hurt me to be apart. I knew it was his dream job and I was single handedly ruining it for him. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Let's problem-solve, then. What can we do differently, from this day forward, as husband and wife, to make this situation work for both of us?"

My positivity sounded a little forced coming out of my mouth, but if Mickey noticed, he didn't comment on it.

"Scheduled phone calls?"

"Yes!" I jumped down off the counter to grab a pad of paper from one of the junk drawers, but all I could find was an old takeout menu from Sushirama, our favorite sushi delivery place.

"And Facetime calls," Mickey added over his shoulder, sliding the bacon onto a paper towel.

"Okay, good. What else?"

"Text updates every hour. Nothing is unimportant."

"And Snapchats every couple hours. Full face, videos if possible."

I was scribbling away furiously on the back of the menu.

"Okay. What else?"

"If I have to be away for more than two days, you come with me."

My hand froze, and I looked up at him slowly. Mickey was finished with the food now, and was just leaning against the oven, watching me. I opened my mouth to say the obvious response, but then I bit my lip, literally. On the one hand, I wanted to be with Mickey as much as possible, and it really was hell here without him. I never wanted to go more than two days without seeing him. But on the other hand, I was supposed to be working on my own life, and missing that much school would only further tank my career. We're making this work. We're making sacrifices. For better and for worse, till death do us part.

"Deal."

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          "This is all you want to do on our honeymoon? Really?"

"Yes! You know I have no life," I laughed, throwing my legs over Mickey's as we got comfortable on the couch. The next episode of Criminal Minds was loading on the screen, and we had glasses of red wine, boxes of dry cereal, and leftover waffles from breakfast piled on the coffee table by our feet. We'd spent the majority of the day eating a drawn-out breakfast, sipping on our coffee and talking about how married life was going to go. We talked about having kids, and moving into our own house, and what Mickey was going to do after the NBA, and what I was going to do after med school. We talked about Kohl and my parents and Sam, and we talked about Eric and Jenna and JJ and the pack. Then we'd gone swimming in the pool, and somehow ended up having sex in the hot tub, which hadn't been nearly as glamorous as it sounded.