His Runaway Wife [UNEDITED]

15. "Do you remember our first kiss?"

DAMIAN'S POV

My wife was hot. Undeniably sexy.

And I was the lucky man in the crowd who got to call the "sexy girl playing volleyball" (as the guys next to me put it) my wife.

I didn't want to be an ass and announce it aloud so everyone knew but these guys next to me were seriously starting to piss me off.

I mean, they weren't idiots. Rebecca looked stunning as she played volleyball. It didn't help that we were at the beach. She was wearing shorts with a bright ink bikini top and a white blouse on top.

She looked different as she played. Younger. Brighter. Happier. Sexier. It reminded me of the good old days when we were dating. It felt like it was so long ago. So many things had changed...except for one: I was still the lucky man to call her mine.

Barely, a voice inside my head said making me clench my jaw.

Today was Friday. She was leaving Sunday morning. The thought of seeing her go made me angry and sad at the same time. Angry at myself because I hadn't done anything to make her stay. I didn't want her to leave. I had to do something.

I had taken the whole weekend off of work. It was the first weekend I had off in 4 years, without being on-call. I had asked a fellow physician to cover my absence in case someone needed help. I had my phone off. Nothing mattered right now. Nothing but Rebecca and the time I had left with her. I needed to make it count. I knew we had to talk soon so I needed to figure something out. I couldn't lose her again. I wouldn't lose her.

"Hey."

I turned to look at Alexa who was back from getting some water.

"Are they winning?" She asked as she watched the game.

"Yes, I think." I frowned. I didn't even know the score. I decided to change the subject. "So you're going to NYU in the fall?"

She looked at me and nodded. "I'll probably leave in June."

"Why NYU?" I wondered. That was so far from California, even Nevada. I knew Rebecca would probably feel sad about her little sister leaving so far away.

Alexa half smiled. "Honestly? I never thought I would get a full ride scholarship to NYU and it wouldn't feel right to turn it down. I don't want to turn it down. I've always wanted to go to New York. I'm super excited," she smiled, showing off her teeth. She resembled Rebecca more when she smiled.

"Did you-" I put my hands in my pockets. "-not like living with Rebecca?"

"Oh, it's not that at all," she said quickly, almost looking embarrassed. "I love my sister and feel bad about leaving." She gulped. "Really bad. In fact, I don't know how I would ever leave if you and her don't..." she trailed off, there was a certain sadness in her face.

"That's the real reason you called me," I realized. Now it made sense why she had called me behind Rebecca's back. "You want to feel less guilty about leaving her."

Alexa looked embarrassed. "I'm horrible, I know."

"You're not, actually, if it were someone else, they would leave without caring about how she would feel," I glanced at Rebecca as she played, just in time to see her hit the ball.

"You need to fix things with her," Alexa said after a moment. "I want her to be happy and I think you can do that." She half smiled.

I nodded. "I'm trying my best."

"For the sake of both of us, try harder," she laughed nervously.

I chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

She was really mature for her age. I realized that we had something in common: we both lost a parent. Of course, it could be argued that losing a parent at a younger age was much worse than when being older. I couldn't imagine the pain she must have felt losing her mother. And Rebecca-I just couldn't believe she didn't let me be by her side.